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U2 is one of the most popular rock bands in the world, and its members have an estimated net worth of $1.8 billion. The Irish group formed in 1976 consists of singer Bono, known name of Paul David Hewson ($700 million), guitarist The Edge, by-name of David Howell Evans ($400 million), bassist Adam Charles Clayton ($400 million), and drummer Larry Mullen ($300 million). U2 grossed $1.67 billion in ticket sales from 1990 to 2016, second only to Rolling Stones, and were the only artist to surpass $1 billion in revenue during the 2010s decade. The band had earnings of $38 million in 2020, $37 million in 2019, and $118 million in 2018. They were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2005.
The beginnings of U2 go back to Larry Mullen posting a notice on Dublin's Temple Mount School board seeking for musicians to form a band. Bono, The Edge, Clayton, and Dick Evans contacted Mullen, and they came together as a Beatles and Stones cover group called The Feedback. In 1977, the band changed their name to The Hype. Evans then left and they adopted the name U2.
Bono is the best known of the U2 members. He is a well-known social activist who has campaigned for third-world debt relief and greater international involvement in the African AIDS crisis. In 2002, Bono co-founded the organization DATA (Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa), which he followed up with Project Red, an initiative against diseases in Africa. He was named as an honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire and granted a knighthood in Dublin in 2007. The following year, Bono was given the annual Man of Peace prize, awarded by several Nobel Peace Prize laureates.
In 1979, U2 released their debut EP, U2 Three, and the record topped the national charts in Ireland. Shortly afterward, they began to play in England. The band's first full-length album, Boy, was published in 1980 by Island Records. After recurrent touring, U2 were capable of selling albums to the American public. In 1981, they released his second LP, October, and it entered at number 11 on the UK charts, becoming their British breakthrough.
Their third album, War, appeared in 1983, entering the UK charts at number one and allowing them to play in stadiums in the United States, where the album reached number 12. During the tour, U2 filmed one of their shows and later published it with the title Under a Blood Red Sky. The record peaked at number two in the UK charts and it is the most successful live album in British history.
U2 is one of the most successful bands in history but didn't start to become what they are until the publication of The Joshua Tree in 1987, which some considered a masterpiece. It was their first American number one and the third consecutive album to enter the UK charts atop. The Joshua Tree sold one million copies in its first 28 hours in England, nine million in the UK as of December 2018, and ten million in the US as of September 1995. The following tour was also successful and the band achieved the cover of publications like Time magazine.
In 1990, U2 released Achtung Baby, which debuted at number one worldwide. While they had been inspired by post-punk in his early years and by American music at a later stage, the band dabbled into electronic genres with this album. The record sold four million copies in the UK as of March 2001 and eight million in the US as of October 1997.
Following the American tour for Achtung Baby, which grossed $67 million, the band started to record new material that soon became Zooropa, which appeared in 1993. In that year, U2 signed a six-album contract to remain with PolyGram’s Island Records. The deal was worth more than $60 million a 25% royalty rate on every record sold. Zooropa is also influenced by techno and dance music, but despite the success of Achtung Baby, this new album sold just two million copies and failed to produce a hit single.
The next LP took some time to be completed. When it was published in 1997, Pop had strong initial sales and some positive reviews. However, demand decreased in the following months, and Pop became their least popular album in over a decade, even though the tour had revenue for $173.6 million.
After the poor response to Pop, U2 released All That You Can't Leave Behind in 2000, and it became their best-selling record in years with many Grammy-winning singles. In order to promote it, the band embarked on the Elevation Tour, which had revenue of $109.7 million in North America, the by-then second-most ever for a North American tour. Globally, it grossed $143.5 million.
In 2004, U2 published How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, which reached the top of the Billboard charts and quickly sold one million copies. They started the Vertigo Tour soon after, and its revenue of $389 million made it the second most successful tour ever at the time.
The next album, No Line on the Horizon, was released in 2009. It had enthusiastic reviews but failed to achieve a big radio single. Nevertheless, the band initiated the 360 Tour, the highest-grossing series of shows in history with revenue of $736 million. It was their first live experience under the 12-year, $100 million contract signed with Live Nation the previous year.
After completing the 360 Tour, U2 turned its attention to the following album. The first results of these record sessions appeared in 2013 when "Ordinary Love" was published as part of the soundtrack to the film Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom. The full album, Songs of Innocence, was released in 2014, and the promotional tour grossed US$152.2 million.
In 2017, U2 published their last LP, Songs of Experience. That same year, the band toured in to commemorate the 30th anniversary of The Joshua Tree, and the shows grossed more than $316 million. They then embarked on a tour to promote the new album during 2018, and it had revenue of $126.2 million. In 2019, the group performed 15 more shows for The Joshua Tree’s anniversary, grossing $74.8 million.
