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| Birth Name(s) : Adam Clayton |
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Full Adam Clayton Biography
Adam Charles Clayton (born 13 March 1960 in Chinnor, Oxfordshire, England), is the bass player of the rock band U2. A British citizen, Clayton has resided in Dublin county since the time his family moved to Malahide when he was five years old in 1965. Clayton is well-known for his bass playing on songs such as "New Year's Day" and "With or Without You". He has worked on several solo projects throughout his career, such as his work with fellow band member Larry Mullen Jr. on the theme of 1996's Mission: Impossible. Clayton as a part of U2 has won 22 Grammy awards, more than any other rock artist.
Clayton is the eldest child of Brian and Jo Clayton, born on 13 March 1960 in Oxfordshire, England. When Clayton was five years old, his family moved from Oxfordshire to Malahide, near Dublin, where Clayton's sister Sarah and his brother Sebastian were born. The Clayton family became friends with the Evans family, with their sons Dick and Dave (more commonly known as The Edge), who were both in the original group, Feedback, that spawned U2.
In August 1989, Clayton made newspapers around the world when he was arrested in Dublin carrying a small amount of marijuana. However, he avoided conviction by making a large donation to charity, and has later been regretful, saying "It was my own fault. And I'm sure I was out of my head -- emotionally apart from anything else. But it is serious because it is illegal." Clayton has also had alcohol problems, which came to a head on 26 November 1993 when he was so hung over that he was unable to play that night's show in Sydney. However he gave up alcohol after that incident.
In 1996, after the groundbreaking Zoo TV Tour and Zooropa album, Clayton headed to New York with bandmate Mullen to receive formal training in the bass; until then Clayton had been entirely self-taught. During that period, he worked on U2's experimental album, released under the pseudonym "Passengers", entitled Original Soundtracks 1. That album featured is one of the few instances that Clayton appeared as a vocalist; he spoke the last verse of "Your Blue Room", the album's second single. While in New York, he collaborated with Mullen to re-record the Mission: Impossible soundtrack.
As a bass player, Adam Clayton is recognized for his unique playing style and rhythms that are apparent in many songs, most notably "New Year's Day", which evolved out of an attempt to play Visage's song "Fade to Grey", and "With or Without You". His style has been influenced by many different styles, such as Motown and reggae, and has evolved over his years in U2. He cites artists such as Paul Simonon of The Clash as influences on his musical style. When Clayton first joined the fledgling U2, he did not have any formal training in the bass. Consequently, his style developed without any formal training whatsoever until 1995. In the early years of U2, his bass was generally a simple part in 4/4 time. Bono said of Clayton's early bass playing, "Adam used to pretend he could play bass. He came round and started using words like action and fret and he had us baffled. He had the only amplifier so we never argued with him. We thought this guy must be a musician, he knows what he's talking about and then one day we discovered he wasn't playing the right notes, that's what's wrong, y'know?" However, as the group grew and evolved, his bass became more complicated, as is the case on 1987's The Joshua Tree and 1988's Rattle and Hum. He has continued to use these simple parts over the years, for example, 2000's "Beautiful Day", with a simple 8th-note part.
Clayton has sung on several occasions, for example, on the song "Endless Deep", the B-side to the single "Two Hearts Beat As One" from 1983, he made an appearance singing. He also spoke the last verse of the aforementioned "Your Blue Room". Clayton can be heard speaking on "Tomorrow ('96 Version)" (a rerecording of "Tomorrow" that he arranged) a song from U2's 1981 album October. He plays the guitar on a few occasions, most notably the song "40", where he and guitarist The Edge switch instruments. He also plays the introduction to "City of Blinding Lights" on the keyboard.
Clayton has used many different basses, but his most-often used basses are listed:
- Fender Precision Bass
- Fender Jazz Bass
- Gibson Thunderbird Bass
- Gibson Les Paul Triumph Bass
- Gibson Les Paul 70's Recording Bass, unknown model
- Lakland Joe Osborne Signature Bass
- Lakland Darryl Jones Signature Bass
- Auerswald Custom Bass
Throughout his career, Clayton has used both Precision and Jazz basses. His first bass, however, was a dark brown Ibanez copy. He uses Ashdown amplifiers and blue Herdim picks, as does bandmate The Edge. Clayton's Precision bass is modified with a Fender Jazz neck; in an interview with Bass Player magazine, he said that he prefers the Jazz bass neck because it is more "lady-like" and is a better fit in his left hand.
Clayton and U2 have won numerous awards in their career, including 22 Grammy awards, including those for Best Rock Duo or Group seven times, Album of the Year twice, Record of the Year twice, Song of the Year twice, and Best Rock Album twice. |
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