I remember being 15 and running sound and lighting for a top 40's band in San Antonio and enjoying life. We played all the fraternity and sorority parties as well as many of San Antonio's pubs and Fiesta events. We were like God's during that time as the band played a lot of tunes by U2, Depeche mode, Erasure, The Cure, etc. I eventually played the keys for the band and remained with the band up until my move to Austin, Tx.

I could write a novel on the ways- all positive- that U2 and The Joshua Tree have impacted my life, especially having come out on the better side of a surprising cancer diagnosis. Of course not having that much time or space, the best I can say is that it's truly remarkable knowing 4 young men who grew up with each other and continually fought an uphill battle to become successful in a very difficult industry were able to make such a beautiful and lasting statement musically and spiritually, and that is truly amazing. Seeing the thousands of fans at every show jump and sing in unison to 'Streets' is a sight and experience that really must be felt by anyone- a life changing moment for me personally. You want to feel God enter the room? Cue up the synths and red spotlights for Streets. The Joshua Tree and all of the related songs to come from that era are proof and give hope that any of us with any drive, thought and inspiration could make, our better yet, grow our own personal Joshua Tree, in whatever form that might be. Oh and one last note- our 2 year old daughter Evelyn Grace is already singing U2 songs with us! Another lasting impact you all have had on our family. See attached photo of our little artist getting creative while watching the 2001 Elevation Boston DVD concert at home! Sincerely, Kevin and Linda Crabtree, Chicago IL

When the first single With or Without You hit the radio I had my mother record it because I had to go to school. For me It was an event. When I first heard it I didn't know what to make of it. It sounded different but like all great U2 songs they grow on you. After awhile I couldn't stop listening to it. The enitre record is dripping with passion. There has never been a record that sounds like this one and there has never been since. It stands completely alone like a Joshua tree in the desert just as you thought all hope was gone. Thanks guys.

Although the details are fuzzy, here's what I remember about my first experience with this album. I bought the album on cassette tape so I could listen to it in my car. I was in college, driving on campus, when the opening chord of Streets began to fill my speakers. "Interesting," I thought. It built to this crescendo of sound with a beat driving the song forward, and I was immediately captured. It was as if the music inserted itself into my DNA, and I couldn't get enough. It was hard to listen through the entire album as I wanted to listen to Streets over and over again. Thirty years later, Streets still feels new and fresh, even though it's part of my DNA. The entire album is, really. I'm thrilled to be able to introduce it to our seven-year-old son and to take him to his second U2 concert in Chicago this summer.

When you love a band the way we did in 1987, an album can prove to provide a life changing education, and aspirations, amongst so many other things. I have learnt and been inquisitive about so many things as a result of this album. The first was about the title itself. With no internet, the only reference we could find about this unheard of tree, was in the bible. So many other things in my life have been explored due to following this band. And one of my aspirations for many years is about to be realised. I'm going to LA for the first time, watching the 2 shows, and visiting the locations, including 'the tree', that mean so much to me. It may well get a bit emotional!

I waited in anticipation for the Joshua Tree album to come out. Those were the days when people actually got excited over a new album by their favorite group. Anyway, I was working out at the gym and I heard "In God's Country" and I was excited. Once the album came out in March of 1987, I ran to my favorite record store in Hoboken and I purchased the album. The first thing that struck me was the photo on the cover and the photo in the sleeve. Once I heard the opening organ from "Where the Streets Have No Name" I was hooked. It was beautiful. My friends and I got tickets to see U2 at the Byrne Arena in May and again for the Madison Square Garden show in the fall. One of those shows had the Harlem Choir doing "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For", which ended up on the Rattle and Hum album. The last song from the May show, U2 did "40" and I remember everyone singing the words "How long, to sing this song" all the way to the parking lot. In the spring, when the album came out, I was seeing a girl from high school and during the summer, I was seeing a girl from work. We went down the Jersey shore several times that summer and I always insisted on playing the album for the ride. The best part of the Joshua Tree tour was the opening. Once the lights went out, the crowd got excited and when the opening to "Street" played, we all went wild. I have seen U2 five more times since then and every time they play "Streets", it's like a religious experience. Music helps keep memories alive and certain songs stimulate these memories. I will always remember Prince's "Purple Rain", U2's "Joshua Tree", U2's "Achtung Baby", which came out on my 25th birthday and Radiohead's "Kid A". In closing, I would like to thank U2 for proving me the soundtrack for one of the best years of my life.

