U2 has sold more than 170 million records; won twenty-two Grammy Awards, four MTV Video Music Awards, and two Golden Globes; and recorded fourteen studio albums. U2's members are some of the most influential and highly recognized philanthropists in the world. Since the band's modest start in a strife-torn Ireland in 1976, the ragtag group from Dublin has used success as a platform to raise sociopolitical awareness, explore spirituality, and launch highly successful charities. Featuring striking photographs, fascinating direct quotations, and informative sidebars, this captivating, lively text will reveal to readers how four musicians of dubious musical ability became one of the biggest bands in the world.