Dave Evans (The Edge)

David Howell Evans, known worldwide as The Edge, was born on 8 August 1961 at Barking Maternity Hospital in Essex, England so, to be clear, he was not born in Wales. His Welsh connection runs through his parents: both Garvin and Gwenda Evans, his father and mother, were originally from Llanelli in Carmarthenshire, and the family only moved to England for work shortly before his birth. When Evans was around a year old, his father Garvin took a job promotion that relocated the family to Dublin, Ireland, where David grew up alongside his siblings.

It was in Dublin that Evans, alongside schoolmates Bono, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr., formed U2 in 1976, going on to become the lead guitarist, keyboardist and backing vocalist of one of the most successful and influential rock bands in history. His layered, effects-driven guitar sound became a defining feature of U2's music across five decades and dozens of albums.

The family's Welsh roots surfaced memorably in 1987, when U2 played a fan-petitioned show at Cardiff Arms Park during the Joshua Tree tour. Evans's father had reportedly once said that "one day my boy will play Cardiff Arms Park" meaning rugby, not rock and roll and during the gig Bono handed The Edge a rugby ball to kick into the crowd, a nod to his father's old Welsh sporting hopes for his son.