Are U2 drug free?

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Mirror Ball Man

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Have U2 always been drug free? I have read tons of interviews with bono and they claim to be drug free, and the main reasons are because many of their friends tried heroin for instance and got addicted. Bad and Running to stand still are great examples about that.

But im not really talking class-a drugs, what about cannabis? Is there any info/pics about them smoking cannabis?
 
I swore in one of the '80s Rolling Stone U2 articles or interviews, there was a mention of Bono smoking hash, but for the life of me, I could never find it, so my brain probably just made it up.

But I think it's a little naive to think they've never done anything in that neighborhood.
 
They’ve never said they’re drug free, at any time. I think if you believe that they haven’t messed around with all sorts, you’re in Santa Claus/Tooth Fairy territory.

I’d say with age/changed lifestyles you could probably bet against the nutty stuff these days. Weed might well be a very different story. And I’d think that Bono would be keenly aware that he’s not just a frontman for a rock band anymore, and him getting caught with his pants down would put a lot at risk.
 
Well, both Bono and Edge have done mushrooms for sure. We know about Edge from the Flanagan book, and Bono from this Hot Press interview of Tricky in 2001:


Hot Press:Are there any celebrity musicians you do get along with?

Tricky: Actually, I get on with Bono real well. He’s one of the funniest people I’ve ever met. He’s nothing like what I first expected. For one of the biggest rock stars in the world, he’s so not a celebrity. He’s almost like a comedian celebrity. I’ve never seen anyone like him. I took mushrooms with him in Jamaica and I was just rolling on the floor, man. There aren’t many people I’d just listen to telling stories, but when I’m with him, I can sit down and listen to him for two or three hours and just not say anything. You know, he can do impressions of people and shit. He cracks me up. I just like Bono’s personality, full stop. What I like about him is that he doesn’t hate anything. Like me, I hate everything. His attitude is to be cool with everybody. I sometimes wish I could be more like that.

Also, in the In Conversation book, Bono talks about a period around the time of Pop when he and Edge embraced their hedonistic side. He doesn't spell it out, but it's pretty clear he's referring to some recreational drug use.

They're rock stars!
 
I'm pretty positive that if you read any of Bill Flanaghan's book about the Zoo TV tour or that period 1994-1998 you would be in no doubt that they were all indulging in all kinds of things. They were big into their clubbing at that time and I'm sure with the company they were keeping (supermodels, film stars, DJs) they did their fair share. They've just been refreshingly quiet about it and obviously managed to keep it all under control, so good for them.

Plus my mate swears that Bono's on coke during the Zoo TV Sydney encore. :wink:
 
From Bono's 2005 RS interview: (in reference to the nineties)

WENNER:
So you got into, like, the usual rock & roll problems of money and drugs and success.
BONO:
Well, I’m not gonna explain them in detail. I just – I had a taste of the pizza.
 
Not once have I ever heard any of them state they were drug free. But in the same breath most of what you'll hear is pure speculation and nothing more. They've mentioned times about smoking pot before a show back in the late 70's and it didn't go so well, Edge's shroom story is pretty well documented, Adam's pot bust was pretty well documented and beyond that there isn't much else to go on except specuation.
 
there's also a story of Larry learning to roll a joint during the POP recording sessions.. with the help of Howie B
 
taste and touch and feel as much as a man can before he repents. i went out wandering. wa wa wa wa wa wandering.
 
I don't think they regularly do drugs. If they did their albums wouldn't be so good. Look what happened to The Stone Roses and Oasis. Brain Damage. :giggle:
 
My question is whether they've done anything a step up from pot or shrooms (I guess those are a given).

Like... LSD or any of the sort...
 
My question is whether they've done anything a step up from pot or shrooms (I guess those are a given).

Like... LSD or any of the sort...

I don't think so but then again I have no proof. If they did go to more extremes I'd be surprised, however I wouldn't be surprised to find out they have done drugs before. As has been said, it's been told before about Edge's mushroom incident and so on.

Ever notice how the questions about U2 just seem to cycle endlessly? Nothin new under the sun, I guess..

I hear ya... :crack:
 
My question is whether they've done anything a step up from pot or shrooms (I guess those are a given).

Like... LSD or any of the sort...

Well the speculation from around ZOO TV and Pop hints at coke and ecstasy. I would be surprised if they ever hit anything harder than that, well maybe Adam..
 
A while back I read an interview with Moby (remember him?) who said he was in a club and saw Bono snorting coke. I think this was in the late Nineties. Maybe he was talking out of his ass. All we do know is they've dabbled in stuff when they were younger, but beyond that its all pointless speculation.
Although it's safe to say U2 have never gone into Rolling Stones / Depeche Mode territory.
 
Who cares really? As Gvox said, there is a lengthy thread about this before.

If they can make a song like Discotheque.......then I'll let you put 2 and 2 together.
 
Wasn't there in U2byU2 also a piece on their first trip to the US and them doing Pot there in a tiny hotel room? :hmm: I vaguely recall that.

Oh and the most obvious one being Adam getting busted for marijuana posession on august 6, 1989 in Dublin.


:shifty: yes there's a reason why I remember that exact day. What a brilliant day in history that was.
 
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