Bono says maintaining U2 band dynamic has ‘got harder’ because of ‘male ego’

Louis ChiltonFri, November 6, 2026 at 1:51 PM UTC

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Bono pictured in 2023 (Getty Images)

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Bono has said that the internal equilibrium of the band U2 has got “harder” to maintain as time has passed, due in part to “male ego”.

The Irish rock band have retained all four core members – Bono, the Edge, Adam Clayton, and Larry Mullen Jr – throughout a five-decade career in the music industry.

They attribute their harmony to a democratic understanding within the band, referred to by Bono as a “soviet”, which includes the equal sharing of songwriting credits and a joint process on decision-making.

Speaking to The Guardian in a new interview, Bono admitted that maintaining this arangement has “got harder as time’s gone on”.

“Because, as Marianne Faithfull would say in situations like this: ‘Never underestimate the male ego, darling,’” he added. “Students of male psychology will tell you that as men lose power, be that physical, sexual, mental, you make up for it by flexing.”

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Speaking about their division of power, drummer and percussionist Mullan noted: “I think if we really understood how it worked, we’d have moved out of the rock’n’roll business and into political advice. You have to be able to go into a room and share and be open to most circumstances.”

Elsewhere in the interview, the members also discuss the band’s longevity – and rumours of a potential breakup that followed their 2023-24 Las Vegas Sphere residency.

The band played the run of gigs without the involvement of Mullen, who was at the time recovering from neck surgery.

U2 are celebrating their 50th anniversary after being formed in 1976 (Getty)

Guitarist the Edge, real name David Evans, told the outlet that “U2 is the four members of the band.

“I think that doesn’t mean we would stop making music if somebody left, but I think it would be a very different kind of group,” he added. “We definitely would acknowledge that it was a U2 part two, rather than the same thing. I’m not sure we’d be sitting here if Larry wasn’t ready to play.”

U2 rose to prominence in the 1980s, becoming one of the biggest and most commercially successful bands in the history of rock music.

Their 16th studio album, Carnaval de Luz, will be released on 13 November. The record constitutes U2’s first album of new original material since Songs of Experience in 2017, and will be followed by a tour next year.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”