Lester R. Brown
Born	(1934-03-28) March 28, 1934 (age 78) Bridgeton, New Jersey
Occupation	Global environmental analyst, author,
Known for	Analysis of global warming, food shortages, water depletion and energy shortages
Website
Earth Policy Institute

Lester Russel Brown (born March 28, 1934) is a United States environmental analyst, founder of the Worldwatch Institute, and founder and president of the Earth Policy Institute, a nonprofit research organization based in Washington, D.C. BBC Radio commentator Peter Day calls him "one of the great pioneer environmentalists."

Brown is the author or co-author of over 50 books on global environmental issues and his works have been translated into more than forty languages. His most recent book is World on the Edge: How to Prevent Environmental and Economic Collapse (2011).^[1] Brown emphasizes the geopolitical effects of fast-rising grain prices,^[2] noting that "the biggest threat to global stability is the potential for food crises in poor countries," and one that could "bring down civilization."^[3] In Foreign Policy magazine, he describes how the "new geopolitics of food" has, in 2011, already begun to contribute to revolutions and upheaval in various countries.^[4]

The recipient of 26 honorary degrees and a MacArthur Fellowship, Brown has been described by the Washington Post as "one of the world's most influential thinkers."^[5] As early as 1978, in his book The Twenty-Ninth Day, he was already warning of "the various dangers arising out of our manhandling of nature...by overfishing the oceans, stripping the forests, turning land into desert."^[6] In 1986, the Library of Congress requested his personal papers noting that his writings “have already strongly affected thinking about problems of world population and resources,” while president Bill Clinton has suggested that "we should all heed his advice."^[7]

In the mid-1970s, Brown helped pioneer the concept of sustainable development, during a career that started with farming. Since then, he has been the recipient of many prizes and awards, including, the 1987 United Nations Environment Prize, the 1989 World Wide Fund for Nature Gold Medal, and the 1994 Blue Planet Prize for his "contributions to solving global environmental problems." In 1995, Marquis Who's Who selected Brown as one of its "50 Great Americans." He was recently awarded the Presidential Medal of Italy and was appointed an honorary professor at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He lives in Washington, D.C.

Early life[link]

Brown was born and raised on a farm without running water or electricity in Bridgeton, New Jersey near the Delaware River. He learned to read early and was a voracious reader. He was fascinated by World War II and would borrow day-old papers from the next door farm to follow it. He especially enjoyed reading biographies including those of America’s founding fathers and others such as Abraham Lincoln, George Washington Carver, and Marie Curie. From his earliest years, he worked on the farm, milking cows, pulling weeds, and cleaning the stable. An enterprising youth, he involved his younger brother, Carl, in various businesses, such as growing pheasants and chickens for sale. In 1951, they started a tomato growing business, which eventually grew to become one of New Jersey's largest, with sales of over 1.52 million pounds a year. He later said, "farming is all I ever wanted to do with all my life. You have to know soils, weather, plant pathology, entomology, management, even politics. It's the ideal interdisciplinary profession."^[8]

Education[link]

Shortly after earning a degree in agricultural science from Rutgers University in 1955, through the International Farm Youth Exchange Program, he spent six months living in rural India where he became intimately familiar with food and population issues. "His experiences in Indian villages changed his life," wrote biographer David De Leon. "Although he went back to growing tomatoes when he returned to the United States, this no longer seemed like exciting work." ."^[8]

Brown decided that to work on the global food issue, he would need to work for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS). .^[9] He learned that before they would hire him, he needed to have a degree in agricultural economics. Brown took nine months to earn a masters degree in agricultural economics from the University of Maryland and in 1959 joined FAS as an international agricultural analyst in the Asia branch.[9] A year or so later, he took a nine-month leave to earn a public administration from Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government.

In 1963, just four years later, he published Man, Land and Food, the first comprehensive projection of world food, population, and land resources to the end of the century. The study was a cover story in January 6, 1963 issue of U.S. News and World Report where it came to the attention of Secretary of Agriculture, Orville Freeman. Freeman appreciated Brown’s bold analysis and offered him a job on his staff, saying "you sketched the problems. Now you have to do something about them." ^[8] He was soon elevated to being the resident specialist on global issues. In this capacity, he advised the secretary of agriculture on his overseas agricultural policies. He also headed USDA's International Agricultural Development Service from 1966 to 1969. His primary job was to "increase food production in underdeveloped countries." ^[8]