In April 2020, U2 donated $11.87 million to Irish COVID-19 relief efforts, and in July they donated $1.5 million for the live music industry affected by the pandemic.
Sources: Celebrity Net Worth, Celebrity Net Worth (2), Celebrity Net Worth (3), Celebrity Net Worth (4), Billboard, Poll Star, All Music, U2, BPI, RIAA, BPI (2), RIAA (2), Washington Post, LA Times , Radio Swiss, Eonline, Reuters, Archive.org, Billboard (2), Billboard (3), Billboard (4), Billboard (5), Billboard (6), Forbes, Forbes (2).
This article was updated on April 6, 2021 by Andrés Taurian
Earnings & Financial Data
|
Date |
Category |
Description |
Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
|
2020 |
Earning Turned Donation |
To provide relief for the live music industry affected by COVID-19 |
$1,500,000 |
|
2020 |
Earning Turned Donation |
To Irish COVID-19 relief efforts |
$11,870,000 |
|
2019 |
Ticket Sales |
Revenue from ticket sales of The Joshua Tree Tour 2019 |
$74,800,000 |
|
2018 |
Record Sales |
Record sales of the album Songs of Experience (certified 4x platinum by IRMA, 2x platinum by Music Canada, and platinum by RIAA, ARIA, BPI, BVMI, IFPI-SWI and RMNZ) |
$1,690,000 |
|
2017 |
Ticket Sales |
Revenue from ticket sales of the eXPERIENCE + iNNOCENCE Tour (approximately 923,730 tickets sold) |
$126,200,000 |
|
2016 |
Ticket Sales |
Revenue from ticket sales of The Joshua Tree Tour 2017 (approximately 2,713,136 tickets sold) |
$316,000,000 |
|
2016 |
Record Sales |
Record sales of the album Damn with American rapper Kendrick Lamar, with their special feature appearance (certified 3x platinum by RIAA, 2x platinum by RMNZ, platinum by SNEP, and gold by ARIA and BPI) |
$1,880,000 |
|
2014 |
Ticket Sales |
Revenue from ticket sales of the iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE Tour (approximately 1,286,416 tickets sold) |
$152,200,000 |
|
2013 |
Record Sales |
Record sales of the album Songs of Innocence |
$386,910 |
|
2010 |
Ticket Sales |
Revenue from ticket sales of the U2 360° Tour (approximately 7,272,046 tickets sold) |
$736,000,000 |
|
2009 |
Others |
Sales of the video U2 360° at the Rose Bowl (approximately 397 thousand copies sold) |
$516,100 |
|
2009 |
Contract |
U2's 12-year contract with LiveNation |
$100,000,000 |
|
2008 |
Record Sales |
Record sales of the album No Line on the Horizon (certified 4x platinum by IRMA, 2x platinum by Music Canada, and platinum by RIAA, ARIA, BPI, BVMI, IFPI-SWI and RMNZ) |
$6,500,000 |
|
2005 |
Others |
Record sales of the video video U218 Videos (certified 2x platinum by ARIA) |
$94,900 |
|
2005 |
Record Sales |
Record sales of the compilation album U218 Singles (6x platinum by IRMA, 4x platinum by ARIA and RMNZ, 3x platinum by BPI, and platinum by Music Canada and IFPI-SWI) |
$3,120,000 |
|
2005 |
Ticket Sales |
Revenue from ticket sales of the Vertigo Tour (approximately 4,619,021 tickets sold) |
$389,000,000 |
|
2004 |
Others |
Record sales of the video album Vertigo 2005: Live from Chicago (certified 6x platinum by ARIA) |
$687,700 |
|
2003 |
Record Sales |
Record sales of the album How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (certified 10x platinum by IRMA, 5x platinum by Music Canada, 4x platinum by ARIA and BPI, 3x platinum by RIAA and RMNZ, and platinum by SNEP) |
$13,000,000 |
|
2002 |
Others |
Sales of the concert video U2 Go Home: Live from Slane Castle |
$341,900 |
|
2001 |
Others |
Sales of the video The Best of 1990–2000 |
$114,400 |
|
2001 |
Record Sales |
Record sales of the compilation album The Best of 1990–2000 (certified 4x platinum by RMNZ, 3x platinum by Music Canada, 2x platinum by ARIA, BPI and IFPI-SWI, platinum by RIAA, 2x gold by SNEP, and gold by BVMI) |
$2,660,000 |
|
2000 |
Others |
Sales of the video Elevation 2001: Live from Boston (certified 5x platinum by Music Canada, and 2x platinum by RIAA and ARIA) |
$536,900 |
