U2 frontman Bono had emergency back surgery in Germany this week and his rehabilitation will sideline the rocker until at least August 6, which means the entire 16-show North American leg of the band’s tour has to be postponed.
U2 manager Paul McGuinness spoke to Reuters outside of the German hospital where Bono went under the knife on Friday:
“Clearly this is a serious injury and the recuperation time necessary to rehabilitate Bono is a big problem for the U2 tour and has unfortunately necessitated the postponement of 16 shows in North America,” he said.
“Those shows were to occur between June 3 in Salt Lake City and July 19 in Meadowlands Stadium.”
U2 also had to cancel their headlining gig at Glastonbury this year. Bono said on the festival’s web site, “I’m heartbroken. We really wanted to be there to do something really special – we even wrote a song especially for the Festival.”
Bono’s neurosurgeon, Joerg Tonn, said the singer experienced “sudden onset disease” while training for the upcoming tour.
“He was already in severe pain with partial paralysis of the lower leg. The ligaments surrounding the disc had an eight millimeter tear and during surgery we discovered fragments of the disc had travelled into the spine canal.
“The surgery was the only cause of treatment for full recovery and to avoid further paralysis. Bono is now much better with complete recovery of his motor-deficit.
“His prognosis is excellent but to obtain a sustainable result he must now enter a period of rehabilitation.”
There is much debate in the sarcastic blogging community as to what caused the injury – whether it was the crushing weight of Bono’s huge ego or his efforts to carry the world on his shoulders.
All joking aside, my life and my generation was altered by the cultural steamroller that is The Joshua Tree and I am a huge fan of the man and the band that continue to reinvent themselves and remain on the positive side of hip while maintaining their status as artistic geniuses. I remember being at a U2 show in Atlanta in 2001 just after George Harrison had died and watching Bono talk about George and then perform “My Sweet Lord.” A beautiful thing to witness.
Get well soon Bono!
Top Photo: Musician The Edge (L) and singer Bono of U2 perform onstage during their ‘360 Degrees Tour’ at the Rose Bowl on October 25, 2009 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
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