In early 1969, he left government to help establish the Overseas Development Council. He also became an enthusiastic believer in the promise of a Green Revolution, with the hope of using better seeds and cultivation methods to help solve global problems of poverty and hunger. In his opinion, "this technology was the most crucial historical event since the steam engine."^[8] In subsequent years, however, he realized that rapid population growth in undeveloped countries was overwhelming the gains in increased food production.^[3]

Career as environmental activist[link]

In 1974, with support of a $500,000 grant from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Brown founded the Worldwatch Institute, the first research institute devoted to the analysis of global environmental issues. While there he launched the Worldwatch Papers, the annual State of the World reports, World Watch magazine, a second annual entitled Vital Signs: The Trends That are Shaping Our Future, and the Environmental Alert book series. According to De Leon, "he gathered a staff of young idealists just out of college. They were expected to be 'professional generalists,' rather than narrow specialists with advanced degrees."^[8]

The institute eventually became noted for being an independent and respected think tank focusing on environmental issues and also a storehouse for a large amount of environmental information. Their goal is to educate the public and government about environmental problems and to recommend actions. The institute has refused to become a lobbying organization, with Brown saying, "the world is filled with specialists who dig deep burrows into the earth and bring up these nuggets of insight, but there's no one up on top pulling it all together. That's our job."^[8] As a result, he has been described as "one of the world's most influential thinkers" and was granted a $250,000 "genius award" by the MacArthur Foundation in 1986.

In 2001, he left Worldwatch Institute to establish the Earth Policy Institute, devoted to providing a plan to save civilization. At the Institute, his years of working on global issues through an interdisciplinary lens has enabled him to identify trends those working in specialized areas might not see. They have also allowed him to consider global solutions to the many environmental concerns of today. Some of the more important works Brown has written at the Institute include World on the Edge: How to Prevent Environmental and Economic Collapse (2011), Eco-Economy: Building an Economy for the Earth (2001), and the Plan B series.

"Lester Brown is one of the most important voices in the world, regarding the creation of a new conscience of humanity toward a sustainable society." -Jose Jaime Maussan

"Keep up the good work! Some of us are getting in the habit of relying on you all for valuable information and solid analysis." –Eric Britton, The New Mobility Agenda

"…a small think tank with a knack of spotting new trends…" –Geoffrey Lean, Telegraph [1]

Primary concerns[link]

The following have been consistent themes in Brown's work over the years:^[10]

• Population control
• Immigration reduction (to achieve U.S. population stabilization)
• Global warming
• Protection of world's croplands
• Soil erosion
• Deforestation
• Water resources depletion
• Melting glaciers
• Decreasing groundwaters
• Energy depletion
• Peak oil
• Energy conservation and sustainability
• Renewable energy
• Garbage reduction and recycling.

Environmentalist and author[link]

Issuing warnings[link]

After a talk at Catawba College in 2008, the college newspaper referred to him as an "environmental Paul Revere," [as] he warned his audience that "unless civilization changes its ways, its end is truly near... we're in a race between natural tipping points and political tipping points, - 'what we need most of all is for the market to tell the environmental truth.' " He added, "We don't need to go beyond our ice melts to know that we're in trouble. How much are we willing to spend to avoid a 23 foot rise in sea level?" He explained that "indirect costs are shaping our future," and by ignoring these, "we're doing exactly the same thing as Enron- leaving costs off the books. Consuming today with no concern for tomorrow is not a winning philosophy." He spoke of rapid population growth, deforestation, and "two new stresses – rising food and oil prices." "As oil prices go up, grain prices will follow," he said.^[11]

Offering solutions[link]

In December 2008, Brown presented ways of creating new jobs by public investment in both the renewable energy industry and in energy efficiency technology. He gave growth statistics along with the calculated number of jobs that would be created:^[12]

• The renewable energy industry - wind, solar, geothermal - are expanding by over 30 percent yearly;
• There are now, in the U.S., 24,000 megawatts of wind generating capacity online, but there is "a staggering 225,000 megawatts of "planned wind farms";
• Every billion dollars invested in wind farms creates 3,350 jobs - nearly four times the number created from coal plants;
• A billion dollars invested in solar creates 1,480 jobs;
• What is needed is a World War II-type mobilization to produce electric-powered cars that will operate at an equivalent gas cost of $1 per gallon (Replacing each SUV with a plug-in hybrid could save $20,000 of oil imports over its lifetime);
• "The U.S. goal for Detroit should be not merely to save it but make it the world leader...";
• A $500 billion dollar investment in clean and renewable energy systems would create 3 million new jobs that would last through 2020;

He notes that "historically, it is rare for so many emerging threats to have a common solution."

