Entertainment
U2 totally OK with front man Bono going solo, says bassist Adam Clayton: ‘I’d certainly encourage him’
Bass player Adam Clayton says U2 is ‘elastic enough’ for solo projects (Picture: Shirlaine Forrest/WireImage)
U2 bassist Adam Clayton, 61, has insisted he and the rest of the band, made up of guitarist The Edge and drummer Larry Mullen Jr, both 59, would support 61-year-old singer Bono if he decided to pursue a solo album.
Appearing on the latest episode of the Rockenteours podcast, Adam said: ‘I think at this point if Bono said he wanted to go off and do a solo record, I’d certainly encourage him and everyone else would.
‘We’ve all done 40 years, and that’s pretty long in any job. If anyone wanted to go off and do something different and come back to the band or whatever, I think the band is elastic enough for that.’
Adam also reflected on the fact that the With or Without You group’s early days were more restless as ‘there was much more division between us when we were younger’.
The musician also hinted at some acoustic releases from the band, as he revealed the Beautiful Day rockers had been recording versions of some of their back catalogue songs ‘in different keys and different tempos as a challenge’, as well as recording a track for the animated film sequel Sing 2.
In September, The Edge shared that they were working on new music before the coronavirus pandemic hit.
Bono has the band’s blessing if he wants to do a solo record after 40 years (Picture: Pierre Villard/SIPA/Rex/Shutterstock)
He and Bono were in their native Dublin penning new material before they went their separate ways during the lockdown period.
However, the guitar hero was fortunate enough to make it back to Ireland after spending quarantine with his wife in California.
Speaking on The Jo Whiley Show on BBC Radio 2, he explained: ‘I was actually working on some new songs with Bono and I had a decision, am I going to go to Dublin or am I going to head to California where my wife was, so I opted to head for the wife which I think was the right call, ’cause literally within two days they’d shut all flights into America so I snuck in and spent the first part of the lockdown with Morleigh in California and then came to Dublin for early May and was in Dublin for a while. I felt very fortunate.’
The Edge (R) claims he is the most tech savvy of the group (Picture: Kevin Mazur/WireImage)
The band members used Zoom to stay in touch but apparently struggled with its sometimes ‘challenging’ nature and their somewhat-limited capabilities, with The Edge seen as ‘the technology genius, but basically that’s because I know how to fix the printer.’
He quipped: ‘That’s about the extent of my technology skills, but to say that sets me on a whole different level to everyone else in the band should explain what you’re dealing with so yeah it has been challenging at times.’
More: Bono
Meanwhile, Bono’s son Elijah Hewson, who recently scored his first UK number album with band Inhaler, as their critically acclaimed debut album It Won’t Always Be Like This went straight to the top spot, has said being the son of a rock star had opened ‘a lot of doors’ but the band still had to prove themselves.
The 21-year-old spoke about the group finding their own fanbase in the UK ‘who maybe don’t know who U2 is or are’ but said he didn’t ‘blame people’ who are interested in the connection.
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