Larry Mullen Jr.

Laurence Joseph Mullen Jr., the middle child and only son of Laurence Joseph Mullen Sr. and Maureen (née Boyd) Mullen, was born on 31 October 1961 in Artane, Dublin, Ireland, and lived there, on Rosemount Avenue, until his twenties. His father was a civil servant and his mother a homemaker. He has an elder sister, Cecilia, and had a younger sister, Mary, who died in 1973. He attended the School of Music in Chatham Row to learn piano at the age of eight and then began drumming in 1971 He attended Scoil Colmcille, Marlborough Street, Dublin. He took the exams for Chanel College and St. Paul's, two Catholic schools his father wanted his son to attend. After the accidental death of Larry's younger sister in 1973, his father gave up the idea of pushing his son into those schools and sent Larry to Mount Temple Comprehensive School, the first interdenominational school in Ireland. ==Musical career==

U2 Mullen's father suggested that he place a notice on the Mount Temple bulletin board, U2 was founded on 25 September 1976 in Mullen's kitchen in Artane. McCormick and Martin soon left, and the group settled on the name "Feedback" because it was one of the few technical terms they knew. During the recording of the album Pop in 1996, Mullen suffered from severe back problems. Recording was delayed due to surgery. When he left the hospital, he arrived back in the studio to find the rest of the band experimenting more than ever with electronic drum machines, something driven largely by the Edge's interest in dance and hip-hop music, and, given his weakness after the operation, he relented, allowing The Edge to continue using drum machines, which contributed heavily to the album's electronic feel. In order to recuperate from surgery, Mullen did not perform during U2's concert residency U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere, which ran for 40 shows from September 2023 to March 2024 at Sphere in the Las Vegas Valley. Dutch drummer Bram van den Berg from the band Krezip filled in for him. It was the first time that Mullen missed a U2 show since 1978, when he broke his foot in a motorcycle accident. Other projects Mullen has worked on many musical projects outside of U2 in his career, including collaborations with Maria McKee. Mullen contributed to U2 producer Daniel Lanois's 1989 album Acadie. In 1990, Mullen co-wrote and arranged an official Ireland national team song "Put 'Em Under Pressure" for the FIFA World Cup. He and Clayton collaborated with Mike Mills and Michael Stipe from R.E.M. to form the one-performance group Automatic Baby, solely for the purpose of performing "One" for MTV's 1993 inauguration ball for US President Bill Clinton; the group's name refers to the titles of both latest bands' albums at the time, Achtung Baby and Automatic for the People. For Nanci Griffith's 1994 album Flyer, he and Clayton performed in the rhythm section on several songs, while Mullen also mixed three songs. Mullen played drums on many of the songs on Emmylou Harris' 1995 album Wrecking Ball. Mullen and Clayton contributed to the soundtrack of the 1996 film Mission: Impossible, which included reworking the "Theme from Mission: Impossible", whose time signature was changed from the original time signature to an easier and more danceable time signature. The song reached number 8 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, and was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance in 1997. Mullen performed on Underworld's song "Boy, Boy, Boy" from their 2007 album, Oblivion with Bells. In 2017, he appeared on Alice Cooper's album Paranormal. Mullen has played synthesiser or keyboards on several songs, including "United Colours" from Passengers' 1995 album Original Soundtracks 1, an album that Mullen has always disliked. ==Musical style and techniques==

. Mullen's drumming style is influenced by his experience in marching bands during his adolescence, which helped contribute to the militaristic beats of songs such as "Sunday Bloody Sunday". Author Bill Flanagan said that he plays "with a martial rigidity but uses his kit in a way a properly trained drummer would not"; he tends to transition from the snare drum onto tom-toms positioned on either side of him, contrasting with how they are traditionally used. Mullen occasionally rides a tom-tom the way other drummers would play a cymbal, or rides the hi-hat how others would play a snare. His drumming leaves open space, owing to what Modern Drummer described as his understanding of "when to hit and when not to hit". Under the tutelage of Lanois, Mullen learned more about his musical role as the drummer in filling out the band's sound, while producer Flood helped Mullen learn to play along with electronic elements such as drum machines and samples. which he uses as an accent on certain beats for songs such as "With or Without You". Mullen has had tendinitis problems throughout his career. As a means to reduce inflammation and pain, he began to use specially designed Pro-Mark drumsticks. During live performances of "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight" on the U2 360° Tour, Mullen walked around the stage, playing a large djembe strapped around his waist. ==Film projects==

Mullen's film debut was in a film by Phil Joanou called Entropy where he played himself alongside bandmate Bono. He played a thief in Man on the Train (2011), which starred Donald Sutherland. Mullen also appeared in A Thousand Times Goodnight (2013), starring Juliette Binoche. On 3 September 2013, the film won Special Grand Prix of the Jury at Montreal World Film Festival. In July 2020, Mullen was invited to join the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. Mullen co-produced the 2024 documentary film Left Behind, which covers efforts by mothers to open the first public school in New York City for dyslexic children. Mullen, whose son is dyslexic, also contributed two songs to the project: "Between the Lines", co-written by Reed Berin, David Baron, and Gayle; and "One of Us", co-written by Baron and sung by Donna Lewis. ==Personal life==

Mullen met his partner, Ann Acheson, in their first year at Mount Temple Comprehensive School. Mullen underwent neck surgery in 2023. In December 2024, Mullen revealed that he has dyscalculia, affecting his ability to add and count numbers. He compared counting musical bars to "climbing Everest" and said that it is the reason for his pained expression while performing. ==Musical equipment==

• 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: (Since the U2360 tour. Previously he used Yamaha's Maple Custom and Beech Custom drums in the same sizes). • Latin Percussion and Toca percussion • DW 5000 kick drum pedal • DW 9000 hi hat stand ==Awards and recognition==

Mullen and U2 have won more than 60 awards, including 22 Grammy Awards. At the Grammy Awards, the band has won Best Rock Duo or Group with Vocal seven times, Album of the Year twice, Record of the Year twice, Song of the Year twice, and Best Rock Album twice. In 2016, Rolling Stone ranked Mullen the 96th-greatest drummer of all time. He was placed at number 21 on Stylus Magazines list of the 50 Greatest Rock Drummers. In 2017, Yamaha honoured Mullen with an award for Lifetime Achievement in Musical Excellence. ==See also==