Over 25 million copies of The Joshua Tree album have been sold.
Much of The Joshua Tree album was recorded at the Danesmoate House in the Rathfarmham area of Greater Dublin. The Danemoate house was built in the 18th century and was once the residence of Irish politician William Southwell. After recording The Joshua Tree there, bassist Adam Clayton bought the Danesmoate House.
"Where The Streets Have No Name" started as a four-track demo by Edge, but was difficult for the band to record because of two time signature changes and frequent chord changes. After working on it for weeks, producer Brian Eno wanted to start again from scratch and was going to stage an accident to destroy the recording, but was physically restrained from doing so.
"I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" originated as a demo called "The Weather Girls" that was recorded during a jam session. The band liked Larry Mullen, Jr.'s drums in the demo and built the song out of those rhythms.
The band was having problems with the song "With Or Without You" until Edge received a prototype Infinity Guitar that allowed sustained notes to be played. Edge was playing the Infinity Guitar in one studio room while Bono and Gavin Friday were listening to the backing track of the song in another room and they thought Edge's Infinity Guitar sound worked well with the song.