Books (selection)[link]

Brown has authored or co-authored over 50 books. One of the world's most widely published authors, his books have appeared in some 40 languages. Among his earlier books are Man, Land and Food, World Without Borders, and Building a Sustainable Society. His 1995 book Who Will Feed China? challenged the official view of China’s food prospect, spawning hundreds of conferences and seminars. Over the years his books have influenced the thinking and actions of many world leaders.

For example, when asked by Wired magazine about CNN founder Ted Turner's involvement with his ideas, he replied, "Ted is one of the world's most committed environmentalists. After he read the original Plan B in 2003, he called and said he wanted to distribute it to the world's key decision makers -- heads of state, cabinet members, Fortune 500 CEOs. He distributed ... 3,569 copies ... with a note saying 'I read this. It's important stuff. You need to read it too.' "^[13]

In May 2001, he founded the Earth Policy Institute to provide a vision and a road map for achieving an environmentally sustainable economy. In November 2001, he published Eco-Economy: Building an Economy for the Earth, which was hailed by E.O. Wilson as “an instant classic.” In 2009 he published Plan B 4.0 and his most recent book is World on the Edge (2011).

[edit] Who Will Feed China?

In this book published in 1995, Brown highlights the pressure on world resources as more countries, especially China, become developed. He writes, "To feed its 1.2 billion people, China may soon have to import so much grain that this action could trigger unprecedented rises in world food prices." He explains some of the dilemmas they face: water is becoming scarce; 80 percent of their grain crop requires irrigation; growing cities are erasing cropland for industrialization; food production is stagnating; yet China's population increases "the equivalent of a new Beijing each year."

He describes China's growth and its effect on the world economy: "China's rising food prices will become the world's rising food prices. China's land scarcity will become everyone's land scarcity. And water scarcity will affect the entire world. China's dependence on massive imports, like the collapse of the world's fisheries, will be a wake-up call that we are colliding with the earth's capacity to feed us." One of his conclusions is that the new age of food scarcity "could well lead us to redefine national security away from military preparedness and toward maintaining adequate food supplies."

In the book's foreword, he writes, "Although I was aware that the Chinese were sensitive to the notion that they might need to import large amounts of grain, I had not realized just how sensitive the issue is. All the leaders of China today are survivors of the massive famine that occurred in 1959-1961 in the aftermath of the Great Leap Forward -- a famine that claimed a staggering 30 million lives. If this many died, then as many as a couple hundred million more people could have been on the edge of starvation."

[edit] Outgrowing the Earth

This book, published in 2004, is a more current description of "the ways in which human demands are outstripping the earth's natural capacities, and how the resulting environmental damage is undermining food production on a global scale." He documents a number of vital changes that are affecting civilization today:

• Crop production is suffering "due to global warming." Brown describes how just a few degrees of increased average temperature will lead to a 10 percent decline in grain yields.
• Water scarcity and shortages, such as from "aquifer depletion" may be as important as oil depletion. He states, "There are substitutes for oil, but none for water."
• Decreasing cropland in key countries like China creates serious dilemmas, "as densely populated countries extend their reliance on automobiles, they pave scarce cropland for roads, highways, and parking lots."
• Population growth, while slowing in many countries, is still increasing world population by 76 million each year. Again, he presents another dilemma: "In a world where the historical rise in land productivity has slowed by half since 1990, grain production is falling behind population."

His conclusion is that our "ability to provide enough food is at stake, and depends not only on efforts within agriculture but also having an energy policy that stabilizes climate, a worldwide effort to raise water productivity, the evolution of land-efficient transport systems, and population policies..."

[edit] Plan B 4.0

Plan B 4.0 - Mobilizing to Save Civilization, published in 2009, is a continuation of the critical themes covered by his earlier books. The book is written as a final warning call for the leaders of the world to begin "mobilizing to save civilization" and stresses even more that time is of the essence.

