The Edge Biography, Videos & Pictures
The Edge Facts
| Name: David Howell Evans | Guitars: Fender, Gibson |
| Born: August 8, 1961 | Amplifiers: Vox |
| Origin: East London | |
| Bands: U2 | |
| Links: Official U2 Site | |
U2 Guitarist, The Edge, was born David Evans on August 8, 1961, in East London. His parents were Welsh and when the boy was a year old they moved the family to Dublin, Ireland. While attending St. Andrew’s National School in Ireland, David took piano and guitar lessons. He often played music with his brother Dik Evans. While the two were attending Mount Temple Comprehensive School, they both responded to an ad posted by Larry Mullen, Jr. looking for bandmates. Both brothers were accepted into the band, but Dik left as the band went through many incarnations. In 1978 the band emerged as U2.
U2 won a talent show in Limerick, Ireland on Saint Patricks Day, 1978. For winning the show, the band received £500 and studio time to record a demo that would be played for CBS Records. CBS recorded and released two singles for the band, but only for the Irish market. The band developed a following playing several clubs around Ireland and developed a following which led to the 1980 release of their debut album, “Boy.”
In 1981, while the band was preparing for the tour in support of their second album, “October”, The Edge came close leaving U2 for religious reasons. He, Mullen, and Bono had joined a religious group called the Shalom Fellowship which made them question the rock and roll lifestyle, but the band convinced him to stay. After deciding to stay, Edge wrote what would become one of U2′s most popular songs, “Sunday Bloody Sunday”. During this time he was also active in a side project with fellow U2 bandmates Bono and Larry Mullen Jr. called Shalom Tigers. On July 12, 1983, Edge married his secondary school girlfriend, Aislinn O’Sullivan.
In 1983, U2 released the album “War”. The single “New Year’s Day” was the first single by the band to become a hit outside of Ireland or the UK. The album was also their first big commercial success, debuting at number one on the UK charts. When the band went on tour in support of the album, across mainland Europe and the United States of America, they regularly sold out shows.
The band didn’t want to be just another arena rock band, and actively looked to experiment with different sounds for their next album, “The Unforgettable Fire”. The Edge was a big fan of the ambient and strange sounds of Brian Eno. The band convinced Eno and his sound engineer, Daniel Lanois to produce the album. Under Lanois’ tutelage the bass and drums on the album were looser and flowed more with the overall sound, rather than competing with it. The album scored the band their first U.S. Top 40 hit with “Pride (In the Name of Love)”.
The band built upon the success of that album with their next release, “The Joshua Tree.” The album was a huge commercial success, becoming the fastest selling album in British history, winning two Grammy awards and hitting the number one spot on the U.S. Charts for nine weeks. The success of the album prompted Time Magazine to feature U2 as the fourth rock band to appear on their cover. By this time The Edge’s hair had began thinning and he had taken to wearing hats or caps onstage and in photos. He is now rarely seen without a Tugue on his head.
In 1990, Edge separated from his wife, Aislinn, but the couple could not get divorced due to Irish laws regarding marriage annulment. They remained legally married until divorce was legalized in 1995. Aislinn wasn’t the only one that Edge was having tensions with in 1990. Production of the band’s next album, “Achtung Baby” was slowed when Edge and Bono disagreed with Larry and Adam over the direction to take the band. Larry and Adam preferred the band’s older sound, but Edge and Bono were inspired by the alternative rock and European dance music of the time. In the end, the band agreed on working around a chord progression that Edge had written. The result was the song, “One”, and the album was released in 1991 to much acclaim.
During the 1992-1993 Zoo TV Tour, The Edge met a professional dancer and choreographer that had been hired by the band named Moleigh Stienberg. The couple began dating in 1993, even though Edge and Aislinn were still legally married. A year after his divorce from Aislinn, The Edge and Moleigh had their first of two children. The couple married on June 22, 2002, Edge wore his Tugue.
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