Born on March 13: Adam Clayton (U2), between shadow and brilliance

Irish at heart like his U2 bandmates, he was born in the UK in 1960 because his father was a pilot for the RAF. He still holds dual nationality.

After another assignment in Kenya where Adam Clayton spent his early years, the family settled in Dublin in 1965. As a teenager, in a very Catholic country with a strict education, he rebelled and wasn't immune to the hippie movement.

As often happens, it was a seemingly insignificant trigger that shaped the rest of his life. In 1974, for his fourteenth birthday, his parents gave him a cheap bass guitar that become his instrument of choice. It's a well-known part of U2's history: Paul Hewson (Bono), Larry Mullen Jr, Dave Evans (The Edge), and Adam Clayton met on the benches of the Mount Temple Comprehensive School in their neighbourhood through an ad placed on the school noticeboard by the future drummer in 1976. Hundreds of bands have met this way or through special pages in popular music weeklies such as Melody Maker.

While many bassists remain quietly in the shadows, Adam has always enjoyed the limelight. He attracts attention almost as much as the singer and guitarist of the band.

His playing, often described as sober and efficient, leaves its mark on some of U2's most iconic tracks such as "Until The End Of The World", "With Or Without You" and especially "One" on the album "Achtung Baby" (1991). In an interview with Bass Player magazine (dedicated to fans of the four-string), he said a few years ago, with a certain lucidity: "We always respected a basic rule - it was probably an excellent one - which was to only highlight one instrument at a time. In almost all cases, it was The Edge's guitar, of course".

Except for the James Bond theme "Mission Impossible" (1996) in collaboration with Larry Mullen Jr, there are very few nominal traces of his work. He has collaborated on albums by Robbie Robertson, Daniel Lanois and Nancy Griffith but always with the same discretion. A brilliant bassist indeed but indisputably secret...

(MH with AK - Photo: © Etienne Tordoir)

Photo: Adam Clayton with U2 on the stage at the Werchter festival on July 4, 1982