The Joshua tree awesome inspiring enchanting scintillating, powerful lyrical musical thee album of all albums , the songs mean a lot to people the lyrics I can associate with and how the greatest deliver it to the world wahl it has me in tears

In April of 1987 I went to see the Joshua Tree Tour in Detroit. I was 15. In July 1987, I was in a terrible car accident. I sustained a traumatic brain injury and was in a coma. I had a male nurse that found out I was a fan of U2. He brought in his collection and played it 24/7. I believe that God used the song 'I Still Haven't Found What I Am Looking For' to bring me back life! 30 years ago, I died and came back to life. 30 years ago U2 produced the album that helped me! I am seeing them in Chicago for a 30 year reunion!!!! Can you say meant to be?!?!!!! In addition, my best friend Mary and I have seen U2 several times together, but she didn't see Joshua Tree with me. It's our favorite album! This is a dream come true!!!! I can't wait!!!!! I wanna thank and hug them for helping me come back to LIVING!!

It was the summer of 87 and I was at Silverstone for the British Grand Prix. When cars were not racing by and the chaos died down a bit there was the sound of music on the breeze and invariably that music was coming from one band and one album. U2’sThe Joshua Tree seemed to be playing everywhere. I was already in love with this album having become a fan when the Unforgettable Fire came out, but on this weekend it felt like everyone else was falling for it too. Walking around the shops, stalls and marquees it was hot and dusty, I heard Streets playing at one stall and stopped idlely by looking at things, but it was the music holding me their, then into I Still Haven’t Found and With of Without You. This guy was playing the entire album, he asked if he could help me but I replied that I was hooked by the music, “brilliant isn’t it “he said, who could argue. Throughout the day various tracks could be heard and it felt to me that I was somehow supposed to hear the album here, in the heat and the dust. This wasn’t America but it felt as if it could have been a lot of different places. Much later, after most people had gone home I wandered down the pit lane to watch the mechanics preparing the cars for tomorrow’s big race, something you could do back in those days. Mostly it was quiet, just the sound of tools clicking away and the occasional burst of an air gun on a wheel. But further away from me the sound of Where the Streets Have no Name suddenly started winding up. It was coming from the McLaren pit, and it was being played loud from a serious sound system, were they going to play the entire album? Yes they were! So I stayed, with the sun going down, the lights of the garages getting brighter the air getting cooler and the sky changing to red. It was a sublime moment in time and the memory has stayed with me whenever I hear those songs.

I grew up in a small town on the way to Las Vegas...Barstow CA to be exact. In the middle of nowhere and the endless sky, I first heard about a band called U2 in Rolling Stone magazine. I saw the ad for the album " October". I remember thinking without hearing a sound yet, " these guys don't look like a rock band" I saw the video for "Gloria" and being a fledgling drummer was attracted to what Larry Mullen Jr was doing on the hi hat so I tried to copy it, thinking it would be a good tool in my arsenal. Being more into Rush, Van Halen, Iron Maiden and the harder stuff of the time, I still thought they had an interesting sound. Flash forward a year and my cousins saw U2 on the " War" tour headlining the San Francisco Civic Auditorium and told tales of a wild frontman in the crowd that was nowhere near capacity, but connecting with fervor. This was months before " Under A Blood Red Sky" could show me what I had really missed. So I followed from a distance, loving the big drum sound on "War" and trying to play along as best I could. Two years later, I borrowed a cassette of "The Unforgettable Fire" from a friend and sitting in my grandparents big car on a road trip to Northern California I finally got U2. The cinematic quality of the music and its aural images stay with me to this day. I still had not purchased my own U2 music, so when the " The Joshua Tree" was released I bought the vinyl, took it home and sat down in front of the big JBL 4311 monitors my parents had for speakers and cranked it. I was all alone in my house and I was stunned at the first side. I could not believe how this band of guys from Ireland had captured the aura of where I lived and the barren but beautiful landscapes around me. It made my dreams even bigger and still resonates. The record will always remind me of the coming of Spring and the warmth and promise that it brings. Though its not my favorite of the U2 cannon ( Acting, Unforgettable, then Joshua Tree) it speaks volumes about the time it came from and what it evokes, and I am still stunned how they managed to provide the soundscape to everything around me in 1987 and how they got it all so right.

Wow still get bumbs hurry up July amterdam

The Joshua tree is synonymous with hope and peace.

The first time I heard Streets. I was hooked. Since 2000 it has been my favorite song of all time. TJT was the first album to show me what it means to love music. The first album I was able to listen to front to back. And this lead me to discover U2 more and they've since become my favorite band. Favorite band, favorite album, and favorite song...of all time.... Pretty special. Thank you Bono, The Edge, Larry, and Adam.