|
2000 |
Ticket Sales |
Revenue from ticket sales of U2's Elevation Tour |
$143,500,000 |
|
1999 |
Record Sales |
Record sales of the album All That You Can't Leave Behind (certified 5x platinum by Music Canada, 4x platinum by ARIA and RIAA, 3x platinum by BPI, and 2x platinum by IRMA and IFPI-SWI) |
$15,600,000 |
|
1997 |
Others |
Sales of the video PopMart: Live from Mexico City (certified gold by ARIA) |
$9,750 |
|
1997 |
Record Sales |
Record sales of the compilation album The Best of 1980–1990 (certified 9x platinum by RMNZ, 8x platinum by ARIA, 6x platinum by Music Canada, 5x platinum by BPI, 4x platinum by RIAA, 3x platinum by IFPI-SWI, 2x platinum by SNEP, and platinum by BVMI) |
$11,270,000 |
|
1997 |
Ticket Sales |
Revenue from ticket sales of the PopMart Tour (approximately 3,820,111 tickets sold) |
$173,600,000 |
|
1996 |
Record Sales |
Record sales of the album Pop (certified 3x platinum by Music Canada, platinum by RIAA, ARIA, BPI, IFPI-SWI and SNEP, and gold by BVMI) |
$6,540,000 |
|
1993 |
Others |
Sales of the video Zoo TV: Live from Sydney (certified 2x platinum by ARIA and platinum by RIAA) |
$169,000 |
|
1993 |
Earnings |
Value of the six-album deal with PolyGram’s Island Records |
$60,000,000 |
|
1992 |
Earnings |
Gross T-Shirt sales of U2's Zoo TV Tour |
$30,000,000 |
|
1992 |
Ticket Sales |
Revenue from ticket sales of the Zoo TV Tour |
$72,430,000 |
|
1992 |
Record Sales |
Record sales of the album Zooropa (certified 4x platinum by Music Canada and RMNZ, 3x platinum by ARIA, 2x platinum by RIAA, platinum by BPI and SNEP, and gold by BVMI) |
$9,100,000 |
|
1992 |
Ticket Sales |
Revenue from ticket sales of the tour that followed the album Achtung Baby |
$67,000,000 |
|
1991 |
Others |
Sales of the video Achtung Baby: The Videos, the Cameos, and a Whole Lot of Interference from Zoo TV (certified platinum by ARIA and gold by RIAA) |
$136,500 |
|
1990 |
Record Sales |
Record sales of the album Achtung Baby (certified diamond by Music Canada, 8x platinum by RIAA, 5x platinum by ARIA and RMNZ, 4x platinum by BPI, 2x platinum by SNEP, platinum by BVMI, and gold by IFPI-SWI) |
$23,400,000 |
|
1987 |
Record Sales |
Record sales of the album Rattle and Hum (certified 7x platinum by ARIA and Music Canada, 5x platinum by RIAA, 4x platinum by BPI, 2x platinum by IFPI-SWi, platinum by BVMI, and gold by SNEP) |
$18,200,000 |
|
1986 |
Ticket Sales |
Revenue from ticket sales of The Joshua Tree Tour |
$40,000,000 |
|
1986 |
Record Sales |
Record sales of the album The Joshua Tree (certified diamond by Music Canada and RIAA, 14x platinum by RMNZ, 9x platinum by BPI, 5x platinum by ARIA, 2x platinum by BVMI and SNEP) |
$32,500,000 |
|
1984 |
Ticket Sales |
Revenue from ticket sales of The Unforgettable Fire Tour (approximately 380,775 tickets sold) |
$4,780,000 |
|
1984 |
Record Sales |
Record sales of the extended play Wide Awake in America (approximately 1.16 million copies sold) |
$1,510,000 |
|
1983 |
Record Sales |
Record sales of the album The Unforgettable Fire (certified 3x platinum by RIAA and Music Canada, 2x platinum by BPI, and gold by SNEP) |
$10,530,000 |
|
1982 |
Record Sales |
Revenue from ticket sales of the War Tour |
$2,000,000 |
|
1982 |
Record Sales |
Record sales of the live album Under a Blood Red Sky (certified 4x platinum by ARIA, 3x platinum by RIAA and BPI, 2x platinum by Music Canada, and platinum by BVMI and SNEP) |
$6,370,000 |
|
1982 |
Record Sales |
Record sales of the album War (certified 4x platinum by RIAA, 3x platinum by Music Canada, 2x platinum by BPI and SNEP, and gold by BVMI and IFPI-SWI) |
$14,300,000 |
|
1980 |
Record Sales |
Record sales of the album October (certified platinum by RIAA and BPI) |
$4,680,000 |
|
1979 |
Record Sales |
Record sales of the album Boy (certified by platinum by RIAA and Music Canada, and gold by ARIA and BPI) |
$1,560,000 |