Bono Opens Up About Releasing U2's New Album for Free on iTunes

iHeartMedia recently hosted an hour-long, in-depth chat with U2 frontman Bono and drummer Larry Mullen, Jr., as part of their "iHeartRadio Icons Live" series.

"iHeartRadio Icons Live: U2 The Making of 'Songs of Innocence,'" was hosted by iHeartMedia's Rod Ryan. The unique event marked one of the first times the band shared their experiences about making and releasing their newest album, "Songs of Innocence."

The event was broadcast on iHeartRadio's AAA, Alternative, Mainstream, and Classic Rock radio stations throughout the country, as well as on their website.

Check out some highlights from the chat:

The release of your album with iTunes. Was it discussed as a band and was everyone on board with this?

"Yeah we talked about it. We knew it was going to be great, we knew it was going to be controversial, we saw it and see it as a great opportunity and getting your music out to 30 million people and them taking it into their lives. 30 million people have downloaded that record. That's a big deal. We are very proud of what we did…and controversy? What controversy? What took 'Joshua Tree' 30 years we did in 3 weeks with 'Songs of Innocence.'"

Headlines made it seem like there was an apology about the release of the album, was there an apology?

"I'm already working on the apology for the apology. We are so proud of this and it really is one of the proudest moments in the history of U2. We have a whole new audience and our existing audience were very pleased to receive a gift from Apple...and you know, what is the point of being in U2 if you can't take these risks. What I was apologizing for was this very nice young woman on Facebook who thought it was rude, I'm sorry she felt that way, of course I am."