Ongoing History Daily: U2 drummer Larry Mullen Jr has a little-known disability
Plenty of musicians have been upfront about their battles with dyslexia: Florence Welch, Ozzy Osbourne, Cher, Mick Fleetwood, Lou Reed, and so on. Larry Mullen Jr, U2’s drummer has something related but different.
He has dyscalculia, which is a learning disability that makes it hard for a person to comprehend anything to do with numbers. That includes everything from doing math to telling time. In Larry’s case, he has difficulty counting and adding. Imagine a drummer playing at his level who can’t count. And because of all the numbers and counting involved, the dyscalculia also affects his ability to read music.
He’s not alone, either. It’s estimated that anywhere from 5 to 8% of the population is affected in some way by dyscalculia.
