How The Rolling Stones Inspired U2’s ‘Rattle and Hum’

One of the biggest classic rock albums of the 1980s was U2’s Rattle and Hum. Bono revealed U2’s approach to the album was inspired by The Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main St. Here’s how those two albums compared.

The 1 aspect of The Rolling Stones’ ‘Exile on Main St.’ inspired U2’s ‘Rattle and Hum’

During a 1988 interview with Hot Press, Bono discussed the impetus behind U2’s Rattle and Hum. “This was a record made by fans — we wanted to own up to being fans,” he said. “And we thought rock ‘n’ roll bands just don’t do that — we all know they are, but they don’t do it. The Rolling Stones did it on Exile on Main St., sort of, and it was a kind of role model.”

Exile on Main St. is arguably the most acclaimed record of The Rolling Stones’ career. Its most famous songs are probably the singles “Tumbling Dice” and “Happy.” You could look at it as an alum where The Rolling Stones pay tribute to all the rock and blues icons who came before them. You could also say that about every other Rolling Stones album. It’s unclear why Bono cited Exile on Main St. as the tribute album in The Rolling Stones’ discography.

Bono explained why Rattle and Hum came with an accompanying film of the same name. “But we wanted to go even further and have pictures, because there’s people out there who probably don’t even know who Billie Holliday is, or who B. B. King is,” he said. “We thought of it as: ‘We have this thing, U2; now let’s just put it aside almost, and let’s just get lost in this music.'” For context, Rattle and Hum includes a collaboration with King called “When Love Comes to Town” and a tribute to Holliday called “Angel of Harlem.”

U2 and The Rolling Stones worked with the same rock star

Boo revealed what it was like to play with King. “We were in there as the apprentices — it was quite obvious,” he said. “You only have to see the movie to see the look on my face of sheer embarrassment, talking to B. B. King, sitting next to this great blues man.”

Bono’s decision to play with King parallels the career of The Rolling Stones. Mick Jagger and company have also played with King. If you look at the band’s YouTube channel, you can see Jagger and King performing classic tracks like “Mannish Boy” and “Baby, Please Don’t Go.” U2 and The Rolling Stones are very distinct bands but they both knew how to pay tribute to their inspirations and idols.

How ‘Exile on Main St.’ and ‘Rattle and Hum’ performed comparatively

So let’s compare the performance of Exile on Main St. and Rattle and Hum. The former reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for four weeks, lasting on the chart for 57 weeks in total. On the other hand, Rattle and Hum was No. 1 for six of its 39 weeks on the Billboard 200. So The Rolling Stones’ record lasted on the chart longer while U2’s record topped the chart longer. You could frame either record as the bigger hit depending on how you look at it.

Regardless of which band you prefer, The Rolling Stones and U2 went on to become kings of rock ‘n’ roll.