Name: U2
Age: Three decades old and still young
Nationality: Irish
Claim to fame: Finally enters the R&R’s Hall of Fame

LAST Monday, when Bruce Springsteen inducted U2 into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, a ballroom full of celebrities cheered the band that is as well known for its powerful music as well as for its political and social activism. And when the group performed some of their biggest hits, I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For with Springsteen himself joining in — everyone from celebrities like Catherine Zeta-Jones to stiff-neck industry folk stood-up and cheered them on.

The spiritually-minded Irish group, as well-known for their hits as for the number of social causes they zealously advocate, were praised by Springsteen as one that “wanted to lay claim not only to this world but had their eyes on the next one too.”

Artistes are only eligible for the Hall of Fame after 25 years of their first recording, so inductees are usually well past their prime when being honoured, unlike U2 that is all geared to begin a world tour later this month that is expected to be a sell-out.

The Dublin quartet — Bono, guitarist The Edge, bassist Adam Clayton and drummer and heartthrob Larry Mullin Jr. — broke through with 1987’s The Joshua Tree and became one of the world’s most successful rock acts, with recordings and elaborately-staged tours which sought to always explore new ground. Founded in Dublin in 1978, U2 penned political songs such as Sunday Bloody Sunday, Pride, about civil-rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., and uplifting rockers like Where the Streets Have No Name, With or Without You, and their recent hit Vertigo. As well known for their sweeping sound as for their grandiose statements about politics and religion, U2 are rock & roll crusaders believing deeply in rock’s potential for revolution, and don’t care if they appear foolish in the process.

U2’s star attraction is clearly their charismatic singer Bono, whose work on behalf of Africa’s poor has also earned him status as a political statesman. He has founded DATA (Debt, Aid, Trade for Africa) to solve the financial and health crisis in Africa and has worked to put it onto the agenda of the world’s most powerful people.

U2 has, with a few bumps along the way, managed the nearly unprecedented feat of being musically — and politically — relevant for the past three decades and many more years to come. — S.M. Nasir Younus