U2 - Where The Streets Have No Name

What this video is

Released in 1987 as the third single from The Joshua Tree — U2's fastest-selling album in both the US and UK at the time — this video crystallized the band's arrival as a global arena rock phenomenon. Filmed in the Skid Row-adjacent intersection of 7th and Main in Downtown Los Angeles, the production deliberately invoked the mythology of the Beatles' 1969 Apple Corps rooftop concert, consciously positioning U2…

Why it matters

A landmark artifact of 1980s arena rock music video production, this clip is among the most cited examples of the documentary-performance hybrid format. Its Grammy win for Best Performance Music Video in 1989 validated the form as culturally serious. The rooftop-concert conceit directly references…

The director

Meiert Avis is a veteran music video director and longtime U2 collaborator who previously directed videos for 'I Will Follow,' 'Gloria,' and 'With or Without You.' He is credited as a pioneer of the music video art form and has worked across a roster…