Laurence Joseph Mullen Jr. (; born 31 October 1961) is an Irish musician, best known as the drummer and co-founder of the rock band U2. A member of the band since its inception, he has recorded 15 studio albums with U2. Mullen's distinctive, almost military drumming style developed from his playing martial beats in childhood marching bands.
Mullen was born in Dublin, where he attended Mount Temple Comprehensive School. In 1976, he co-founded U2 after posting a message on the school's notice board in search of musicians. Mullen has worked on numerous side projects during his career. In 1990, he produced the Ireland national football team's song "Put 'Em Under Pressure" for the 1990 FIFA World Cup. In 1996, he worked with U2 bandmate Adam Clayton on a dance re-recording of the "Theme from Mission: Impossible". He has also collaborated with musicians such as Maria McKee, Nanci Griffith, Emmylou Harris, and Alice Cooper. Mullen has sporadically acted in films, most notably in Man on the Train (2011) and A Thousand Times Good Night (2013).
Mullen has received 22 Grammy Awards and has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2016, Rolling Stone ranked Mullen the 96th-greatest drummer of all time.
Early life
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
thumb|left|Mullen performing in Melbourne on [[the Joshua Tree Tour 2019]]
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
thumb|Mullen in 2006
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
thumb|left|Mullen's martial drumming style was influenced by his experience in marching bands as an adolescent, during which he focused on the [[snare drum.]]
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.