At California State University, Chico, Plan B has become "required reading for all incoming freshmen." The university says that it is being used in many courses in History, English, Philosophy, Communications, Political and Social Science.^[14]

Awards and recognition[link]

Lester Brown is the recipient of many prizes and awards, including 25 honorary degrees, and is an honorary professor of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.^[15]

• 1965 Recipient of Superior Service award, United States Department of Agriculture
• 1965 Arthur S. Flemming award
• 1981 A.H. Boerma award, U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization
• 1982 UN Environmental Program Leadership medal
• 1985 Lorax award of the Global Tomorrow Coalition
• 1989 World Wildlife Fund for Nature - International
• 1987 UN Environmental prize
• 1991 A. Bizzozero award, University of Parma
• 1991 Humanist of the Year award
• 1991 Pro Mundo Habitabili award, King Carl Gustaf XVI, Sweden
• 1991 Delphi International Cooperation award
• 1992 Cervia Ambiente prize, Italy
• 1992 Robert Rodale Lecture award
• 1993 Certificate of Special Recognition from the Association of American Geographers
• 1994 Blue Planet prize, Asahi Glass Foundation
• 1994 J. Sterling Morton Arbor Day award
• 1995 Public Service award, Federation of American Scientists
• 1995 Rachel Carson Environmental Achievement award
• 2000 Bruno H. Schubert Foundation environment award
• 2001 Natural Business Leadership award
• 2002 Excellence Advantage award, International Fund for China's Environment
• 2002 Italian Presidential medal
• 2003 George and Greta Borgstrom prize, Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry
• 2005 Claire Matzger Lilienthal Distinguished Lecture award, California Academy of Science
• 2005, The Works of Lester R. Brown, permanent exhibit, Cook College, Rutgers University
• 2008, Heifer All-Star (Heifer International Annual Award)
• 2009, Charles A. and Anne Morrow Lindbergh Award
• 2010, University of Maryland Alumni Hall of Fame

Honorable mention

• 1995 selected: list of 100 people Who Made A Difference by The Earth Times
• 1998 selected: list of 100 Champions of Conservation, Audubon Society
• 2000 named one of the People of the Century by The Daily Journal, New Jersey
• 2003 One of 500 Most Influential People in U.S. Foreign Policy, World Affairs Council of America
• 2005 One of 30 Global Visionaries by PLANET° Magazine
• 2005 named to Bridgeton, NJ Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame
• 2010 One of top 100 top global thinkers, by Foreign Policy magazine^[16]
• 2011 One of top 100 top global thinkers, by Foreign Policy magazine^[17]

Memberships

• Fellow of the World Business Academy
• Council of Foreign Relations
• World Future Society
• Cosmos Club
• Sierra Club (advanced council for excellence in environmental engineering)

Literary Awards

• Christopher Award for By Bread Alone
• Ecologia Firenze (Italian literary award) for The Twenty-Ninth Day
• A.H. Boerma Award, FAO, for writings on the world food problem
• Best Translated Book, award from the Ministry of Culture, Iran, for Full House
• Top Ten Book award, TheGlobalist.com, for Eco-Economy
• Top Ten Book award, TheGlobalist.com, for Plan B
• Best Nonfiction Book award from the Peka Institute, Iran, for Eco-Economy
• Book of the Week award, TheGlobalist.com, for Outgrowing the Earth
• Book of the Month award, Omnipedia, for Plan B
• National Library of China book award for Plan B (Chinese edition)

Bibliography[link]

• Man, Land and Food (1963)
• Increasing World Food Output (1965)
• Seeds of Change (1970)
• Man and His Environment: Food (with Gail Finsterbusch) (1972)
• World Without Borders (1972)
• In the Human Interest (1974)
• By Bread Alone (with Erik Eckholm) (1974)
• The Twenty-Ninth Day (1978)
• Running on Empty (with Colin Norman & Christopher Flavin) (1979)
• Building a Sustainable Society (1981)
• State of the World (with others) (1984–2001)
• Vital Signs (with others) (1992–2001)
• Eko Keizai Kakumei: Environmental Trends Reshaping The Global Economy (1998) (in Japanese)
• Saving the Planet: How to Shape an Environmentally Sustainable Global Economy (with Christopher Flavin & Sandra Postel) (1992)
• Full House: Reassessing the Earth's Population Carrying Capacity (with Hal Kane) (1995)
• Who Will Feed China?: Wake-Up Call for a Small Planet (1995)
• Tough Choices: Facing the Challenge of Food Scarcity (1996)
• Beyond Malthus: Nineteen Dimensions of the Population Challenge (with Gary Gardner and Brian Halweil) (1999)
• Eco-Economy: Building an Economy for the Earth (2001)
• Earth Policy Reader (with Janet Larsen and Bernie Fischlowitz-Roberts) (2002)
• Plan B: Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble (2003)
• Outgrowing the Earth: The Food Security Challenge in an Age of Falling Water Tables and Rising Temperatures (2004)
• Plan B 2.0: Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble (2006)
• Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization (2008)
• Plan B 4.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization (2009)
• World on the Edge: How to Prevent Environmental and Economic Collapse (2011) ISBN 0-393-33949-1

