Adam Clayton

Adam Charles Clayton (born 13 March 1960) is an English-Irish musician who is the bass guitarist of the rock band U2. Born in Oxfordshire, England, he lived in County Dublin, Ireland after his family moved to Malahide in 1965, when he was five years old. Clayton attended Mount Temple Comprehensive School, where he met schoolmates with whom he co-founded U2 in 1976. A member of the band since its inception, he has recorded 15 studio albums with U2.

Clayton's bass playing style employs "harmonic syncopation", giving the music a driving rhythm. He has worked on several solo projects throughout his career, such as his work with fellow band member Larry Mullen Jr. on the 1996 version of the "Theme from Mission: Impossible". As a member of U2, Clayton has received 22 Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005.

Adam Charles Clayton, the oldest child of Brian and Jo Clayton, was born on 13 March 1960 in Chinnor, Oxfordshire, England. His father was a pilot with the Royal Air Force and later as a commercial pilot for Aer Lingus, and his mother was a former airline stewardess. When Clayton was four years old, his father worked in Kenya as a pilot with East African Airways, with the family residing in Nairobi; Clayton regards this as the happiest period of his childhood. In 1965, the family moved to Malahide, north County Dublin, Ireland, where Clayton's brother Sebastian was born. The Clayton family became friends with the Evans family (including their son David Evans ("The Edge"), who later co-founded the band U2 with Clayton).

When he was eight years old, Clayton was sent to board at Castle Park School in Dalkey in south county Dublin. Not being sports-oriented, Clayton did not enjoy the school or respond well to its ethos; he found it difficult to settle socially there. He was interested in pop music, which students were not allowed to listen to. He joined the School's "Gramphone Society", which met to listen to classical music. He also took piano lessons for a short time. His introduction to the world of popular music was around age 10, listening to rock operas such as Jesus Christ Superstar and Hair, and other material that was midway between classical and popular music.

At age 13, Clayton attended St Columba's College in Rathfarnham, Dublin. Here he made friends with other pupils who were enthusiastic about the pop/rock music acts of the period, including the Who, the Beatles, Grateful Dead, and Carole King. In response, he bought a £5 acoustic guitar from a junk shop near the Dublin quays, and began learning elementary chords and songs. John Leslie, who shared a room with Clayton at St. Columba's, persuaded him to join in with a school band where Clayton played the bass guitar for the first time. His mother purchased a bass for him when he was 14 when Clayton promised that he would commit himself to learn to play the instrument.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.