U2’s tenth studio album, All That You Can’t Leave Behind, might not be such a resounding success if it wasn’t for Smashing Pumpkins’ frontman Billy Corgan. In a recent interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1, Corgan revealed that he gave U2’s frontman Bono some advice on how to improve the record, and the band ended up using them.
According to Corgan, back in 2000, he made a trip to Dublin, Ireland, and decided to visit Bono while there. He ended up spending the night at his house, and in the morning, Bono decided to play him the unfinished version of All That You Can’t Leave Behind.
“He’s playing me what became the ‘It’s A Beautiful Day’ album, and it’s not all the way there, but sort of there,” Corgan shared. “He goes, ‘Tell me honestly what you think.’ I’m like, ‘You really want me to give you my opinion?’… And I told him what I thought. They actually used my advice! He let me know later, ‘Hey, we used your advice.’”
Unfortunately, Corgan didn’t share more details on what his advice actually was.
U2 went on to release All That You Can’t Leave Behind in October 2000, and the album was a massive success. It reached No. 1 in more than 30 countries while receiving generally positive reviews from critics.
The record resulted in a number of successful singles like “Beautiful Day,” “Walk On,” and “Elevation,” and is still widely regarded as the band’s best studio effort in the 21st century.
