I know there has been alot of discontent about U2 being granted a place in the UK Music Hall of Fame, but even if I was looking at this objectively, I would have thought they deserved it.
They've been together for 25 years for one thing, and today they are still producing material that is selling millions of copies worldwide in hundreds of countries. Their albums have regularly ranked in the highest grossing albums of any specific year, and their Elevation tour topped the poll of highest grossing of the year. Their singles still enter in firmly in the top ten and their fan base ranges from 7 year olds to 70 year olds.
Their music has been revolutionary to an extent, as they were one of the first bands to openly embrace politics in their music, and pull it off well without critical overload. They were still young when Bono wrote 'Sunday Bloody Sunday', and no masterpiece by Thom Yorke or Chris Martin could match that song. Ever.
They've bounced back time and time again. They've recieved bad reviews and gone through bad times, then brushed them off and come back bigger and better than before, every time.
And, of course. They're still cool.
I can think of a lesser 80s band *coughduranduran* who are an embarassment next to them.