For a change, all was not quiet on New Years’ Day in the land of U2 as Bono posted a lengthy blog post on the U2.com website discussing, among other topics, his terrible bike accident, the PR debacle of the free iTunes release of his band’s new record, his respect for his family, friends, and peers, and, of course, his sunglasses.
The open letter to the band’s fans was the Bono version of the classic family Christmas letter, detailing all of the cool things U2 was up to in 2014. He also praised his longtime friends and band mates The Edge (“he is U2’s lightning conductor, he moves like a very calm breeze”), Adam Clayton (“Adam’s bass playing on Songs Of Innocence was as fresh and original as his work on our first album”), and Larry Mullen, who helped give the band “their best” album cover by posing with his shirtless son. He goes on to laud Kanye West, Nelson Mandela, Jesus, Quincy Jones, and Noel Gallagher, and pays homage to Jimmy Fallon for “being a better Bono than I could ever be” when the band was forced to cancel its residency on The Tonight Show:
But the most interesting news involved the details of the injuries from his November bicycle accident, including a photo of his new titanium elbow and the revelation that he has been left mostly bedridden as he recovers. “Recovery has been more difficult than I thought,” he says. “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.” In other words, none of this will delay the 2015 U2 tour, which might now be dubbed the “Paying For My Cool New Titanium Elbow Tour,” and he notes that “Live is where we live or die. The songs continue to grow night after night. We have some extraordinary ideas up our sleeve for this tour I’ve just got to be rebuilt by 14th May.”