Legendary Irish rock band U2 inspired the Black Eyed Peas‘ “I Gotta Feeling.” Will.i.am revealed that the band wrote the chorus to their biggest hit for the Irish rockers.
During an appearance on Deep Hidden Meaning on Apple Music, which airs on August 10 (via RTÉ), Will.i.am discussed the origins of the hit song.
“David Guetta had this song called ‘Love Is Gone… So he sends me the remix to ‘Love Is Gone,' and that is the beat to ‘I Gotta Feeling,'” he recalled. “I approached it like, ‘Ok, if I could approach the chorus — what would Earth, Wind, and Fire do? What would U2 do? What would Talking Heads do all at the same time?'”
He then revealed the chorus is similar to Earth, Wind, and Fire, but the “woo-hoos” heard are “very Bono, U2.”
“As a matter of fact, I wrote the chorus for U2 because at the time I was working on No Line on the Horizon at Olympic Studios in the UK,” Will.i.am said. “At the time, ‘Beautiful Day' was like, ‘Oh man, if they have another song like ‘Beautiful Day,' that'd be awesome.'
“And so I did ‘I gotta feeling that tonight's going to be a good night' as a response to that, wrote it from the perspective of Maurice White and then the Talking Heads' ‘Psycho Killer,'” he added.
U2 and the Black Eyed Peas have a history. During a performance at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 25th anniversary concert, the two bands performed “Where is the Love?” together. U2 started by playing their hit song “Mysterious Ways” before segueing into “Where is the Love?” The end of the song features a snippet of “One” as well.
Who are U2?
U2 is a rock band from Dublin, Ireland, formed in 1976. Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton, and Larry Mullen Jr. have remained a part of the band since its inception.
To date, the band has released 15 studio albums. Their most recent album is the third entry in the “Songs of” series, Songs of Surrender. It features 40 songs from the band's discography that have been re-recorded and re-arranged. Songs of Surrender ties in with Bono's 2022 memoir.
Early in their career, U2 made a name for themselves with their politically charged lyrics and iconic live performances. They rose to prominence with hits like “I Will Follow,” “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” and “Pride (In the Name of Love).”
Their biggest success came in 1987 when they released The Joshua Tree. After their follow-up, Rattle and Hum, the band reinvented themselves in 1991 with Achtung Baby.
Additionally, the band recently celebrated their 1991 album at the Sphere in Las Vegas. For the first time, U2 played the entirety of the album live during their 40-night residency.
They were the first band to play at the Sphere in Las Vegas. After their residency concluded on March 2, 2024, Phish took over for a few nights in April. Since then, Dead and Company have played a 30-night residency at the venue. They are about to wrap up their final weekend with two final shows on August 9 and 10. After that, the Eagles will play a residency from September 2024 to January 2025.
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