Larry Mullen Jr. facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Larry Mullen Jr.
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Mullen in 2018
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Laurence Joseph Mullen Jr. |
| Born | 31 October 1961 Artane, Dublin, Ireland |
| Origin | Dublin, Ireland |
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| Years active | 1976–present |
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Laurence Joseph Mullen Jr. (born 31 October 1961) is an Irish musician. He is famous as the drummer and a co-founder of the rock band U2. Larry has been with U2 since the very beginning. He has recorded 15 studio albums with the band. His unique drumming style, which sounds almost like military beats, came from playing in marching bands when he was a kid.
Larry Mullen Jr. was born in Dublin, Ireland. He went to Mount Temple Comprehensive School. In 1976, he helped start U2. He put a note on the school's notice board looking for other musicians. Larry has also worked on many other music projects. In 1990, he produced the song "Put 'Em Under Pressure" for the Ireland national football team for the 1990 FIFA World Cup. In 1996, he worked with U2 bandmate Adam Clayton to create a dance version of the "Theme from Mission: Impossible". He has also played with other musicians like Maria McKee and Alice Cooper. Larry has acted in a few movies too, such as Man on the Train (2011) and A Thousand Times Good Night (2013).
Larry Mullen Jr. has won 22 Grammy Awards. He was also added to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2016, Rolling Stone magazine named him the 96th-greatest drummer of all time.
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Larry Mullen Jr.'s Early Life
Laurence Joseph Mullen Jr. was born on October 31, 1961, in Artane, Dublin, Ireland. He lived there until his twenties. His father was a government worker, and his mother stayed home to care for the family. Larry has an older sister named Cecilia. His younger sister, Mary, sadly passed away in 1973.
Larry started learning piano at age eight. He began playing drums in 1971 when he was nine. His first drum teacher was Irish drummer Joe Bonnie. After Joe Bonnie passed away, his daughter Monica taught Larry. But Larry soon stopped lessons and practiced on his own.
Before starting U2, Larry joined a marching band in Dublin called the Artane Boys Band. His father suggested it. Larry felt the band focused too much on reading music. He wanted to spend more time actually playing the drums. The band asked him to cut his long hair. He cut a few inches, but they wanted it even shorter. Larry refused and left the band after only three weeks.
Larry used his savings and, with his father's help, bought a drum kit. A friend of his sister Cecilia was selling it. He set up the drums in his bedroom. His parents gave him specific times to practice. His father then got him into the Post Office Workers Band. This band played orchestral music with drums, along with marching band songs. Larry was in this band for about two years, at the same time he was starting U2.
He attended Scoil Colmcille in Dublin. His father wanted him to go to Catholic schools. But after his younger sister's accidental death in 1973, his father sent Larry to Mount Temple Comprehensive School. This was the first school in Ireland that welcomed students from different religions. Larry's mother died in a car accident in November 1978.
Larry Mullen Jr.'s Music Career
Forming the Band U2
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Larry's father suggested he put a note on the Mount Temple school board. The note said something like "drummer seeks musicians to form band." U2 officially started on September 25, 1976, in Larry's kitchen in Artane. The first meeting included Larry, Paul "Bono" Hewson, David "The Edge" Evans and his brother Dik, Adam Clayton, and Larry's friends Ivan McCormick and Peter Martin. Larry later joked that it was "The Larry Mullen Band" for about ten minutes. Then Bono walked in and took over.
Ivan McCormick and Peter Martin soon left the group. The band first called themselves "Feedback." They later changed their name to "The Hype." Finally, they became "U2" for a talent contest in Limerick, Ireland, in 1978. They won the contest as a four-person band. A few days after the competition, Dik Evans left, and U2 became a permanent four-member group.
While recording the album Pop in 1996, Larry had serious back problems. The recording was delayed because he needed surgery. When he returned to the studio, the band was using electronic drum machines a lot. The Edge was very interested in dance and hip-hop music. Because Larry was weak after his operation, he let The Edge keep using the drum machines. This gave the album a very electronic sound.
