David Howell Evans (born 8 August 1961), known by his stage name the Edge or simply Edge, is an Irish and British musician, singer, and songwriter. He is best known as the lead guitarist, keyboardist, and backing vocalist of the rock band U2. A member of the group since its inception, he has recorded 15 studio albums with them as well as one solo record. His understated style of guitar playing, a signature of U2's music, is distinguished by chiming timbres, use of rhythmic delay, drone notes, harmonics, and an extensive use of effects units.
Born in England to Welsh parents and raised in Ireland, the Edge formed the band that would become U2 with his classmates at Mount Temple Comprehensive School and his elder brother Dik in 1976. Inspired by the ethos of punk rock and its basic arrangements, the group began to write its own material. They eventually became one of the most successful acts in popular music, with albums such as 1987's The Joshua Tree and 1991's Achtung Baby. Over the years, the Edge has experimented with various guitar effects and introduced influences from several genres of music into his own style, including American roots music, industrial music, and alternative rock. With U2, the Edge has also played keyboards, produced their records Zooropa (1993) and Songs of Surrender (2023), and occasionally served as co-lyricist. The Edge met his second wife, Morleigh Steinberg, through her collaborations with the band.
As a member of U2 and as an individual, the Edge has campaigned for human rights and philanthropic causes. He co-founded Music Rising, a charity to support musicians affected by Hurricane Katrina. He has collaborated with U2 bandmate Bono on several projects, including songs for Roy Orbison, Tina Turner, and Martin Garrix, and the soundtracks to the musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark and the Royal Shakespeare Company's London stage adaptation of A Clockwork Orange. As a member of U2, the Edge has won 22 Grammy Awards and has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Several music publications have ranked the Edge among the greatest guitarists of all time.
David Howell Evans was born on 8 August 1961 at the Barking Maternity Hospital in Barking, Essex, the second child of Welsh parents Garvin and Gwenda Evans. Both of his parents were from Llanelli. His father was an engineer who worked for the local electricity board, and subsequently worked for the electronics company Plessey. Evans has an elder brother called Richard (often called Dik) and a younger sister called Gillian, and is a cousin of actress Juliet Aubrey. The family initially lived in Chadwell Heath. Around 1962, Garvin was offered a promotion which took the family to Dublin. During his childhood in Dublin, Evans talked in two different accents, using a Welsh accent at home and an Irish accent whenever he was outside. He later said, "The reason for this dual identity was mainly to be understood by my peers but also to be accepted." He later commented that there were times of frustration for him growing up in a Catholic country, and this may have played a part in his musical development. Evans has retained his British citizenship into adulthood.
Evans received his initial formal education at St. Andrew's National School in Malahide. As a child, he also received piano and guitar lessons and practised music with Dik. He received his first guitar at the age of seven when his mother bought him a Spanish guitar. He did not know how to properly tune it or hold it and referred to it as "little more than a toy", but he was fascinated by how cool it was. At the age of nine, the "first proper guitar" came to the Evans household when his mother purchased an old acoustic guitar at a jumble sale for a pound. He and Dik both experimented with this instrument, replacing the rusty wire strings with nylon ones and learning to play it properly. The Edge said in 1982 of this early experimentation, "Me and my elder brother Dik both played it, plonking away, all very rudimentary stuff, open chords and all that."
While the Evans brothers were at Mount Temple Comprehensive School in Dublin in 1976, they went along to a meeting in response to an advert posted by another pupil, Larry Mullen Jr., on the school's noticeboard seeking musicians to form a new band with him. Among the several other pupils who also responded to the note were Paul "Bono" Hewson and Adam Clayton. The band went through a number of reformations before becoming known as U2 in March 1978 (Richard Evans having left before this to join another band, leaving his younger brother as the lead guitarist).
Early in the band's career, Evans was given the nickname "the Edge" by members of the Lypton Village surrealist street gang to which Bono belonged. The nickname is commonly believed to be derived from the angular shape of Evans' head. However, the origin of the name is disputed and other theories include a description of his guitar playing and his preference for not becoming fully involved and therefore remaining on the edge of things.
U2 began its public performance life in small venues in Dublin in 1977, occasionally playing at other venues elsewhere in Ireland. In December 1979, they performed their first concerts outside Ireland, in London, and in 1980 began extensive touring across the British Isles, developing a following. Their debut album Boy was released in 1980.
In 1981, leading up to the October Tour, the Edge came very close to leaving U2 for religious reasons, but he decided to stay. During this period, he became involved with a group called the Shalom Fellowship, with which Bono and Mullen were also involved. Shortly after deciding to remain with the band, he wrote a piece of music that later became "Sunday Bloody Sunday".
The Edge received his first production credit on the band's 1993 album Zooropa for the extra level of responsibility he assumed in its creation.
In 2024, the Edge co-directed V-U2 An Immersive Concert Film with his wife Morleigh Steinberg. The film documents U2's 2023–2024 concert residency U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere and will screen exclusively at Sphere.
In addition to his regular role within U2, the Edge has also recorded with such artists as Johnny Cash, B. B. King, Tina Turner, Ronnie Wood, Jah Wobble, Holger Czukay, Jay-Z, and Rihanna. Through his working relationships with producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, the Edge connected with Michael Brook (the creator of the infinite guitar) and collaborated with him on the score to the film Captive (1986). The soundtrack included the song "Heroine", the vocal of which was co-written and sung by a young Sinéad O'Connor. Larry Mullen Jr played drums on the track.
The Edge has collaborated with U2 bandmate Bono on numerous musical projects outside of the group. They wrote the musical score for the Royal Shakespeare Company's London stage adaptation of A Clockwork Orange, which opened in 1990. The duo also wrote the eponymous theme song of the 1995 James Bond film GoldenEye, which was performed by Tina Turner. The Edge and Bono ventured into theatre again when they composed the music and lyrics for the musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, which opened in 2011. A single titled "Rise Above 1" by Reeve Carney, featuring Bono and the Edge, was released digitally from the musical's soundtrack. The music video was released on 28 July 2011. The Edge and Bono collaborated with Dutch DJ Martin Garrix on the song "We Are the People", which served as the official song of the UEFA Euro 2020 tournament and was released on 14 May 2021.
The Edge wrote the theme song for seasons one and two of The Batman, which aired in 2004 and 2005 respectively.
In 2008, the Edge participated in the Davis Guggenheim-directed documentary film It Might Get Loud. The film examines the history of the electric guitar, focusing on the careers and styles of the Edge, Jimmy Page, and Jack White. The film premiered on 5 September 2008 at the Toronto International Film Festival
On 29 April 2016, the Edge performed in the Sistine Chapel as part of a conference for the Angiogenesis Foundation, making him the first rock artist to stage a concert at the site.