Boy  by U2

In 1980, the year when U2 had completed four years as a band, they already had a range of about forty songs from which they chose eleven to record at Island Records for their first studio album titled Boy. Boy was recorded from July to September 1980 in Dublin, and its producer was Steve Lillywhite. To persuade him to work with them, U2 sent him their EP, Three, to listen to. He was thrilled with Bono's voice, and after going to Ireland to hear them play live, he decided immediately after the concert to work with them, believing he was witnessing something exceptionally great.

Musically, the eleven songs of the album belong to the post-punk scene, while lyrically they represent how U2 experienced the transition from youth to the early years of adulthood. The cover of the album features Peter Rowen, who was the younger brother of a friend of Bono. In many countries, the album was released with a different cover due to the fear that the band could be accused of promoting pedophilia.

Although initially its success was moderate in the U.S. and the UK, Boy, with the passage of decades and the ever-growing popularity of the band, managed to reach 1,000,000 in sales in the U.S. and 100,000 in the UK.