SAN FRANCISCO: Irish superstars U2 released their first album in five years for free on Apple’s iTunes Tuesday in a surprise, attention-grabbing step as the tech giant unveiled its latest smartphones.
At the much-anticipated launch event near San Francisco, U2 played a single from the new album — “Songs of Innocence” — which Apple announced it had sent out at no cost to half a billion iTunes customers around the world.
Apple CEO Tim Cook, who joined U2 frontman Bono on stage for a playful countdown to the unexpected announcement, described the move as “the largest album release of all time.”
Bono described the album, the band’s first since “No Line on the Horizon” in 2009, deeply personal and said the release served as “instant gratification.”
“From the very beginning, U2 have always wanted our music to reach as many people as possible, the clue is in our name I suppose — so today is kind of mind-blowing to us,” Bono said.
U2 releases new album for free in Apple surprise
U2 releases new album for free in Apple surprise