I discovered U2 when I was 13 yo, with Achtung Baby, thanks to my sister. It changed my life. It helped me to support life when life at school was like a nightmare. It opened my mind to irish culture, littérature, then other littératures from other cultures. That's one of the way I see this incredible band: 4 guys opening doors, every kind of doors. You gave me a protection, each day, you gave me an other way to look the world, with the desire to travel, to discover, to read, to listen musics from all around the world. I lost you during some years, but now, you're back in my heart, and you won't move from there! I saw my first show in Paris 7th november 2015, I won't ever forget it. Already have my ticket for the next show in Paris for TJT, can't wait! For everything you made, for who you are, for your opinions, your lyrics, your voices, your music which made difficult lives sweeter, for your humanity, yes , I can say that I couldn't live without you 4, without U2 and all that it represents for me. I love you and I'd like to thank you for all you did and still do. Go on! Merci Adam, Bono, Larry et The Edge. Love.

Theo great álbum!

The release of this album was without doubt one of the pivotal moments in my life, which 30 years on I am truly grateful for. Before it's release I heard some of the tracks played on BBC Radio 1. I can clearly remember DJ Gary Davies playing 2 tracks in the same show, both of which I struggled to remember the titles of to write them down. What was that he said? "Where I Haven't Found The Streets I'm Looking For"? I was too mesmerised with what I was hearing. March 9th couldn't come around quickly enough for me. I spent the best part of my time at work in the week leading up to the release with a tape recorder permanently on pause/record. Just so I could record my own versions of these songs before they were released. I bought my copy from Our Price records in Gillingham, Kent. As I stood in the shop holding the vinyl in my hands, it suddenly dawned on me that I wouldn't be able to play it until I got home from work that evening. So I bought the cassette version as well to play at work. I thought the band were mad to release "With Or Without You" as a single a week after the album release, wasting a cast iron opportunity for their first U.K. number one record. 2 weeks after the album was released I bought my first ever CD player. The first track I played was "Where The Streets Have No Name". To this day, on every new audio device I've ever had since then, I alway road test it with "Streets" first. My first ever U2 show was the one they played at Wembley Arena on June 2nd 1987. It totally blew me away. So much so, that I crashed my car on the way home with my ears still ringing.

I was 14 when the Joshua Tree was released. I am now 43. I'm still a massive fan but that album remains my favourite. The one I'd take to a Desert Island. I played that album on a loop for months on end. Whatever was happening in my life could be soothed by Bono's mighty voice, by Edge's tinkling guitar, Larry's booming drums and not forgetting Adam's soaring bass. I watched in awe as the band took over the world with that album. My baby band had grown up. It was such a departure from The Unforgettable Fire and a breath of fresh air on the radio. Songs that have remained on live set lists ever since and I cannot wait to see them play it in full in London on 8th July. I've been listening to it lately back to back all over again and it still send shivers down my spine. 30 years on The Joshua Tree is still relevant and I thank U2 for that.

Oh hell! How i remember that day!i was on a bus...comin home,back from a Three days Holiday with School in...Rome?...Florence?..cant remember.b.t.w.....we stopped for pissing,drinking,eating in what we call Autogrill in italy.i went into the shop and i saw the tape.orange case.black cover.i said wow.u2 new album.i bought it.immediately.well i think it was exactly the day of the issue....but what came then.........i think i played in my stereo for the whole travel.whole night.over and over again.then we arrived at the tube station.bus parking.a girl said to me : Well it looks like you must like the album!.yes.true.ive learned the lyrics through the night and i kept on singing...my throat was dry....lyrics booklet...gone.how i remember that day.arrived home i went to sleep with the tape still playing.i was 15 y.o.

