Years before a U2 album materializing on your iPhone was a cause for concern, the Irish rockers teamed with Apple for a very unique collaboration.
On Oct. 26, 2004, U2 and the computer giant unveiled a special edition model of the iPod, cast in black with a red click wheel and featuring engraved signatures of Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen, Jr. on its casing. At 20 gigabytes of memory, it could hold about 5,000 songs, including the group's then-newest album How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb. The U2 iPod also came with a $50 coupon for The Complete U2, a "digital box set" that included all of the band's album's up to that point plus rare and unreleased material - more than 400 tracks in all.
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And of course, who can forget the band appearing in one of the company's classic "silhouette" ads, soundtracked to Bomb's lead single "Vertigo."
“We want our audience to have a more intimate online relationship with the band, and Apple can help us do that,” lead singer Bono said in a very of-its-time statement. “With iPod and iTunes, Apple has created a crossroads of art, commerce and technology which feels good for both musicians and fans.”
In 2014, three years after the passing of Apple founder Steve Jobs, U2 and iTunes joined forces again, making their album Songs of Innocence available in users' music libraries. Your copy may still be there, and - space permitting - can still be uploaded to the U2 iPod, which was reselling for exorbitant amounts on eBay and Amazon at the time.
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