Adam Clayton - Bassist of the Rock Band U2, Timeline and Family

Adam Clayton was born on 13 March 1960 to Irish parents Brian and Jo, at Chinnor, Oxfordshire, England. His father was a pilot, and due to his father’s job, Adam along with his family had to relocate to Kenya. He later moved to Dublin, Ireland, at the age of five. His Siblings Sarah and Sebastian were also born in the same town.

At the tender age of eight, Adam was sent to a boarding school named ‘Castle Park’ in Darkley, Ireland. Adam disliked this environment since he was refused access to television and pop music.

Adam later moved to St Columbia’s College, for his higher studies. During his time here, Adam nurtured the craft of playing guitar. He bought his first bass guitar for a mere 5 euros. On a friend’s suggestion, he also formed a band here. Adam played the bass guitar in this band.

Due to consistently poor grades, Adam was asked to leave the school. He then joined the Mount Temple Contemporary School in Dublin. He met his band mates Paul Hewson and Larry Mullen Jr while studying here. Mullen had posted an advertisement, inviting music enthusiasts to contact him for the formation of a music band.

Clayton thus met Mullen and the others namely Ivan McCormick, Dave and Dik Evans. The band was first christened ’Feedback’. Later the name was changed, and they came to be known as ‘U2’. Clayton also served as the first manager of this band before the band hired the experienced Paul McGuinness as its Manager.

The band's first two albums, 'Boy' (1980) and 'October' (1981) were positively received by the audiences.

The band's third album, 'War' which came out in 1983 was a huge success. The album's political bent strongly appealed to the audiences. The band was particularly out-spoken on human-right issues. The band's political slant continued in the next album, 'The Unforgettable Fire' which was released in 1984.

In 1987, the band came out with the album, 'The Joshua Tree'. The album was an instant bestseller and has been hailed as a masterpiece. In the wake of the huge success of the album, the band went on a worldwide tour.

In 1995, Clayton travelled to New York to get formally trained in bass guitar. Adam’s instrument skills until then, were entirely self taught. His band mate Mullen had accompanied Clayton on this trip.

In the 1990’s, Adam experimented singing, by mouthing the last line of the song ‘Your Blue Room’, which was part of an album called ‘Original Soundtracks 1’. U2 even named itself ‘Passengers’ for this album, since the music was experimental.

In 1996, while Clayton was still stationed in New York along with band mate Mullen, the theme of the Hollywood blockbuster movie ‘Mission Impossible’ was composed. It went on to become one of the most popular pieces of music, and was acclaimed worldwide.

The song ‘No Line in The Horizon’, from the album of the same name, is apparently considered to be Clayton’s best work in his musical journey. This album which released in 2009, was well received by audiences and critics alike.

Other works of Adam which have been widely praised include ‘Mysterious Ways’, ‘Bullet The Blue Sky’, ‘Magnificent’, and ‘Get On Your Boots’.

In 1995, Clayton and his other band mates won a ‘Grammy Award’ in the ‘Best Music Video’ category for ‘U2: Zoo TV Live from Sydney’. This also happens to be one of U2’s most acclaimed work.

In 1996, the band U2 won an ‘ASCAP Award’ for their composition ‘Hold me, thrill me, kiss me, kill me’ from the movie ‘Batman Forever’.

The music composed for the movie ‘Gangs OF New York’ won the band a lot of accolades. In 2003, their work in the movie fetched them a ‘Golden Globe’ award. They were also nominated for an ‘Oscar’ and an ‘OFTA Award’ for the same movie.

U2 won the ‘Capri Award’ for their composition ‘Ordinary Love’ from the movie ‘Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom’ in 2013.

The same movie even fetched them a ‘Golden Globe’ in 2014, and a nomination for an Oscar in the ‘Best Achievement In The Music Written For Motion Pictures’ category.

During his school days when U2 was called ‘Feedback’, Clayton would show up in an Afghan coat and sunglasses. Thus, he was also popular for his sense of style, rather than just his skills as a bassist.

Clayton was caught possessing Marijuana at Dublin, in 1989. However, he donated 25000 Euros in charity, as per the judge’s suggestion, to avoid being a convict.

In the 1990’s, Adam missed one of his band’s gigs during their tour of Australia. He was apparently drunk so heavily that he couldn’t perform on stage. This is one of the episodes of Adam’s life which he regrets.

Clayton was also famous for his image as a ‘Playboy’. He has dated numerous women, including supermodel Naomi Campbell in the past before finally tying the knot with Mariana Teixeira De Carvalho, a lady of Brazilian origin, in 2013.

Clayton’s former assistant Carol Hawkins was convicted in 2012. She had apparently robbed his bank account around 181 times, and looted close to 2,869,275 Euros worth of Clayton’s wealth.