If you’ve ever been laid up in the hospital for a while, or have been bed-ridden while recovering from an injury, you know that you have a lot of time to think, and a lot of time to write. And that seems to be the case with U2 frontman Bono, still recovering from extensive injuries he suffered in a November bicycling accident in New York’s Central Park.
Last night (January 1) Bono posted a lengthy message to fans on U2.com, titled “Little Book of a Big Year: Bono’s A to Z of 2014.” He said that the message would cover for the fact that he won’t be doing interviews for the next few months. “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… 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.” U2’s tour is scheduled to kick off in May.
Covering different topics in alphabetical order, the subjects of his post stretch from “A is for Ali” (his wife Ali Hewson, whose father, he revealed, suffered multiple heart attacks at the same time that Bono had his accident) to “Z is for Zero Generation” (aka millennials, who Bono refers to as “Generation Z.”)
In “I is for Irish Pride” he revealed that “Recovery has been more difficult than I thought… 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. I personally would very much miss fingering the frets of my green Irish falcon or my (RED) Gretsch. Just for the pleasure, aside from writing tunes. But then does the Edge, or Jimmy Page, or any guitarist you know have a titanium elbow, as I do now? I’m all elbows, I am.”
