The father of U2 drummer Larry Mullen Jr. has died at the age of 92.
Laurence Joseph Mullen Sr., who was from Artane in North Dublin, passed away at Bons Secours Hospital on Sunday, May 10.
His passing was confirmed in a death noticed posted on RIP.ie. It reads: "In his 92nd year. In the loving care of the staff and doctors of the Bons Secours Hospital
"Loving husband of the late Maureen and loving father of the late Mary.
"Sadly missed by his beloved wife Alice, loving children Cecilia and Larry Jnr, Larry’s partner Ann, grandchildren Becky, Sam, Elvis, Ava and Ezra, sisters Breda, Joan, Kit and Nora, extended family and friends.
"Rest in Peace."
U2 are scheduled to open their Innocence + Experience tour in Vancouver, Canada, this Thursday, May 14. It is thought that Mr Mullen Snr's funeral will take place in Dublin either tomorrow or Thursday morning.
Larry and all members of U2 are expected to attend the funeral, meaning plans for the first night of their world tour will most certainly need to be rearranged.
Larry was only son of Laurence Joseph and Maureen (née Gaffney) Mullen. Larry, who is the father of three children, has an older sister, Cecilia, and had a younger sister, Mary, who died in 1993. His mother died in a car accident in 1976.
No matter how hard the world may try, it is not possible to keep a good rock and roll band down.
Nearly six months after U2 were forced to cancel their weeklong residency on “The Tonight Show,” Bono, the Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. finally made it to Studio 6B Friday night. It had been rough going for the Irish rockers for a while: Their latest album, “Songs of Innocence,” released in September 2014, was met with a ton of backlash from iTunes users, who saw the free download as an infringement of privacy. Then, in November, Bono sustained serious injuries from his now-famous biking accident in New York. His recovery period placed U2 in an involuntary hiatus for almost the first half of 2015.
But, time heals all wounds, and as they demonstrated on “The Tonight Show,” U2 are not going to let a couple of catastrophes cramp their style (although, speaking of style – Bono, the new blond look isn’t working, sorry). With their iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE tour set to kick off May 14 in Vancouver, the band is back, ready to rock and still willing to poke fun at its misfortune. And judging from U2′s “Tonight Show” sneak preview – the music icons were the sole guests – anyone with tickets to this summer’s tour is in for one monster of a concert.
Here are the five takeaways from U2′s “Tonight Show” return:
In this pre-recorded bit, Bono addresses his “cycling spill” head-on by venturing onto the streets of Manhattan on a bike for the first time since the accident. Jimmy Fallon, in solidarity, rides with the singer (on his own basket-and-streamer-adorned bike, it should be noted). But Bono doesn’t get far from 30 Rockefeller Plaza before a large grey van (driven, of course, by the Edge, with Clayton and Mullen riding in the front seat) slams into him a total of three times. Maybe it’s the titanium elbow, but the rocker still manages to walk away, unscathed.
The “Tonight Show” house band joined U2 for this web-exclusive performance of their 1988 “Rattle + Hum” track “Angel of Harlem,” which proved two things: One, U2 have certainly made the most of their time off, because they sound better than ever. And two: There is going to be a high demand for the Roots to make some guest appearances on this summer’s tour.
3. Bono’s been invited to dinner at a New York firehouse
After Fallon ribbed Bono for confusing a Boston accent for a New York one (the Irishman referred to Madison Square Garden as “the Gahden”), the singer fired back with a story that guarantees him New York street cred for life. A few hours before the band arrived to do “The Tonight Show,” Bono received a message from the two Engine 44 firemen who “picked [him] up off the street” when he had his biking accident, inviting him to dinner at their firehouse. The Dubliner was also quite pleased to learn that the Engine 44 crew is known as “the Fighting Irish.”
4. Whether it’s packing stadiums or busking in a New York subway station, U2 can still draw a crowd
As previously reported, U2 were spotted late Monday night at the 42nd Street Grand Central subway station (or, as Bono called it, the “42nd tube station”) filming this segment with Fallon. Donning wigs and faux facial hair, and playing their 1987 hit “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking for,” U2 made for a passable New York busking band (Mullen even swapped out his drum kit for a set of overturned buckets) – meaning, commuters chose making their train instead of stopping to listen. But once they ditched the disguises and kicked into “Desire,” that’s when a lot more people started delaying their ride home. (In truth, a crowd had already formed before the band tossed off the wigs, probably because they saw all of the TV cameras.)
This segment is also historic because it contains the only known footage of Larry Mullen Jr. smiling.
5. The band previewed their intimate staging for this summer’s iNNOCENCE + eXPERIENCE tour
At the end of the show, U2 performed two songs – “Beautiful Day,” from the Grammy-winning 2000 album “All That You Can’t Leave Behind,” and “Song for Someone” from “Songs of Innocence.” But just as they want their upcoming tour to be an immersive experience for their fans, U2 also decided to bring that intimacy to their “Tonight Show” gig by moving the stage to the center of the studio, which allowed for an extra crop of fans to surround the band.
From April 14th to May 31st the African Well Fund invites U2 fans and others who are inspired by Bono's tireless activism on behalf of Africa to donate to the 13th Annual Build a Well for Bono's Birthday fundraiser in honor of Bono's 55th birthday. This year's campaign will help fund a project in Senegal that will provide sustainable access to clean water. The project will improve access to clean water in 6 Health Huts serving 6,500 beneficiaries.
