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David Howell Evans (born August 8, 1961, Barking, Essex [now in Greater London], England), byname the Edge, is the guitarist of the Irish rock band U2.
Dave Evans, who was known as a loner in high school, took piano and guitar lessons and often performed with his brother Dik Evans before they both answered an ad posted by Larry Mullen, Jr. seeking musicians to form a rock band. This band would go through several incarnations before emerging as U2 in March 1978 (Dik Evans left the band just before the name change).
Evans is credited with devising a unique guitar sound, with a heavy emphasis on textures and moods. Evans also focuses heavily on experimenting with his guitar sound, using different tunings and various guitar effects pedals to create entirely new sounds from the guitar. The song With or Without You, from U2's seminal 1987 LP The Joshua Tree, is a perfect example of Evans's guitar style, built up of many layers of guitar sounds, lending the song it's melancholic mood and focusing the listener on the voice of the singer Bono.
In addition to his regular gig playing with U2, Evans has also recorded with artists like Johnny Cash, B. B. King, Tina Turner, and Ron Wood.
Evans married his high school girlfriend Aislinn O'Sullivan. The couple had three daughters together: Hollie, Arun and Blue Angel. Evans and O'Sullivan separated in 1991 but could not divorce because of Irish law. They were divorced in 1996, after divorce was legalized in 1995).
In October 1997, Evans had a fourth daughter, Sian, with Morleigh Steinberg, a dancer from U2's early 1990s Zoo TV tour. Their son Levi was born in September 1999. The couple married in June 2002.
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