U2X Radio Getting Closer on SiriusXM

Original Story by Aaron J. Sams (2020-06-24)

Last December, during a concert in Saitama, Japan, U2 announced that they would be joining with SiriusXM Radio to host a dedicated U2 channel, U2X Radio, on the satellite radio system, available to North American SiriusXM subscribers, as well as to Pandora users in the USA.

At the time of the announcement last year we were told that the station would be starting mid-year in 2020. The announcement was made in late 2019 as SiriusXM were preparing their year end financial presentations to investors, and gave the company a big announcement to include with year end fiscal results. The early announcement also allowed the band to start work on the station in earnest, without worry about news of the station leaking as they reached out to outside collaborators. It appears as if the station was working towards being ready for this time of the year from the start, and if delayed by the recent pandemic has not been delayed by much if the current rumours we are hearing are true.

We have recently been told that the launch date should be announced in the next few weeks, and that a start date for the station is getting very close. We have been told that members of U2 have been busy during the quarantine recording new content for the station, including discussions of the band’s history, interviews, programmes where the band will play DJ and present their own favourite music, as well as features where U2 will turn things around and they will interview people on their radio channel. There may even be some fan involvement. We have also been told that the band are exploring avenues to share some of these new content pieces outside of the channel which would be limited to SiriusXM subscribers otherwise.

Once the station is ready to go, it will feature U2 content around the clock, year round. The announcement, made December 4, 2019 stated: “U2X RADIO will launch in 2020 with the band themselves taking to the airwaves and will feature music from U2’s acclaimed decades-long career; never before heard interviews and live concert recordings; favourites and surprises from the archive; band curated playlists sharing personal influences both new and old; plus content celebrating their Dublin roots and much, much more.”

Larry Mullen said, “It all sounds exhausting to me but if people really want to listen to us for 24 hours a day, this is the way to do it.”

Recent attempts by fans to reach out to SiriusXM about a date the station will start have resulted in confirmation that the station will launch in 2020, and they are telling fans to stay tuned for further announcements. Recently channels such as The Spectrum and First Wave have been mentioning that the U2X Channel is on the way, but again, no start date has been provided at this time. A commercial for the station aired with a rebroadcast of the Apollo performance said, “Later this year the band will launch their brand new exclusive SiriusXM Channel, U2X Radio, featuring U2 music, stories and hand-picked songs from Bono, Adam, Larry, and The Edge.” The buzz for the new station has picked up in recent weeks both on the stations currently airing, as well as among the news and rumours we receive here at the site.

The announcement from last December can be seen below:

In 2018, U2 had a limited station on SiriusXM, titled The U2 Experience. The station, originally planned for 30 days of programming, was extended for a second month due to popularity. During that time the station ran U2 songs around the clock, including b-sides and album tracks, including tracks from fan club only releases. One special, recorded just for the channel involved Larry Mullen and Joe O’Herlihy sitting down for a discussion to reminisce about the band’s history. The station also sponsored an exclusive concert at the Apollo Theatre, and broadcast the show on air a few days after the concert.

Update: We’ve added a new section to our discography for U2XRadio, where we will track original content exclusive to the SiriusXM station, and more.