Larry Mullen Jr. did not perform during U2's recent concert series, U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere. These shows ran from September 2023 to March 2024 at Sphere in Las Vegas. He needed time to recover from surgery. Dutch drummer Bram van den Berg from the band Krezip played in his place. This was the first time Larry had missed a U2 show since 1978. Back then, he broke his foot in a motorcycle accident.
Other Music Projects
Larry has worked on many music projects outside of U2. He has collaborated with artists like Maria McKee. In 1989, he played on U2 producer Daniel Lanois's album Acadie. In 1990, Larry helped write and arrange "Put 'Em Under Pressure". This was the official song for the Ireland national team for the FIFA World Cup.
He and Adam Clayton teamed up with Mike Mills and Michael Stipe from R.E.M.. They formed a group called Automatic Baby for one performance. They played the song "One" for MTV's 1993 party for US President Bill Clinton. The group's name came from the titles of their bands' albums at the time: Achtung Baby (U2) and Automatic for the People (R.E.M.).
For Nanci Griffith's 1994 album Flyer, Larry and Adam Clayton played drums and bass on several songs. Larry also mixed three songs on that album. Larry played drums on many songs for Emmylou Harris' 1995 album Wrecking Ball.
Larry and Adam Clayton also worked on the soundtrack for the 1996 movie Mission: Impossible. They remade the "Theme from Mission: Impossible". They changed its time signature to make it more danceable. The song reached number 8 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. It was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1997.
Larry played on Underworld's song "Boy, Boy, Boy" from their 2007 album, Oblivion with Bells. In 2017, he appeared on Alice Cooper's album Paranormal. Larry has also played synthesiser or keyboards on some songs. This includes "United Colours" from Passengers' 1995 album Original Soundtracks 1.
Larry Mullen Jr.'s Drumming Style
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Larry Mullen Jr.'s drumming style is shaped by his time in marching bands as a teenager. This helped create the military-like beats in songs like "Sunday Bloody Sunday". Author Bill Flanagan said Larry plays "with a martial rigidity." But he uses his drum kit in a unique way. He often moves from the snare drum to the tom-toms on either side of him. This is different from how drummers usually use them.
Larry sometimes plays a tom-tom like other drummers would play a cymbal. Or he plays the hi-hat like others would play a snare drum. He admits his bass drum technique is not his strongest skill. This is because he mostly played the snare drum in marching bands. He didn't learn to combine all the parts of a full kit properly. So, he uses a floor tom on his left side to sound like a bass drum. He started this setup while recording "Pride (In the Name of Love)" in 1984. Producer Daniel Lanois influenced this choice. Larry said, "I couldn't do what most people would consider a normal beat for the song, so I chose alternatives." Bill Flanagan noted that Larry's playing style matches his personality. He is "right on top of the beat, a bit ahead—as you'd expect from a man who's so ordered and punctual in his life."
When he first learned drums, Larry was very influenced by glam rock bands of the 1970s. In U2's early days, his drumming style was very fancy. But he later decided to play more simply. His drumming leaves open spaces in the music. Modern Drummer magazine said he understands "when to hit and when not to hit." As he became a better timekeeper, he developed an amazing sense of rhythm. Producer Eno once said Larry noticed his click track was off by just six milliseconds. With help from producer Daniel Lanois, Larry learned more about his role as the drummer. He learned how to make the band's sound complete. Producer Flood helped Larry learn to play along with electronic sounds like drum machines and samples. His drum kit has a tambourine on a cymbal stand. He uses it to add accents to certain beats, like in songs such as "With or Without You".
Larry has had problems with tendinitis throughout his career. To help with the pain, he started using special Pro-Mark drumsticks. He uses Yamaha drums and Paiste cymbals. Larry sometimes plays keyboards or synthesiser in concerts. But he rarely sings during performances. He has sung backing vocals on songs like "Numb", "Get On Your Boots", and "Elevation". He also sometimes performed a cover version of "Dirty Old Town" during the Zoo TV Tour. On the U2 360° Tour, Larry walked around the stage playing a large djembe drum strapped to his waist during "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight".
