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David Howell Evans was born in Barking Maternity Hospital in East London on August 8, 1961 to Garvin and Gwenda Evans. He has an older brother, Dik, and a younger sister, Gil.
It was not until autumn of 1974 that Dave (who by this time had been nicknamed "The Edge" by Bono) played his first gig as guitar player with Bono, Adam, Larry, and Dik, who were then known as FEEDBACK. They played a short set at Dublin's Mount Temple High School. FEEDBACK changed its name to THE HYPE and then to U2. By the time they were known as U2, Dik had left the band.
In July of 1983, after U2 had released their War album, Edge married Aislinn O'Sullivan. He had seen her at some of his gigs and eventually worked up the nerve to talk to her. They have three daughters together: Arran, Hollie, and Blue Angel. Edge and Aislinn later split up, prior to the Achtung Baby album. Edge met Morleigh Steinberg, a dancer and choreographer, on the ZooTV tour. He has been with her since. Morleigh and Edge have two children together. A daugher named Sian and a son named Levi.
In addition to playing guitar for U2, Edge also plays keyboards, sings backing vocals, and produces and co-writes some songs. He sings lead vocals on the songs Seconds, Van Dieman's Land, Numb, and Corpse, from Passengers: Original Soundtracks 1. He is also featured singing backing vocals on a number of U2 songs including the current single: Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of".
Edge has worked on some projects outside of U2, including writing the soundtrack to the film Captive with Michael Brooks. He and Bono have written the soundtrack to the Royal Shakespeare Company's A Clockwork Orange and the film Goldeneye.
November 1991 saw the release of ACHTUNG BABY. This album was a great sonic departure from the earthy sound of The Joshua Tree and Rattle & Hum. Apparently Bono was not kidding when he announced, during their December 1989 Dublin Point Depot gigs, that U2 needed to go away and dream it all up again. Dream it up they did. ACHTUNG BABY's first offering was the single, THE FLY. It was made obvious from the start that this was a VERY different U2. From the industrial slashing guitars that open on ZOO STATION to the siren-like intro to the glam-ish EVEN BETTER THAT THE REAL THING, it was new sonic territory. Where "shimmering", "Glossy" or "Crystaline" once described Edge's sound, now it was to be described with the words "industrial", "trashy" and wonderfully "gritty".
This vein continued in the summer of 1993 when a supposed 4-5 song "ep" turned into the 10 song ZOOROPA album. Edge received a production credit for his tireless work. His input was obvious by their choice of a first single from the album, NUMB. The guitar was another gritty offering with a spitfire monotoned vocal by Edge. This album, made inbetween legs of the highly successful Zoo TV tours, was to coincide with their European Tour that had been named Zooropa.
After a break in the action folloing the late 1993 Japanese dates, 1995 offered the Passenger's soundtrack with Brian Eno.
And then in 1997... POP. A finer album than sales and critics might suggest, it was a continuation on the themes explored on ACHTUNG BABY and ZOOROPA but without being a pale parody. Unfortunately, the tour was already booked and the recording was forced to meet a deadline. had time not been an issue and the album had a little more time to complete - a JUNE instead of MARCH release date - might have rendered a more cohesive work. Personally, I love the POP album, it has some great songs.
October 2000 saw the release of the "Beautiful Day" single and video. "Beautiful Day" is a classic U2 track featuring Edge's soaring guitar. Rolling Stone Magazine dubbed "All That You Can't Leave Behind" as U2's 3rd masterpiece. (The first 2 masterpieces being: "The Joshua Tree" and "Achtung Baby") 2001 saw U2's triumphant return to American arenas. After a Spring tour in America, it was off to Europe for another set of sold out shows. After their homecoming shows at Slane Castle in Ireland, The Edge and U2 returned triumphantly to the US. Night number 1 of the 3rd leg was a webcast from South Bend, Indiana's Notre Dame University and wound it's way through the US finally finishing the tour as they had began, in Miami, Florida. By all accounts the Elevation tour is the most successful tour of their careers and The Edge and U2 show now signs of slowing down. |
