U2 calls their songwriting process "functionally dysfunctional"

November 13, 2026 / 9:36 AM EST / CBS News

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Fifty years after U2 began, and as their latest album launches to strong critical reviews, the band members say their songwriting process is "chaotic" and "functionally dysfunctional," in a wide-ranging interview with Anthony Mason for "CBS Sunday Morning" and the podcast "Alchemy with Anthony Mason."  

The interview will be broadcast Sunday, Nov. 15th (9:00 AM ET) on the CBS Television Network, streamed on Paramount+, and featured in full on a special edition of Mason's "Alchemy" podcast, dropping Sunday on YouTube, Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

The four band members – Bono, Adam Clayton, The Edge, and Larry Mullen, Jr. – open up about their songwriting process; returning to the school in Ireland where they met; their new album, "Carnaval de Luz" (released Friday); their upcoming tour; Mullen's return to drumming after surgery; and their legacy. 

Watch an excerpt:

ANTHONY MASON: Do you guys write the same way you've always written? Has that process changed?

BONO: It's chaotic.

MASON: Is it?

THE EDGE: Nicely chaotic. 

BONO: Very functionally dysfunctional … you would be shocked at just how raw it is and how just about to collapse. 

THE EDGE: We're not precious in any way. Until almost the record is in the store, we will try and improve and change and develop.

MASON: You can drive yourself nuts doing that.

THE EDGE: Yeah. Yeah. We do.

     
The Edge also revealed how he woke up one morning to write a treatment for a sequel to the hit holiday classic, "Elf." 

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"CBS Sunday Morning" airs Sundays (9:00-10:30 a.m. ET) on the CBS Television Network and streams on Paramount+. Rand Morrison is the executive producer. 

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New episodes of "Alchemy with Anthony Mason" drop Wednesdays (7:00 a.m. ET) on YouTube, Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Follow ALCHEMY on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. Rebecca Castagna, Anthony Mason and Alex Mason are executive producers.

In:

• Bono
• U2