...like it runs between me and my favorite band. The "Joshua Tree" was not my first U2 album and I was even not able to say if I loved or not, at first listening. I was around 14 years old and I was probably expecting another "Sunday bloody Sunday" single in the songs list. Thus, funnily, I would even say that I was kinda bored at first listening. But at that time I didn't know that I would listen to this album more than many thousand times in my life. Probably because the pleasure of re-listening to U2 songs grew up with time. The “Joshua tree” album made me aware about this. This is particularly true with songs like “Bullet the blue sky” that I didn’t love at first. With the age and the fact that I was getting a “hardcore” fan, I developed my English skills just because I wanted to understand U2's poetry so much. Later (at 44 years old) I even started to take singing lessons because U2 songs touched me so deeply that I almost “needed” to sing them. Yesterday I tried to sing “With or without you” (on “Smule” website, for those who know :-)), one of the most beautiful love song ever written to my opinion. Sometimes I try to sing “”Where the streets have no name” or “Still haven’t found”. These 3 songs belongs to the legend and surely contribute to my deep passion and love for U2. But when I think about the Joshua tree, It’s almost non-sense to choose only 3 songs: “Red Hill Mining Town” is such a masterpiece, for example….when I hear it, I feel so much passion. Which other band would be able to sing and play this? I look forward to hear the new version of this song! Larry, Adam, Edge and Bono, we look forward to see you on tour, thank you for changing our lives! Althen P.S Please add Zürich in the venues list for the upcoming tour, thanks!

I inherited my love of music from my dad so music was always present in our house. I was a kid when this album came out. I think The Joshua Tree was the first grown up record I bought. I was a fan for a few years by then but I hit official major fan status when this album came out. I still have the record and my immense love and respect for the band that helped shape me as a person. I love you U2. <3

First warm day of spring, windows open, hearing the traces of a melody rising on the breeze, blowing into my bedroom from the next door neighbor's: Where the Streets Have No Name. I was hooked. Amazing to be celebrating this anniversary with my son Paul, who is the same age as I was when I first heard what would become the soundtrack of my life. Thank you U2 for making art that inspires, uplifts and challenges your fans of all ages. Can't wait to hear Bono play the harmonica in Chicago!

U2s The Joshua Treee Album to Me is the moment when a band unmistakenly opens the eyes and ears of all who like/love Rock Music. The album rocketed the band into Superstar status, which most bands never achieve. The lyrics are meaningful. Every song on the album cuts at my heart as I have seen many people 'cut down and taken from us' I paid my respects to Greg Carrol at his graveside in Wanganui a few years back and thanked him for being himself as if it wasnt for him The Joshua Tree album may have never been what it is today. Thankyou Bono, Larry, The Edge and (Adam) who my son is named after for all your un-relentless work that you do for many organisations and people around this world of ours. You have opened many peoples eyes including my own and my ears are open to all of your music which is VERY special to me. Cheers Guys

I first fell in love with U2 to "two Hearts Beat as One" - I was pretty young and the song had such energy and intensity. There was so much great music coming out of Britain at that time, I saw U2 as part of that movement, although I heard something more in their music - the words meant something, there was passion in Bono's voice, anger, a determination to make people think, but I'm not sure I was old enough to really absorb that. By the time Joshua Tree came along, I was a young adult and life was getting more complex. The words to the songs on that album were so powerful, lyrical, thoughtful. I've always said Bono is a poet, and those songs are poetry. They related to the joys and heartbreaks of that time for me. A good friend was having an affair with a married guy, and she was so torn over it. "With or Without You" became an anthem for her, she played it endlessly, and I always think of her when I hear it. It was also the first album that really launched them and was the tipping point to my being a lifelong fan. I am seeing the show this tour and although every show for me is a spiritual experience, the Joshua Tree is the pinnacle. The first 3 songs are the holy trinity of rock, I can't wait! Thank you Bono, Edge, Adam & Larry for enriching my life with your music. +

I was living in LA in the Air Force stationed at LA AFB. A friend of mine got tickets to the Joshua Tree concert in San Diego, on a weekday. Lone Justice was the opening act. So we took a half day and had no idea where our seats were located. So we got there and went right to the parking lot to start halving a couple of beers. We noticed we were the only ones in the parking lot and the concert was starting in about 2 hours. So 2 security guards told us that the parking lot was not a place to party, so we either had to leave or go into the arena. We chose the arena. So we went inside and went to a bar had a few brews and then wanted to see the opening act. So we asked the attendant where our seats were, she said "Go upstairs make a right go a few sections over and then this is where you will be sitting." We were like alright so we got to the section we were sitting and the person said go down stairs and there will be an attendant there and they will direct you to your seats. We saw the attendant and he was on the floor, he said you will be sitting in the 3rd right, center stage, we were like Fuck are you kidding he said no and that is where we sat the whole concert and even better there was a bar right there by our seats. Bono pulled up a woman he saw doing sign language and brought her up on stage and she signed a song. Pretty magical evening, one I will never ever forget, thank you. Vince L.

