The eldest of 3 children, Adam Clayton was born in Oxfordshire, England on March 13, 1960.  He, along with his father Brian, mother Jo, and sister Sarah Jane, moved to Malahide, the same suburb of Dublin that The Edge grew up in. His brother Sebastian was born in Dublin.  His father was a pilot who took a job with aer Lingus.

Adam spent much of his early education in boarding schools, which he resented more and more throughout his boyhood. He began to frequently rebel. While at St. Columba's College Rathfarnham, which he entered at age 13, he met a friend that got him interested in playing guitar.  But, not too long after his mother bought him a bass guitar, he was removed from that school and sent to Mount Temple.

He started at Mount Temple in 1976.  When Larry put up the note Adam showed up with a bass and an amp.  He talked the talk (using words like "gig"), had an amp, and put on such a great act that the others really thought he could play, so he was made a part of the band.

After being asked to leave Mount Temple in 1978 for, among other things, streaking through the school's main corridor, he took on the responsibilities of manager.  He worked very hard at that job. He loved the idea of being in a band and really wanted to do that for a living.  Once Paul McGuiness became manager, Adam concentrated more and more on his bass playing and became an accomplished musician over the years.  Like the others, Adam was self-taught. And also like the others, he had the talent but not the ability at first.

Through the years, Adam was the one that lived the typical "rock and roll lifestyle."  In 1989, he was arrested for possession of Marijuana and recieved a £25,000 fine which was donated to the Dublin Women's Aid Refuge Centre.

After meeting and becoming engaged to Naomi Campbell in 1993, he gained much more publicity than he needed at that time.  His breakup with Naomi caused a downward spiral for him that came to a head when, due to an overindulgence of alcohol, caused him to miss the one and only concert that any of the bandmembers have ever missed.  This occured on November 26, 1993.  Adam has not had a drink since that day.

In 1994, he moved to New York and began taking bass lessons and learned much more about the instrument he had been playing for years.  Adam has become an accomplished musician and has contributed much to the music of U2.

Adam, along with Larry, did the theme for ‘Mission Impossible.�?nbsp; Which reached the number 10 spot in the US and UK.

Unlike his very public relationship with supermodel Naomi Campbell, Adam is now dating Suzie Smith who is a member of the U2 organization.  Fans got quite a scare when the tragic tsunami that struck countries off the coast of the Indian Ocean, as Adam and Suzie were on holiday in Malaysia.  Thankfully, the couple was not affected. Adam and Suzie's relationship ended amicably in 2007.