U2 X-Radio Starting July 1

Original Story by Aaron J. Sams (2020-06-30)

Note: This article contains information about a story that is breaking, and we are actively updating the content as new material appears.

U2 X-Radio is coming to SiriusXM tomorrow on channel 32. This morning, the station went live with some advertising for the upcoming station including a short jingle by the band, and soundbites from The Edge, Adam Clayton and Bono. The station will launch in full tomorrow, July 1, at 3pm ET according to the channel on SiriusXM. Available now on the station is a 3:30 long audio mix featuring voiceovers, music and sound effects, as well as a short jingle for the station. The station was labeled U2 X-Radio and the advertising started around 5am ET today.

  • “Dublin Calling, this is The Edge, connecting to the SiriusXM satellite, stand by U2X Radio is on the air” (The Edge)
  • “Helo this is U2’s Adam Clayton, with an invitation for you to join us on U2X Radio, on SiriusXM” (Adam)
  • “This is Bono. Activating transmission. Dublin to North America. U2X Radio” (Bono)
  • “You will note there are things out of tune and things falling apart that’s what makes it good.” (Larry)

The audio is mixed with heavily remixed versions of U2’s songs, including the alarm from “The Wanderer,” and bits of “Beautiful Day,” “Elevation,” “Desire,” “Zooropa” and sound effects of a fly buzzing, typing on a keyboard, a modem connecting, Bono echoing “U2X Radio” and other sounds.

Also included is a little short jingle recorded by U2 where they sing “U2X Radio” over and over.

The station will launch with varied content including some of the following programs:

  • “Plays U2”: Friends and fellow artists talk about and play their favourite U2 songs, starting with Matthew McConaughey.
  • “Desire”: U2’s fans host their own show, telling personal stories and sharing their favourite songs.
  • “Discothèque”: A dance show of U2 remixes and club mixes, hosted by Paul Oakenfold.
  • “Bono Calling”: A weekly exploration of “Seven questions about life, work, hope and the future” with first episode featuring Chris Rock.
  • “Elevation”: Weekly show celebrating good news and ideas from science, medicine, faith and the arts, hosted by Irish DJ John Kelly. (First guest, civil rights attorney Bryan Stevenson)
  • “The Dan Hegarty Show”: Irish Radio DJ Dan Hegarty hosts a show where he plays his favourite U2 songs along with tracks from new and breaking Irish artists.
  • “Fan Letters”: Bono reads his letters to the artists who inspired him. Featuring the artists who inspired him at the start to the musicians who inspire him still.
  • “Even Better Than the Real Thing”: A show featuring U2 cover songs, plus U2 covering their heroes.
  • “Close to the Edge”: Edge speaks with fellow musicians and artists about the creative process. (Including interviews with David Byrne, guitarist Carlos Alomar, Tom Morello, Joe Walsh and Noel Gallagher.)
  • “On the Road”: Adam and The Edge speak about the artists who have supported U2 on the road over four decades.
  • Recordings where the band interview each other.

The station will kick off with a two hour mixtape of songs chosen by the band. More information about the content of the station and a new interviews with the Edge are available at Billboard and Rolling Stone now. In that interview with Billboard The Edge also mentions, “And also I’ve been making some experimental, tiny little pieces of music I hope we’ll end up using on the station. So it’s an opportunity for these short-form composition ideas I haven’t done in the past, but I’m kind of enjoying making. I think we’ll be doing custom compositions and ideas for the channel.” In the interview with Rolling Stone, The Edge mentions “There are recordings from way, way back, but what we often had back in the day was just the output from the board. That basically means it’s got just the dry output of each microphone. There are no recordings of the crowd or the atmosphere of the venue itself. Some of those were done as references only. That said, I think there’s an extensive vault of concerts in the last 15 years that we can draw from that have been recorded with audience mics and all the stuff you’d want to do a really great concert mix. We have a lot to choose from.”

The team behind U2 X-Radio representing the band includes Gavin Friday, creative director, artist and musician and also friend and radio host Bill Flanagan, who wrote U2 at the End of the World.

SiriusXM is a subscription based satellite radio station. It is available in the United States and Canada. Additionally, content will appear on Pandora, which is a music streaming service available to residents of the USA. U2.Com is announcing that there will be some content made to those who cannot subscribe to SiriusXM (See below). At this time SiriusXM is not available outside of North America, although some have had success listening to it via streaming outside of that region. A USA or Canada address is required to sign up for a subscription. SiriusXM currently lists “SiriusXM provides service in the U.S., Puerto Rico, and Canada. For security reasons, we must currently block access to our streaming service from selected countries. We may, in the near future, enable access to SiriusXM Streaming from these locations. We apologize for any inconvenience.”

In a story published by U2.Com they mention: “Don’t live in the US or Canada? Details still to be confirmed but a monthly highlights show will bring the best of the channel to listeners in the rest of the world. More news as soon as we get it.” We will let you know when we hear more about this option.

The jingle that has been recorded for the station can be heard in the below tweet:

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