On This Day, Sept. 9, 2014: U2 gave away their new album, ‘Songs of Innocence’, to iTunes users

On This Day, Sept. 9, 2014 …

U2 gave away their new album Songs of Innocence, with the record automatically appearing in the music libraries of some 500 million iTunes users.

The album, the 13th studio release from the Irish rockers, included the lead single “The Miracle (of Joey Ramone),” which was featured in a TV ad for Apple. Other singles included “Every Breaking Wave” and “Song for Someone.”

But not everyone wanted Songs of Innocence. In fact, angry Apple customers compared the unwanted album to “spam” or “junk mail,” and Apple was forced to create a way for users to delete it from their accounts.

Bono later apologized, taking “full responsibility” for the stunt.