U2 plays surprise Dublin concerts to mark 50th anniversary and announces album

Courtyard performance at Mount Temple

U2 marked fifty years since its formation on 25 September 2026 by returning to the Dublin school where the band members first assembled. Singer Bono (Paul Hewson), guitarist The Edge (David Evans), bassist Adam Clayton, and drummer Larry Mullen Jr. played a 45-minute set in the courtyard of Mount Temple Comprehensive School before an audience of approximately 1,000 students and staff members. The appearance commemorated 25 September 1976, when a 14-year-old Mullen pinned a handwritten notice to the school noticeboard seeking musicians to start a band. During the school performance, thirty-two young string instrumentalists from the national music education programme Music Generation joined the band on stage for their track "One". Bono addressed the role of the institution before the crowd.

“School is so important. We would never have met otherwise.”

Balcony concert at Bewley's Oriental Café

Crowds gathered in central Dublin after reports circulated that the four musicians would appear at Bewley's Oriental Café on Grafton Street. More than a thousand spectators assembled outside the venue and sang "Happy Birthday U2" before the group emerged onto the café balcony for a one-hour set. The performance began with the 1980 track "I Will Follow" and featured early catalogue staples including "With or Without You" and "Out of Control". The band also debuted live renditions of new music and paid tribute to the late local musician Glen Hansard when The Edge performed "Falling Slowly". German fan Kathrin Schanz, who travelled from Germany for the event, witnessed the performance from the street below.

“It was crazy to be there.”

Previews and the upcoming album

Beyond the public appearances, U2 staged a five-track preview at Club 22, the modern name of the former MacGonagles venue where the quartet played early career shows. The private performance took place in front of family members, friends, and journalists to showcase songs from their sixteenth studio release, "Carnaval de Luz". Scheduled for release on 13 November 2026, the record is the band's first collection of original material in nine years. Track listings include the lead rock single "Silencio", the summer track "Streets of Dreams", and a collaboration with Rosalía titled "The Mirror Maker". The album concludes with "Torn", a duet between Bono and country singer Dolly Parton, recorded as Parton's final vocal session before her death in the United States.

Five decades of recording history

The Dublin events retraced a trajectory that began in Mullen's kitchen in Artane under the original moniker Feedback, followed briefly by The Hype, before adopting the name U2 for their 1980 debut album. Over five decades, the band accumulated 22 Grammy Awards, beginning in 1988 after "The Joshua Tree" produced Billboard number-one hits such as "With or Without You" and "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For". U2 remains the only band to win the Grammy for Album of the Year twice, earned induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005, and has sold more than 175 million records worldwide.