"Angel of Harlem" is a song by Irish rock band U2. It is the tenth track on their 1988 hybrid (live/studio) album Rattle and Hum, and was released as its second single in December 1988. It topped the charts in Canada and New Zealand, and peaked at number nine on the UK Singles Chart, number eight on the Dutch Top 40, number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100, and number one on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. Written as a homage to Billie Holiday, it was released with two different B-sides; one was an original U2 song called "A Room at the Heartbreak Hotel," while the other was a live version of Rattle and Hum's "Love Rescue Me".
"Angel of Harlem" was written during 1987's Joshua Tree Tour[citation needed] in "a time of experimentation" and immersion by U2 in "the various facets of American roots music".[2] U2 lead singer Bono has said that the writing of the song was inspired by U2's initial trip to New York City: "'We landed in JFK and we were picked up in a limousine. We had never been in a limousine before, and with the din of punk rock not yet faded from our ears, there was a sort of guilty pleasure as we stepped into the limousine. Followed by a sly grin, as you admit to yourself this is fun. We crossed Triborough Bridge and saw the Manhattan skyline. The limo driver was black and he had the radio tuned to WBLS, a black music station. Billie Holiday was singing. And there it was, city of blinding lights, neon hearts. They were advertising in the skies for people like us, as London had the year before'".[2]
The in-studio performance of "Angel of Harlem" that was included in the Rattle and Hum movie dates from a recording session at Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, during the later stages of the third leg of the Joshua Tree Tour.[citation needed]