U2 offers an update on the health of drummer Larry Mullen Jr.
Larry Mullen Jr, the guy responsible for bringing U2 together in his parents’ kitchen in 1976, has been having back problems that date back to the mid-90s. Part of the reason the Pop album was so electronic was that Larry was having lower back problems and it was just easier to program a lot of the rhythm tracks. Those back problems–very, very common for drummers–persisted off and on for years.
In 2022, he announced that he’d taken an opportunity during the COVID lockdown to have doctors take a serious look at him. They found damage in his elbows, knees, and neck. It was bad enough to require surgery. By the time U2 was ready to play their Sphere residency in Las Vegas, he was incapacitated, hence the recruitment of stand-in drummer, Bram van den Berg.
According to The Edge (via The NME and Zane Low’s Apple Radio show), “The great news is Larry is getting better every week and we’ll be making a racket with him in no time. So we’re very excited about that.”
We also heard that yes, U2 is working on a new album progress on their new album is “somewhat tied” to Mullen and his recovery.