The 12 previous campaigns have raised over $235,000 in Bono's honor to fund the construction of clean water and sanitation projects implemented by AWF partner Africare that are benefiting more than 73,000 people in Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Liberia, Mali, Uganda and Zimbabwe. The Health Huts serve as community health facilities in very rural areas. Your donation will help give the people in these areas the tools and training needed to improve public health in their communities.
U2 went from a band people laughed at to become one of the greatest bands in history. Today, U2 has been awarded more Grammy awards than any other band and it surpassed the Rolling Stones’ record for the highest revenue-generating concert tour. How did such a remarkable transformation happen and how has the band continued its success for more than four decades?
Bono, the band’s lyricist, lead singer and leader-among-equals has said the way U2 works is more extraordinary than its music. He’s referring to U2’s culture -- in other words, the predominant attitudes, language and behavior of U2’s members. Here are four character strengths that reflect U2’s culture and help explain how the band achieves sustained success. 1. Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence U2 has an appreciation of beauty and excellence. The band members have high standards for their music and concert performances. They never feel they’ve achieved perfection but always strive to become better. This attitude drives U2 to learn and grow. U2 is willing to try new things and take risks. For example, the band teamed up with Apple (AAPL) to provide an instant download of its last record, Songs of Innocence, to 500 million users of iCloud. Although the unsolicited free gift received criticism from users who are not fans, the move was a big hit with the band’s followers. The surprising and generous move shows U2 is willing to experiment. This is a healthy sign that bodes well for U2’s future. 2. Love Achieving excellence and perfection is difficult. It requires hard work, perseverance and resilience to overcome obstacles. The character strength of love helps U2 get through the inevitable professional and personal challenges. Love means people value close relations with others; sharing and caring are reciprocated. The members of U2 share their economic profits equally among the four band members and their manager, which differs from many bands where the most popular band members make the most money. The guys in U2 have an inspiring history of caring for one another. When Larry Mullen’s mother was killed in an accident a short time after the band was formed, Bono reached out to help him get through a time of grieving. Bono’s mom had died a couple years earlier. He empathized with Larry. Some years later, when the band was offered its first recording contract with the condition it replace Larry with a more conventional drummer, Bono told the recording company executive to shove it. Through sickness, divorce, addiction, and death threats, the members of U2 know they can count on their bandmates to be there for them. They have each other’s backs. 3. Humility If any member of U2 strongly opposes a proposed decision, they band will not implement it. This gives each member of U2 a voice in decisions. The band recognizes that it takes more time to make decisions this way, and it can be frustrating, but it believes this approach produces superior results. This consensus-oriented decision-making approach reflects humility. It recognizes that no one has a monopoly on good ideas and the best results come about when everyone is encouraged to share their opinions and ideas. 4. Spirituality The character strength of spirituality exits in a group when its members hold common strong and coherent beliefs about the higher purpose and meaning of life. U2 is influenced by the Christian belief of loving and serving others. The band’s music is about human rights, social justice and matters of faith. Bono says this makes U2 different than most bands. He has described U2 as traveling salesmen whose ideas are communicated in songs. Bono “walks the talk,” too. He and his wife Ali are philanthropists who support the poor, particularly in Africa. These four character strengths -- appreciation of beauty and excellence, love, humility, and spirituality -- help U2 perform at the top of its game. Entering its fifth decade, look for U2 to continue to evolve in new directions. Given U2’s outstanding culture, the band’s best may be yet to come.
Travelers through New York City's Grand Central Station were treated to a surprise performance by U2 on Monday as the band recorded a segment for "The Tonight Show."
Members of the band at first wore disguises, including wigs, with drummer Larry Mullen Jr. even beating on upside down buckets instead of drums to complete the effect:
Eventually, the disguises came off and the band led the crowd in a sing-along of their 1988 hit "Angel of Harlem," from the "Rattle and Hum" album (although it should be noted that Grand Central is 65 blocks from Harlem itself):
Earlier this week, Fallon and Bono were spotted apparently recreating the November 2014 bicycle accident that left the singer so severely injured that he had to postponewhat was supposed to be a weeklong residency for the band on "The Tonight Show." Bono reportedly has trouble playing the guitar even five months after the crash.
U2 Surprise Performance at Grand Central with Jimmy Fallon
Travelers through New York City's Grand Central Station were treated to a surprise performance by U2 on Monday as the band recorded a segment for "The Tonight Show."
Members of the band at first wore disguises, including wigs, with drummer Larry Mullen Jr. even beating on upside down buckets instead of drums to complete the effect:
Eventually, the disguises came off and the band led the crowd in a sing-along of their 1988 hit "Angel of Harlem," from the "Rattle and Hum" album (although it should be noted that Grand Central is 65 blocks from Harlem itself):
Earlier this week, Fallon and Bono were spotted apparently recreating the November 2014 bicycle accident that left the singer so severely injured that he had to postponewhat was supposed to be a weeklong residency for the band on "The Tonight Show." Bono reportedly has trouble playing the guitar even five months after the crash.
U2 Surprise Performance at Grand Central with Jimmy Fallon
U2 Surprise Performance at Grand Central with Jimmy Fallon