References[link]

External links[link]

• Biography of Lester R. Brown at the Earth Policy Institute
• Lester Brown speaking at U.C. Berkeley (video 1 hr. 7 min. video)
• Lester Brown Interview about The Water Crisis - MP3
• A Conversation With Lester Brown - TreeHuggerTV interview with Lester Brown
• "If You Like Challenges, There's No Greater Time to be Alive." - Video interview with Lester Brown, from elephant journal.
• Lester R. Brown in Stockholm, May 7th-8th 2010 | YouTube - Videos from Lester Browns visit in Stockholm and the Swedish Plan B, May 2010

Online books by Lester R. Brown

• Who Will Feed China? (1995); complete book online
• Eco-Economy: Building an Economy for the Earth (2001); complete book online (html pages and pdf document)
• Plan B: Rescuing a Planet under Stress & a Civilization in Trouble (2003); complete book online (html pages and pdf document)
• Outgrowing the Earth: The Food Security Challenge in an Age of Falling Water Tables and Rising Temperatures (2005); complete book online (html pages and pdf document)
• Plan B 2.0: Rescuing a Planet under Stress & a Civilization in Trouble (2006); complete book online (html pages and pdf document)
• Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization (2008); complete book online (html pages and pdf document)
• Plan B 4.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization (2009); complete book online (html pages and pdf document)
• World on the Edge: How to Prevent Environmental and Economic Collapse (2011)

The Edge
Background information
Birth name	David Howell Evans
Born	(1961-08-08) 8 August 1961 (age 50) Barking, Essex, England, United Kingdom
Origin	County Dublin, Ireland
Genres	Rock, post-punk, alternative rock
Occupations	Musician, songwriter, activist
Instruments	Guitar, vocals, keyboards, piano, bass guitar
Years active	1976–present
Labels	Island, Mercury
Associated acts	U2, Passengers
Website	www.u2.com
Notable instruments
Gibson Explorer Fender Stratocaster Gibson Les Paul Fender Telecaster Gretsch Country Gentleman Gretsch White Falcon Rickenbacker 330/12

David Howell Evans (born 8 August 1961), more widely known by his stage name The Edge (or just Edge),^[1] is a musician best known as the guitarist, backing vocalist, and keyboardist of the Irish rock band U2. A member of the group since its inception, he has recorded 12 studio albums with the band and has released one solo record. As a guitarist, The Edge has crafted a minimalistic and textural style of playing. His use of a rhythmic delay effect yields a distinctive ambient, chiming sound that has become a signature of U2's music.

The Edge was born in England to a Welsh family, but was raised in Ireland after moving there as an infant. In 1976, at Mount Temple Comprehensive School, he formed U2 with his fellow students and his older brother Dik. Inspired by the ethos of punk rock and its basic arrangements, the group began to write its own material. They eventually became one of the most popular acts in popular music, with successful albums such as 1987's The Joshua Tree and 1991's Achtung Baby. Over the years, The Edge has experimented with various guitar effects and introduced influences from several genres of music into his own style, including American roots music, industrial music, and alternative rock. With U2, The Edge has also played keyboards, co-produced their 1993 record Zooropa, and occasionally contributed lyrics. The Edge met his second and current wife, Morleigh Steinberg, through her collaborations with the band.

As a member of U2 and as an individual, The Edge has campaigned for human rights and philanthropic causes. He co-founded Music Rising, a charity to support musicians affected by Hurricane Katrina. He has collaborated with U2 bandmate Bono on several projects, including songs for Roy Orbison and Tina Turner, and the soundtracks to the musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark and the Royal Shakespeare Company's London stage adaptation of A Clockwork Orange. In 2011, Rolling Stone magazine placed him at number 38 on its list of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".

