U2: Top 100 Songs

U2 Top 100 Songs

At 16 years old, an Irish singer and guitarist named Paul Hewson (better known as Bono) hooked up with guitarist Dave Evans (aka “The Edge”), bassist Adam Clayton, and drummer Larry Mullen, Jr. The four met at Mount Temple Comprehensive School and were signed to Island Records within four years, first hitting the scene with 1980’s Boy. Over the next seven years, they built a strong college-rock base and then with 1987’s The Joshua Tree became the world’s biggest rock band. The band has remained a stable force nearly four decades, thanks to their stick-together-as-a-group attitude. They’ve stretched their sound and been celebrated for nearly every direction they’ve gone. For a complete list of this act’s DMDB honors, check out the DMDB Music Maker Encyclopedia entry. Click here to see other acts’ best-of lists. image from gigslutz.co.uk Spotify Podcast: Check out the Dave’s Music Database podcast U2: Songs of Surrender based on this list. Debut: March 21, 2023, at 7pm CST. New episodes based on Dave’s Music Database lists are posted every Tuesday at 7pm CST.

Awards:

Top 100 Songs Dave’s Music Database lists are determined by song’s appearances on best-of lists, appearances on compilations and live albums by the featured act, and songs’ chart success, sales, radio airplay, streaming, and awards. DMDB Top 1%: 1. With or Without You (1987) 2. One (1991) 3. I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For (1987) 4. Beautiful Day (2000) 5. Pride (In the Name of Love) (1984) 6. Sunday Bloody Sunday (1983) 7. Where the Streets Have No Name (1987) DMDB Top 2%: 8. New Year’s Day (1983) 9. Vertigo (2004) DMDB Top 5%: 10. Mysterious Ways (1991) 11. Desire (1988) 12. I Will Follow (1980) 13. Sometimes You Can’t Make It on Your Own (2004) 14. Bad (1984) 15. Night and Day (1990) 16. Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of (2000) 17. Walk On (2000) 18. Angel of Harlem (1988) 19. Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me (1995) 20. Sweetest Thing (1987) 21. Even Better Than the Real Thing (1991) 22. Staring at the Sun (1997) 23. Electrical Storm (2002) DMDB Top 10%: 24. You’re the Best Thing About Me (2017) 25. Stand by Me (live with Bruce Springsteen, 1987) 26. Discotheque (1997) 27. The Saints Are Coming (with Green Day, 2006) 28. All I Want Is You (1988) 29. When Love Comes to Town (with B.B. King, 1988) 30. The Fly (1991) 31. Window in the Skies (2006) 32. Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses? (1991) 33. Theme from Mission: Impossible (Adam Clayton & Larry Mullen, Jr., 1996) 34. Get on Your Boots (2009) 35. Gloria (1981) 36. Stay (Faraway, So Close!) (1993) 37. Two Hearts Beat As One (1983) 38. Elevation (2000) 39. Numb (1993) 40. The Unforgettable Fire (1984) 41. City of Blinding Lights (2004) 42. God Part II (1988) 43. All Because of You (2004) DMDB Top 20%: 44. In God’s Country (1987) 45. Ordinary Love (2013) 46. Bullet the Blue Sky (1987) 47. Last Night on Earth (1997) 48. Magnificent (2009) 49. Everlasting Love (1989) 50. Invisible (2014) 51. Moment of Surender (2009) 52. Every Breaking Wave (2014) 53. Lemon (1993) 54. Miss Sarajevo (1995) 55. Until the End of the World (1991) 56. A Sort of Homecoming (1984) 57. Unchained Melody (1989) 58. One Tree Hill (1987) 59. Song for Someone (2014) 60. The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone) (2014) 61. I’ll Go Crazy if I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight (2009) 62. Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) (1987) Beyond the DMDB Top 20%: 63. 11 O’Clock Tick Tock (1980) 64. Spanish Eyes (1987) 65. Jesus Christ (1988) 66. Get Out of Your Own Way (2017) 67. The Ground Beneath Her Feet (2000) 68. Original of the Species (2004) 69. If God Will Send His Angels (1997) 70. Silver and Gold (1985) 71. October (1981) 72. All Along the Watchtower (live, 1987) 73. “40” (1983) 74. Fire (1981) 75. Trash, Trampoline, and the Party Girl (1982) 76. The Hands That Built America (2002) 77. Running to Stand Still (1987) 78. Out of Control (1979) 79. Dancing Barefoot (1989) 80. A Celebration (1982) 81. Please (1997) 82. Satellite of Love (1992) 83. Love Is Bigger Than Anything in Its Way (2017) 84. Surrender (1983) 85. Zooropa (1993) 86. Paint It Black (1992) 87. Stranded (Haiti Mon Amour) (Bono & the Edge with Jay-Z & Rihanna, 2010) 88. MLK (1984) 89. Three Sunrises (1985) 90. Red Hill Mining Town (1987) 91. Fortunate Son (1992) 92. Wire (1984) 93. Hallelujah Here She Comes (1988) 94. The Electric Co. (1980) 95. Your Song Saved My Life (2021) 96. Walk to the Water (1987) 97. A Room at the Heartbreak Hotel (1988) 98. Love Resuce Me (with U2, 1988) 99. Zoo Station (1991) 100. The First Time (1993) Resources and Related Links: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for U2 DMDB profile page for U2 Dave’s Music Database: “Acts’ Profile Pages and Best-of Lists” First posted 9/6/2017; updated 3/22/2023.