I had already found U2 when Joshua Tree was released. So I was waiting for the next release. I went to the local record store on the day it went on sale. Even skipped my college class to do it, I had to be "the first" to get it. I got the cassette, I was all about the "Walkman" back then. It told a full story to me, I loved it from end to end immediately. It's always been a part of my life's playlist....even gave my son the name Joshua.

It wasn't the lyrical genius that got me. It wasn't the fact that they could write a song about the pain of drug use with no direct references to the subject (excluding 'the needle chill' maybe) just powerful imagery. Nope, that's not what hooked me. At least not the way it was intended. I was 13. The words meant all sorts of different things to me. But the depth of feeling was right there. Clearing through the confusion of language like a chef's knife through paper. Joy and hopefulness for the first two tracks. Longing and emotional turmoil the third. A brutal punch to the stomach opening of kick drum and firewall guitar for Bullet the Blue Sky. One all time classic tune in the first 20 mins would be any band's fair share. But four!! As I get carried on life's waves and battered about by it, this album is like an old friend, a counsellor, a kind voice, a wake up slap. Albums like this let you know you're not alone and we're not alone. Others are out there and we're all in it together. And they fire the soul forever. They also let you know that if you leave your wires loosely around the place, someone could trip through them. So good safety tip there. 2017 seems like a good time for more music like this!

U2 were the background canvas to my teenage years growing up in a war zone in Belfast and their music and lyrics made so much sense of what was happening around me. They cared about what was happening in the world and in particular in Northern Ireland. Since my first experience seeing them live at The Maysfield Leisure Centre in Belfast in the month of December 1982 I have been on the journey ever since. I was 20 in 1987 and I turn 50 at the end of June so this summers gig will have special memories for me being back in Croker. We gathered at Makin Tracks which was an old style record store in the heart of the city on a cold wet night. It was unusual to be in the city at that time of night as Belfast was a crazy place at that time with shootings and bombings a regular daily occurrence. This was the first time in my life that I waited for a midnight release of a new album and it was just unheard of. As we waited in line we started to hear whispers that the band were in town to record a BBC session up at the Kings Hall and that they may make an appearance. No not Belfast, no artists bother to gig in Belfast never mind turning up to meet the punters. Just around midnight a black car pulls up and the guys appeared. Wow how lucky were we and they must have been around 50-100 people there on the night. The guys signed our new vinyl albums and even took time to chat to us. I suppose I was pretty much dumb struck like a rabbit in the headlights. I got home and played the album several times until I feel asleep at 4am. So many great songs in one hit it was great but I think that With or Without will always have a special place for me particularly with Edge's guitar riff towards the end of the song. Fair play lads you have gone the distance and continue to innovate and make awesome music together. You make me proud to be Irish and that I am one of the tribe. I have a picture of Bono on the night but it is bigger than the 400KB you permit so is there another way for me to get it through to you.

It was May of 1987 and we had written our last exam in our grad year at university. In piled 7 close friends into wood panel station wagon, to travel down to Boston to celebrate our friendship and graduation! Imagine our surprise when we arrived in Boston and found out that U2 was playing at the Worcester Centrum. I could only manage to convince one of my buddies to make the 1 hour drive down to the last of their 3 shows with no tickets in hand. We ended up meeting a couple who 2 extra tickets and sold them to us for ticket price, frankly a small miracle! I had been a fan since 1980 when I first heard " I Will Follow" and the Edge's guitar could transport you to the places you never though you could go. To see them live that evening ( with great opening act, Lone Justice) was just incredible. Streets, One Tree Hill, Trip Through Your Wires, wow, it cemented in me, how important the Joshua Tree would become in my life! That summer of 1987, I would listen to the album almost daily, carrying 2 large speakers outside of our house to crank the music on our deck for the neighbourhood to hear. It was the only album I ever played in which my Mom actually turned the volume up when she was in the house. Perhaps her Irish heritage made her naturally like the band, Red Hill Mining Town was her favourite song. I get to the see the band in Vancouver on this tour and to hear this song live for the first time, will make think of my Mom and how special it felt, to have the volume turned up to 11!

I first heard Where the Streets Have No Name on the radio in Puerto Rico. I was 14. I bought the album and it has never left my music playlist. Growing up in Puerto Rico, it was my first musical window into another world. TJT was my entry point into U2 music - I quickly fell in love with every single album prior and have made every single album after part of the soundtrack to my life. But this one - The Joshua Tree - defines so much of who I am. Everyone in my family knows it. Every one of my friends knows it. Few can understand except other real U2 fan.

30 years, upon its release, I was rubbing my belly, singing With or Without You to my soon to be born first born - Stephanie Pearl