Personal life[link]

The Edge at a U2 concert in Anaheim (2005)

David Howell Evans was born at the Barking Maternity Hospital,^[2] Essex, England to Welsh parents Garvin and Gwenda Evans.^[1] When he was one, his family moved to County Dublin, Ireland where he attended St Andrew's National School. He received piano and guitar lessons and often performed with his brother Dik Evans before they both answered an advertisement posted by Larry Mullen, Jr. at their school, Mount Temple Comprehensive School, seeking musicians to form a band.^[3] The band accepted both of them. This band went through several incarnations before emerging as U2 in March 1978 (Dik Evans left the band just before the name change).^[3] U2 began performing in various venues in Ireland and eventually began developing a following. Their debut album, Boy, was released in 1980.

In 1981, leading up to the October tour, Evans came very close to leaving U2 for religious reasons, but he decided to stay.^[3] During this period, he became involved with a group called Shalom Tigers, in which bandmates Bono and Larry Mullen Jr. were also involved.^[4] Shortly after deciding to remain with the band, he wrote a piece of music that later became "Sunday Bloody Sunday".^[3] The Edge married his high school girlfriend Aislinn O'Sullivan on 12 July 1983.^[5] The couple had three daughters together: Hollie in 1984, Arran in 1985 and Blue Angel in 1989.^[4] The couple separated in 1990, but were unable to get officially divorced because of Irish laws regarding marriage annulment; divorce was legalised in 1995 and the couple were legally divorced in 1996.^[4]

In 1993, The Edge began dating Morleigh Steinberg, a professional dancer and choreographer employed by the band as a belly dancer during the Zoo TV Tour. They had a daughter, Sian (born 1997), and a son, Levi (born 25 October 1999),^[4] before marrying on 22 June 2002.^[4] He appeared in the 2009 music documentary film It Might Get Loud.^[6] The Edge has been criticized for his efforts to build five luxury mansions on a 156 acre plot of land in Malibu, California.^[7] The California Coastal Commission voted 8-4 against the plans, with the project described by the commission's executive director, Peter Douglas, as "In 38 years...one of the three worst projects that I've seen in terms of environmental devastation...It's a contradiction in terms – you can't be serious about being an environmentalist and pick this location."^[7] The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy agreed to remain neutral on the issue following a $1 million donation from The Edge and a commitment from The Edge to designate 100 acres of the land as open space for public footpaths.^[7]

Music style[link]

Guitar playing[link]

As a guitar player, The Edge has a sound typified by a low-key playing style, a chiming, shimmering sound (thanks in part to the sound of VOX AC-30s) that he achieves with extensive use of delay effects and reverb. The feedback delay is often set to a dotted eighth note (3/16 of a measure), and the feedback gain is adjusted until a note played repeats two or three times.^{[citation needed]}

On 1987's The Joshua Tree, The Edge often contributes just a few simple lead lines given depth and richness by an ever-present delay. For example, the introduction to "Where the Streets Have No Name" is simply a repeated six-note arpeggio, broadened by a modulated delay effect. The Edge has said that he views musical notes as "expensive", in that he prefers to play as few notes as possible. He said in 1982 of his style,

"I like a nice ringing sound on guitar, and most of my chords I find two strings and make them ring the same note, so it's almost like a 12-string sound. So for E I might play a B, E, E and B and make it ring. It works very well with the Gibson Explorer. It's funny because the bass end of the Explorer was so awful that I used to stay away from the low strings, and a lot of the chords I played were very trebly, on the first four, or even three strings. I discovered that through using this one area of the fretboard I was developing a very stylized way of doing something that someone else would play in a normal way."^[9]

Many different influences have shaped The Edge's guitar technique.^{[citation needed]} His first guitar was an old acoustic guitar that his mother bought him at a local flea market for only a few pounds; he was nine at the time. He and his brother Dik Evans both experimented with this instrument.^[9] He said in 1982 of this early experimentation, "I suppose the first link in the chain was a visit to the local jumble sale where I purchased a guitar for a pound. That was my first instrument. It was an acoustic guitar and me and my elder brother Dik both played it, plonking away, all very rudimentary stuff, open chords and all that."^[9] The Edge has stated that many of his guitar parts are based around guitar effects. This is especially true from the Achtung Baby era onwards, although much of the band's 1980s material made heavy use of echos.

