Ahead of their Sphere residency kicking off, U2 released their first single in years, “Atomic City.”
That song has topped a Billboard chart that U2 has never conquered: Alternative Digital Song Sales. “Atomic City” finished atop that chart thanks to its 3,329 copies sold (per Luminate). U2 beat out another legendary band, Blink-182, for this honor.
The last U2 songs to chart on the Alternative Digital Song Sales chart was “You're the Best Thing About Me” — the lead single off of their last album of original music, Songs of Experience. “You're the Best Thing About Me” peaked at No.4 on this chart.
U2 released “Atomic City” on September 29, 2023 — the day of their first show at the Sphere. Whilst drummer Larry Mullen Jr. won't be playing with the band during these Vegas shows, he did perform on the new single. He also filmed the music video with the band. The song was released digitally but will get 7-inch vinyl and a CD release. It's featured in the encore of their Sphere shows with a backdrop of Las Vegas shown on the gigantic screen.
While U2 has done it all, they've never done a concert residency. Their “U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere” residency is the first time the band has done one. They are serving as the opening act of this high-tech venue. After initially only announcing a handful of dates, demand caused the band to announce even more dates. As of the time of this writing, they will be playing the Sphere until December 16, 2023.
