500m people get album after hitting send

U2 released their first album in five years free last night on Apple’s iTunes, as the tech giant unveiled its latest smartphones.

The two-hour-long Apple event ended with a live performance by U2. The appearance by Bono and band mates, which had been rumoured, brought enthusiastic applause from the crowd.

U2 played a single from the new album, Songs of Innocence, which Apple announced it had sent out for free to half a billion iTunes customers around the world. The release of the album proved a headache for iTunes, however, as it experienced technical difficulties due to the number of people attempting to download it.