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'The Joshua Tree' Turns 30, U2 To Celebrate With Special Tour

<em>The Joshua Tree</em>'s iconic album cover.
Courtesy of the artist
The Joshua Tree's iconic album cover.

The Joshua Tree, the album that made U2 global megastars, turns 30 this year. To mark the milestone, the band will perform the seminal album in its entirety at several live performances scheduled throughout the year, including a headlining spot at Bonnaroo in June.

Originally released in March 1987, The Joshua Tree shot to No. 1 in dozens of countries. With anthemic songs like "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For," "With Or Without You" and "Where The Streets Have No Name," the album transformed U2 into one of the world's most popular bands.

"Recently I listened back to The Joshua Tree for the first time in nearly 30 years," U2 frontman Bono said in a press release announcing the new tour. "It's quite an opera. A lot of emotions which feel strangely current — love, loss, broken dreams, seeking oblivion, polarization. I've sung some of these songs a lot, but never all of them [before this new tour]."

The Joshua Tree tour begins May 12 in Vancouver and ends Aug. 1 in Brussels. The Lumineers, OneRepublic, Mumford & Sons and Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds will open select performances.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Robin Hilton is a producer and co-host of the popular NPR Music show All Songs Considered.