Larry Mullen was first played on NTS on 10 February 2021. Songs played include Theme From Mission: Impossible.

Lawrence Joseph “Larry” Mullen, Jr. (born 31 October 1961 in Artane, Dublin, Ireland) is the drummer for the Irish rock band U2. He is the founder of U2, which was originally known as “The Larry Mullen Band” at its inception.

Mullen, the middle child and only son of Larry and Maureen Mullen, was born 31 October 1961, and raised in Artane, on the north side of Dublin, Ireland. Mullen began drumming in 1970, at the age of 9, under the instruction of Irish drummer Joe Bonnie and, later, Bonnie’s daughter Monica. His mother died in a car accident in November 1978, two years after U2 was founded.

Before founding U2, Mullen was involved in a Dublin marching band called the Artane Boys Band now known as the Artane Band, contributing to the martial beats common in Mullen’s work, such as the song “Sunday Bloody Sunday”. Mullen founded U2 in the fall of 1976 by placing a now famous notice on the Mount Temple Comprehensive School bulletin board, saying something to the effect of “drummer seeks musicians to form band.” The band, originally consisting of Mullen, Paul “Bono” Hewson, David “The Edge” Evans, his brother Dik Evans, Adam Clayton, and Mullen’s friends Ivan McCormick and Peter Martin, was originally known as the “Larry Mullen Band”, but the name quickly changed to “Feedback”, as that was one of the few musical terms they knew. Soon after the band formed, McCormick and Martin left, and the band, by then known as “The Hype” was a 5-piece. Just before they won a Limerick, Ireland talent contest, they changed their name again, for the final time, to U2, formally done at a farewell concert for Dik Evans, becoming the 4-piece band they are today.