U2: Christian Rock Band Is World’s Biggest Rock Hand

Before U2 hit it big, on their 1983 album War they included a song lifted directly from Psalm 40 and didn’t bother to disguise it: The song was called “40.” It was a signature anthem, and the boys used to close out shows with it. By the late ’80s, U2 became the biggest rock band on earth — a position they have held ever since, with no real competition unless you count Bruce Springsteen and his E-Street crew as a band. Hitting their peak with the album The Joshua Tree, they addressed Jesus Christ in 1987’s “With or Without You”— “see the thorn twist in your side” — and in “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” delivered what one scholar declared the most successful hymn of recent decades.

Is U2 a “secret Christian” band, as the New Yorker once asked? No, they’re a joyfully, proudly outspoken one. Their Christianity is about as secret as Elton John’s sexuality.

About the Author

Kyle Smith

Kyle Smith is the film critic for the Wall Street Journal.

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Before U2 hit it big, on their 1983 album War they included a song lifted directly from Psalm 40 and didn’t bother to disguise it: The song was called “40.” It was a signature anthem, and the boys used to close out shows with it. By the late ’80s, U2 became the biggest rock band on earth — a position they have held ever since, with no real competition unless you count Bruce Springsteen and his E-Street crew as a band. Hitting their peak with the album The Joshua Tree, they addressed Jesus Christ in 1987’s “With or Without You”— “see the thorn twist in your side” — and in “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” delivered what one scholar declared the most successful hymn of recent decades.

Is U2 a “secret Christian” band, as the New Yorker once asked? No, they’re a joyfully, proudly outspoken one. Their Christianity is about as secret as Elton John’s sexuality.