U2 join rock legends in hall of fame

THREE decades after forming in a Dublin secondary school and still on top of the music world, U2 were ushered into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, joined by the O’Jays, Percy Sledge, The Pretenders and Buddy Guy.

U2 rewarded a crowd at the Waldorf Astoria in New York by performing four songs, joined by Bruce Springsteen on I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.

Springsteen recalled going with The Who’s Pete Townshend to check out the competition when U2 were performing in a London club, seeing a lead singer who “single-handedly pioneered the Irish

mullet”.

But he described how U2’s four parts equalled a much greater whole, and said it was the only band of the past 20 years where he knew all four members’ names. “This was a band that wanted to lay claim to this world and the next one, too,” Springsteen said.

Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr are quickly selling out arenas for an autumn concert tour, making U2 one of those rare acts still at the forefront of the music scene at the time of its induction.

Springsteen poked fun at Bono, “jeans designer, soon-to-be world bank operator, just plain operator, seller of the Brooklyn Bridge ... soon to be the mastermind of the Bono burger franchise”.

Bono retorted: “Born in the USA, my ass. That man was born on the north side of Dublin.”