Name: Adam Clayton (Adam) Birth Date: March 13, 1960 Birth Place: Village of Chinnor in Oxfordshire, England Zodiac Sign: Aries His Family: *Parents: Brian and Jo Clayton *Brother: Sebastian Clayton *Status: Never been married *Children: None Adam Clayton's equipment: AshDown rpmi/ pm1000x2/ abm212x2/ abm115 bin x2/ abm900/ 810/ bp1510/ abm c 410h 500

The first son of Jo and Brian Clayton and U2's bass player was born on March 13, 1960 in the English village of Chinnor in Oxfrodchire, England.  The family lived partly in England (where Brian was a RAF pilot) and partly in Africa until 1965, when they moed to Ireland as Adam's father took a job as a pilot with the Irish airline, Aer Lingus.  The family moved to a house in Yellow Walls Road, Malahide, a small seaside town ten miles north of Dublin.    In Malahide, Adam attended St. Andrew's Primary school, also attended by Dave Evans (The Edge).  He stayed at St. Andrews until he was eight.  He then was moved to a boarding school. During his stay there, Adam asked his mother to buy him a bass guitar in return for working harder at school.  She paid 52 pounds for the guitar in 1975, but after a few misdemeanors, including breaking a "gating"  order not to leave the school premises and smoking, his parents decided to send him to a local state school -- Mount Temple. 

Adam started at Mount Temple in September 1976, but even with its relaxed atmosphere, he continued to break rules and rebel against authority.  Actions such as drinking coffee in class and streaking down the school's main corridor ultimately led to him being asked to leave in March 1978.  Although Adam did very little work at Mount Temple, he had come accross Larry Mullen, Jr. and his note asking for people to join his band.   Due to the fact that he had a bass guitar and had been in a band already -- the Max Quad Band  -- he got the gig.

After leaving Mount Temple, Adam stepped into the role of manager of the band, asking anyone with connections in the music business for advice, including Bill Graham, Steve Averill and Thin Lizzy's Phil Lynott.  Once Paul McGuiness became the band's official manager, Adam seemed to move away from the center of the group, especially when the other three members became committed Christians.  Nevertheless, the fact that he was asked by Bono to be his best man at his wedding to Alison Stewart in 1982 showed that he was still close to the other three. 

As Adam has admitted, his bass playing at first was not that good -- he was completely self taught -- but with determination to succeed as a musician and from playing a large number of gigs in the first years of the band's existence, his bass playing improved considerably.  Notable musical contribution by Adam have included "New Year's Day", "With or Without You", and "Dirty Day".

Adam has had his fair share of publicity.  In August 1989, he was arrested in Dublin after being found in possession of a small amount of cannabis.  The resulting court case left him with a 25,000 pounds fine -- donated to the Dublin Women's Aid Refuge Center.  Then in 1993 when he became engaged to supermodel Naomi Campbell, it seemed like he was never out of the headlines; more a celebrity than a musician.   The messy ending of the engagement  served to send Adam further into alcohol dependency.  This came to a head in Sydney, Australia when, as a result of a massive hangover from an alcoholic binge, he missed playing with the band at their Sydney Football Stadium gig on November 26, 1993.   After that, Adam has stopped drinking alcohol altogether. 

In 1994, he settled in New York City (along with Larry) and began taking bass lessons to increase his understanding of the instrument.  In the period between Zoo TV and Pop Mart tours, he branched out musically, working with several other artists away from U2, including Nanci Griffiths (Flyer) and Little Stephen (Born Again Savage).  1995's "Original Soundtracks 1 courtesy of the Passengers" contained the first recorded vocal by Adam on the track "Your Blue Room", even if it was spoken.  Then in 1996, in collaboration with Larry, he had a Top 10 hit in the UK with "Theme from Mission Impossible". 

On both Pop and All That You Can't Leave Behind, Adam has continued to shine musically, on tracks such as "Mofo", "Please", "Beautiful Day" and "Walk On".  In recognition of his bass work with U2, Adam was awarded the Bassist of the Year award at the Gibson Guitar Awards ceremony in Los Angeles in February 2000.  Adam or "Sparky" as he is sometimes called, is now more than ever committed to the band that he first pushed and promoted way back in 1978--proudly occupying the left side of the U2 stage everytime the band does a show.

**Written and compiled by ZoraidaLu1 (Zory) from the entries on the book by Mark Chatterton: "U2: The Ultimate Encyclopedia", Fire Fly Publishing: London, 2004 (Revised Edition).