Larry Mullen Jr.'s Film Projects
Larry Mullen Jr. first appeared in a film called Entropy. He played himself alongside his bandmate Bono. He played a thief in Man on the Train (2011), which starred Donald Sutherland. Larry also appeared in A Thousand Times Goodnight (2013), starring Juliette Binoche. On September 3, 2013, this film won a special award at the Montreal World Film Festival.
In July 2020, Larry was invited to join the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. This is the group that gives out the Oscar awards.
Larry also helped produce the 2024 documentary film Left Behind. This movie is about mothers who worked to open the first public school in New York City for children with dyslexia. Larry's son has dyslexia. Larry also contributed two songs to the film: "Between the Lines" and "One of Us."
Larry Mullen Jr.'s Personal Life
Larry Mullen Jr. met his partner, Ann Acheson, when they were in their first year at Mount Temple Comprehensive School. They have been together for over 40 years and have three children. Larry is a first cousin of Irish actor Conor Mullen.
Larry was in a motorcycle accident in 1978.
As U2 became more famous, Larry had to add "Junior" to his name. This was to avoid confusion with his father, who was getting large tax bills meant for his son. Larry and Adam Clayton own homes near Bono and The Edge in Southern France. This makes it easier for them to record music with U2 in that area.
Larry has had problems with tendinitis. In 1995, he had surgery on his back for an injury he had since The Joshua Tree Tour. In 2009, Larry had knee surgery. He later joined the board of directors for the Steadman Philippon Research Institute, a foundation for medical research. Larry also had neck surgery in 2023.
In December 2024, Larry shared that he has dyscalculia. This means he has difficulty with numbers, like adding and counting. He compared counting musical bars to "climbing Everest." He said this is why he sometimes looks pained when performing.
Larry Mullen Jr.'s Musical Equipment
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Larry Mullen Jr. uses specific equipment for his drumming:
- Paiste Signature cymbals:
- 16" power crash
- 17" power crash
- 18" power crash
- 18" full crash
- 22" power ride
- 14" heavy hi-hat/sound-edge hi-hat.
- Yamaha Phoenix (PHX) in Silver Sparkles: (He has used these since the U2360 tour. Before that, he used Yamaha's Maple Custom and Beech Custom drums of the same sizes).
- On the "Get On Your Boots" video, Larry uses a Yamaha Oak Custom drum kit.
- 12" × 9" rack tom
- 16" × 16" floor toms and 16" × 14" (one to the left of the hi-hat, one to the right of the snare drum for the Vertigo tour). For earlier tours, he used an 18" × 16" floor tom to the left of the hi-hats.
- 14" × 6.5" Ludwig Black Beauty (Since 360 Tour)
- 14" x 6.5" Ludwig Black Magic (Since Innocence Experience tour) backup snare
- 14" × 7" Brady Sheoak Block — this was his main snare drum on the Vertigo tour. For the ZooTV and Elevation tours, he used a 12" × 7" Sheoak block snare. For Popmart, he mainly used a 14" × 6.5" Jarrah block. Sometimes he used a 14" × 6.5" Jarrah ply snare instead of the block snare.
- 24" × 16" kick drum. He used a 22" × 16" Kick on the b-stage during Zoo TV only.
- Pro-mark 5A Wood tip drumsticks.
- Remo drumheads
- Latin Percussion and Toca percussion
- DW 5000 kick drum pedal
- DW 9000 hi hat stand
Awards and Recognition
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Larry Mullen Jr. and U2 have won over 60 awards, including 22 Grammy Awards. At the Grammy Awards, the band has won Best Rock Duo or Group with Vocal seven times. They have also won Album of the Year twice, Record of the Year twice, Song of the Year twice, and Best Rock Album twice.
In March 2005, Larry Mullen Jr. was added to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of U2. This happened in their first year of being eligible. In 2016, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Larry as the 96th-greatest drummer of all time. He was also ranked number 21 on Stylus Magazine's list of the 50 Greatest Rock Drummers. In 2017, Yamaha honored Larry with an award for Lifetime Achievement in Musical Excellence.
See also
In Spanish: Larry Mullen Jr. para niños
- List of drummers
- List of people on the postage stamps of Ireland
- Timeline of U2
