The Edge (b. 1961)

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Biography

David Howell Evans, known by his stage name the Edge or simply Edge, is an Irish and British musician, singer, and songwriter. He is best known as the lead guitarist, keyboardist, and backing vocalist of the rock band U2. A member of the group since its inception, he has recorded 15 studio albums with them as well as one solo record. His understated style of guitar playing, a signature of U2's music, is distinguished by chiming timbres, use of rhythmic delay, drone notes, harmonics, and an extensive use of effects units.

Timeline

The story of The Edge, told in moments.

1961 Birth

Born David Howell Evans in Barking, Essex, to Welsh parents. Moved to Dublin as a child. Answered a note on a school bulletin board looking for musicians. The note was posted by Larry Mullen Jr. The band became U2.

What was it like answering that bulletin board note? Did moving from England to Dublin shape your sound? Were you always drawn to effects pedals over technique?

1976 Life

Formed what became U2 with schoolmates at Mount Temple Comprehensive School. His brother Dik was briefly in the group. The Edge taught himself guitar and gravitated toward effects pedals and delay rather than traditional technique.

Was your brother Dik leaving the band hard? How did teaching yourself guitar create your unique style? Did Mount Temple school know it was launching U2?

1987 Event

The Joshua Tree sold 25 million copies. His guitar work defined the album's sound: chiming delays, atmospheric drones, minimal notes carrying maximum weight. Rolling Stone ranked it one of the greatest albums ever made.

How did you make minimal notes carry that much weight? Was the Joshua Tree's sound in your head before the studio? Does 25 million copies feel like enough for those chiming delays?

1991 Event

Reinvented his sound on Achtung Baby. Swapped open, ringing tones for grinding distortion and industrial textures. The album saved U2 from becoming a nostalgia act. 22 Grammy Awards with the band and counting.

What drove the reinvention on Achtung Baby? Was grinding distortion a risk or a necessity? Did saving U2 from nostalgia feel personal?

Artifacts (8)

Landscape with a Poplar and a Willow Tree at the Edge of a Pond

Jean Victor Bertin

1787–1842 · Black chalk

The Met View

Peasant's Hut at the Edge of a Forest

Johan Christian Dahl

1828 · Etching; second state of two

The Met View

The Edge of the Woods at Monts-Girard, Fontainebleau Forest

Théodore Rousseau

1852–54 · Oil on wood

The Met View

The Edge of the Woods, near Rambouillet

Eugène Stanislas Alexandre Bléry

1860 · Etching

The Met View

The Edge of the Woods

Narcisse-Virgile Diaz de la Peña

1872 · Oil on wood

The Met View

At the Edge of the Forest

August Heinrich

ca. 1820 · Oil on canvas

The Met View

Cattle and Sheep at Resting at the Edge of a Forest

George Barret, the younger

ca. 1840 · Watercolor and gouache (bodycolor) over graphite, with reductive techniques and gum arabic

The Met View

The Road at the Edge of the Forest, from Verscheyden Landtschapjes (Various Little Landscapes), Plate 4

Willem Pietersz. Buytewech|Claes Jansz. Visscher

ca. 1616–17 · Etching; Begemann's second state of three

The Met View

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