They are, but rules is rules!

FIGHTING IRISH U2 resist the Rock Hall honor
U2 are almost certain to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in December, entering the Hall in their first year of eligibility. But the band, one of 16 nominees for up to seven new inductions in the class of 2005, doesn’t want the honor ó not yet, anyway. ”We’re definitely too young,” bassist Adam Clayton, 44, tells USA Today. ”We tried very hard to get out of it,” says Bono, also 44. ”Our respect for the people on that [selection] committee is the only reason we’d turn up. Others deserve it before us. We are humbled by the support for us and the esteemed company, but this is no time to look back.”
Acts become eligible for the Hall 25 years after the release of their first albums. (In U2’s case, that 1980 debut was Boy.) With Tuesday’s release of the band’s much-hyped How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, the musicians say they’re not ready for a career summation award. ”We’re in the middle, so this doesn’t quite seem credible,” says guitarist The Edge, 43. ”We’ve got another 25 years,” says drummer Larry Mullen Jr., 43. ”They need to change the rules. We’re still creative and still out there competing on every level. It would be great to get this when we’re 75 and we can bring the grandkids along.”
Signs that fans still eagerly await the band’s new music were apparent on Monday, as the band crisscrossed Manhattan on the back of a flatbed truck, performing for crowds on the sidewalks, as they filmed their video for the new single ”All Because of You.” The parade ended in Brooklyn’s Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park, at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge, where the band drew an estimated 6,000 fans to a free, 45-minute concert that included six songs from Atomic Bomb. MTV taped the concert and will air it on Dec. 10.