In the first (and much needed) really sure sign U2 are not planning to invade your playlist again, Bono has apologized for the failed album experiment during a recent Facebook fan Q&A. A little while later the band frontman’s fortunes turned even further to the worse, when a bike accident in New York’s Central Park sent him to the hospital where doctors now say he will require intensive therapy for recovery. Hopefully the accident will not affect their upcoming tour!
Bono: Mea Culpa on Album Spam
After U2 bassist Adam Clayton read out fan Harriet Madeline Jobson’s plea during a recent Facebook Q&A to “please never release an album… that automatically downloads ever again,” U2 guitarist the Edge doubled over in fits of laughter but Bono answered humbly from the heart: “Oops, I’m sorry about that.”
Bono explained he’d had a “beautiful idea” but they might have got carried away with themselves, after all artists are prone that sort of thing.
He also explained the album release may have been driven by a little insecurity, saying the idea was inspired by a “drop of megalomania,” some generosity, a bit of self promotion, and also the “deep fear” that these songs might not otherwise get heard. After all, according to Bono, “there’s a lot of noise out there.”
As a result the band got a “bit noisy” themselves in order to cut through the noise.
The six-minute, edited Q&A session showed the veteran Irish band’s human side, after the band’s mass album delivery which spammed some 500 million users of the iTunes music service with copies of the latest U2 album (and their 13th), Songs of Innocence.
A fan also asked the Edge about dealing with Bono and his famous ego, to which the Edge replied that being in a band is like being in a street gang. As the edge put it, being in a street gang which is aged 40-plus is “kind of unnatural,” but they manage to make things work.
Bono’s Bike Injury… Will It Threaten The 2015 Tour?
A little while after the Q&A, Bono took a bike ride in New York’s Central Park but evidently went a little too fast: he experienced what is slowly turning out to be a very dangerous fall and had to undergo not just one but two separate surgical procedures.
The first involved a five-hour operation that saw the lead singer fitted with metal plates and some 18 different screws. The next day he went back into the operating room to get treatment on his left hand.
Whereas the band’s statement called it a “cycling spill,” the hospital was a little more clear on the scale of the problem, calling it a “high-energy bicycle accident” that happened when Bono tried to avoid another rider.
The hospital has said Bono will require “intensive and progressive therapy,” but they expect a full recovery. Still not clear is how this will affect the upcoming 2015 tour, tickets for which are in many places already sold out. (You can find here sold out tickets.)
The only upcoming date in the near future is December 14, when they are scheduled to play in Los Angeles at KROQ’s annual holiday charity concert. They’ve already canceled a week-long residency on the Tonight Show.