Vocals[link]

The Edge in June 2005

The Edge also supplies the backing vocals for U2. U2's 1983 live album and video release, Under a Blood Red Sky and Live at Red Rocks: Under a Blood Red Sky are good reference points for his singing (as are the live DVDs from the Elevation Tour, U2 Go Home: Live from Slane Castle and Elevation 2001: Live from Boston). For example, he sings the chorus to "Sunday Bloody Sunday" (Bono harmonizes on the final 'Sunday'). U2 used this tradeoff technique later in "Bullet the Blue Sky" as well. His backing vocals are sometimes in the form of a repeated cry; examples of songs that use this approach include "Beautiful Day", "New Year's Day" and "Stay (Faraway, So Close!)". Another technique he uses in his backing vocals is the falsetto, in songs such as "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of", "Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own", "A Man and a Woman", "The Wanderer", live versions of "The Fly", and "Window in the Skies".

The Edge sings the lead vocal on "Van Diemen's Land" and "Numb", the first half of the song "Seconds", dual vocals with Bono in "Discotheque", and the bridge in the song "Miracle Drug".^[4] He also sings the occasional lead vocal in live renditions of other songs (such as "Sunday Bloody Sunday" during the PopMart Tour and "Party Girl" during the Rotterdam Zoo TV show when it was Bono's birthday).^[10] He also plays a solo acoustic version of the song "Love is Blindness" that is featured in the documentary film From the Sky Down.

Other instruments[link]

He has played piano and keyboards on many of the band's songs, including "I Fall Down", "October", "So Cruel", "New Year's Day", "Running to Stand Still", "Miss Sarajevo", "The Hands that Built America", and "Original of the Species" and others. He plays the organ on "Please". In live versions of "New Year's Day", "The Unforgettable Fire", "Your Blue Room", and "Moment of Surrender", he plays both the piano and guitar parts alternately. In most live versions of "Original of the Species," piano is the only instrument played during the song. Although The Edge is the band's lead guitarist, he occasionally plays bass guitar, including the live performances of the song "40" where The Edge and bassist Adam Clayton switch instruments.

Solo recordings[link]

In addition to his regular role within U2, The Edge has also recorded with such artists as Johnny Cash, B. B. King, Tina Turner, Ronnie Wood, Jay-Z, and Rihanna. The Edge connected with Brian Eno and Lanois collaborator Michael Brook (the creator of the infinite guitar, which he regularly uses), working with him on the score to the film Captive (1986). From this soundtrack the song "Heroine", the vocal of which was sung by a young Sinéad O'Connor was released as a single.

He also created the theme song for season one and two of The Batman. He and fellow U2 member, Bono, wrote the lyrics to the theme of the 1995 James Bond film GoldenEye. The Edge, along with bandmate Bono, recently composed a musical adaptation of Spider-Man. On May 25, 2011, a single titled Rise Above 1: Reeve Carney Featuring Bono and The Edge was released digitally.^[11] The music video was released on July 28, 2011.^[12]

Musical equipment[link]

Edge's 1964 Vox AC30 on stage in Foxborough for the U2 360° Tour.

The Edge plays electric guitar, acoustic guitar, keyboards, piano, bass guitar (on "40" and "Race Against Time") and lap steel guitar. Compared to many lead guitarists, The Edge is known for using many more guitars during a show. According to his guitar tech Dallas Schoo, a typical lead guitarist uses four or five different guitars in one night, whereas The Edge takes 45 on the road, and uses 17 to 19 in one 2.5-hour concert. He is estimated to have more than 200 guitars in the studio.^{[citation needed]}

Philanthropy[link]

In 2005, The Edge along with Bob Ezrin and Henry Juszkiewicz co-founded Music Rising, a charity that helped provide replacement instruments for those that were lost in Hurricane Katrina. The instruments were originally only replaced for professional musicians but they soon realized the community churches and schools needed instruments as well. The charity's slogan is "Rebuilding the Gulf Region note by note" and has so far helped over a hundred musicians who were affected by Hurricane Katrina. The Edge also serves on the board of the Angiogenesis Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to improving global health by advancing angiogenesis-based medicine, diets, and lifestyle.^[13]

See also[link]

• Timeline of U2
• List of people on stamps of Ireland

References[link]

Footnotes

Bibliography

External links[link]

This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links, and converting useful links where appropriate into footnote references. (October 2011)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: The Edge

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: The Edge

• U2.com, official U2 site
• Music Rising
• The Edge at the Internet Movie Database
• The Edge – Album Credits
• A Study of The Edge's Guitar Delay
• The Edge: 'It's all about the vision'
• Food Bank For New York City public service announcement
• Comment on the mathematical analysis of The Edge's guitar sound