[1] The song was an international success, bolstered by its usage in a television advertisement featuring the band for Apple's iPod digital music player.

[3] "Vertigo" originated from a demo that guitarist the Edge composed at his home in Malibu on a "very simple Pro-Tools rig".

[6] When lead singer Bono heard it, he was very enthused, describing it as: "the mother of all rock 'n' roll tunes.

"[7] Believing that their pending record would have a punk rock energy and be very collaborative between the band members, U2 hired Chris Thomas to produce it; the Edge said that he worked well with bands and had produced several records that were favourites among U2, including early Roxy Music albums and the Sex Pistols's Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols.

[4] Bono's original set of lyrics was inspired by Leonard Peltier, a Native American rights activist who was controversially convicted of killing two Federal Bureau of Investigation agents.

[9] After working for nine months with Thomas, U2 had recorded an album's worth of material, but they were dissatisfied with the quality of it and decided to delay the release.

Lillywhite urged the band to record in the larger space at Hanover Quay Studio to encourage better performances.

U2 performed "Vertigo" in a television commercial for the Apple iPod as part of a cross-marketing plan to promote both the album and Apple's music products (especially the U2 Special Edition iPod and the iTunes Music Store's exclusive digital box set for U2, The Complete U2).

[13] Visuals on this tour were inspired by the album cover, with heavy use of red and yellow lighting and the 'Vertigo target' artwork from the CD.

For the U2 360° Tour the song was typically performed midway through the main set, again after "City Of Blinding Lights".

For the Innocence & Experience Tour it was typically the third song played, with a swinging lightbulb hanging overhead during the performance.

[16] On the Experience + Innocence Tour the song was played as part of the "e-Stage" section, again following "Elevation" and featuring the extended outro.

[19][20] At the time of the song's release, Billboard did not count digital downloads as part of a single's overall sales.

The song was released commercially on 15 November, and debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart, and remained there for one week.

The video for the song features U2 performing in a featureless desert as black jet streams emit from behind each band member; on the ground is a huge white bulls-eye symbol used as a motif for the album graphics.

It was recorded in Punta Del Fangar (Ebro Delta) in Spain, and won Grammy Awards for Best Short Form Music Video in 2005.

Nathaniel Willemse released a cover version of "Vertigo" as his debut single in 2008, after having performed it on Australian Idol series four in 2006.