U2 frontman Bono has gone into detail about injuries he sustained in a bicycle accident last year, saying it has left him with a long and difficult recovery ahead, and the possibility he will never play guitar again.
Last year it was reported that Bono needed surgery after a “cycling spill” in New York’s Central Park, which caused the cancellation of U2’s planned Tonight Show residency.
Rolling Stone reported at the time that the singer had suffered a “facial fracture involving the orbit of his eye” as well as fractures to his left shoulder blade and left humerus bone.
“Recovery has been more difficult than I thought,” Bono wrote in a new post to the U2 website. “As I write this, it is not clear that I will ever play guitar again. The band have reminded me that neither they nor Western civilization are depending on this.”
“The consequences of this freak accident are significant enough that I will have to concentrate hard to be ready for the U2 tour in fitness terms,” he added. “As a result I have cancelled every public appearance and decided this missive is all the communication I can manage for the first half of 2015, beyond muttering and singing to myself of course.”
The singer, real name Paul Hewson, said he was left with no memory of the incident, adding that ending up in hospital with a bone in his arm poking through his leather jacket is “very punk rock as injuries go”.
If there’s one good thing to come out of the incident for Bono, it’s that he may have a new trademark to go along with his ever-present sunnies. “Does the Edge, or Jimmy Page, or any guitarist you know have a titanium elbow, as I do now?” he added.
Bono has not played live since receiving his injuries. The remaining members of U2 performed as “U2 Minus One” for World AIDS Day, with Chris Martin and Bruce Springsteen filling in for the downed vocalist.
