Ireland’s most famous rock band U2 are to go their separate ways, the Irish People has learned.
The Dublin foursome, whose career has spanned more than 25 years, are to take “an extended break” at the end of their current Vertigo World Tour.
The tour ends in America on December 19 but they are expected to announce a series of dates for Japan and Australia that will carry on into the New Year.
After that, however, it is not known when fans can expect to see the supergroup in action again. The band have been together since they met at school in 1976.
A perfectly placed source close to the group confirmed the decision has been taken by the band to pursue solo projects.
This will be the first time the multi-millionaire musicians have decided to work outside of the group.
However, the same source said the break did not mean the band had decided to split altogether.
And he denied point blankly that there had been any falling out between band members Bono, Edge, Larry and Adam.
The source said: “The band have discussed the situation during the present tour and have decided to give each other a bit of time and space.
“This has been one of the longest and most exhausting tours the band have ever undertaken.
“There’s certainly not a split in the camp or any bad feeling towards each other – U2 are as solid as ever.
“It’s just that the band have a number of solo projects they want to pursue and they need time to do them.”
It’s believed the decision for the extended break was taken by the band along with their manage Paul McGuiness.
It centres around a desire by lead singer Bono, who wants to pursue a number of global projects.
His well-publicised Drop The Debt campaign took up huge amounts of his time as he crossed the globe encouraging governments to wipe the debt of poorer states.
With Bono wanting to pursue his humanitarian goal, other members including Edge want to go down different routes.
It is understood the U2 lead guitarist wants to get involved in a number of other musical projects with different artists.
Meanwhile Adam Clayton, the only single member of the band, wants to pursue his passion of travelling.
It is not known what drummer Larry Mullen plans to do during the extended break.
Lead singer Bono is already on the record as saying the group will know when it is time to call it a day.
The band have been on the road with the present Vertigo tour since March, when they opened in San Diego.
Since then the group have played over 150 dates including three sell-out shows in Croke Park in June.
The source revealed that an official announcement on the decision could be made as early as the beginning of 2006. “There has been a lot of rumour – especially after the three Croke Park concerts – about the group splitting for good.
“The guys are not splitting up but they will definitely be taking a break from the rock world.
“They’ve worked their backsides off on this tour and so have their support crew. It’s not the end of U2 – it’s only the beginning. They’ll be back. We don’t know when but chances are they’ll be bigger than ever,” said the source.
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