U2 have shared an update on the health of their drummer Larry Mullen Jr.
Back in 2022, Mullen Jr cited damage to his “elbows, knees [and] necks”, which he “got a chance to have a look at” during the COVID pandemic. He said that he was unsure whether he’d be able to tour with U2 for the foreseeable.
Due to these drumming-related injuries, which he described as “damage along the way”, Mullen said he’d “like to take some time… to get myself healed”. It was reported that he has had surgery to address the injuries.
While recovering from his neck surgery, Mullen Jr made the decision to pulled out of playing at U2’s Las Vegas Sphere residency. At the time, U2 bassist Adam Clayton said: “The whole band and I’m sure the audience are going to be very sad and miss Larry. He wants to come back, he wants to be able to have a long career and continue his drumming so he’s taking care of those injuries.”
Now, the ‘Beautiful Day’ hitmakers have provided an update on the drummer’s health and recovery. Clayton and U2 guitarist The Edge appeared as guests on Zane Lowe‘s Apple Music 1 show.
After being asked about what they thought Mullen’s experience was like after the drummer attended the penultimate show of U2’s Las Vegas residency, watching his bandmates take over the MSG Sphere, The Edge shared: “I’d say he probably loved it on many levels and also probably was like, “I can’t wait to get back there. Oops, sorry.”
The guitarist added: “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.”
U2 previously opened up about playing their Vegas residency without Mullen and Clayton told the Daily Star newspaper’s Wired column (via Irish Mirror) that “The whole band and I’m sure the audience are going to be very sad and miss Larry. He wants to come back, he wants to be able to have a long career and continue his drumming so he’s taking care of those injuries.”
Bono paid tribute to Mullen when he attended the penultimate show of their residency at the MSG Sphere in Vegas and shared: “That is the man who pinned the note on the notice board at Mount Temple Comprehensive School all those years ago. And we are very grateful that he did and that he’s here with us tonight. We wish him a speedy, speedy, speedy recovery. We love you, Larry Mullen Jr.”
Last year, U2 discussed how Mullen “gave it all” while recording their single ‘Atomic City’. Reflecting on Mullen Jr laying down ‘Atomic City’ to Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1, Bono said: “It’s really tricky for him. And he came in the night before we recorded it in Sound City. So many stories in that studio. And Edge wanted us to go there. And Larry went the night before to just make sure. He didn’t know if he could play for an hour or… he didn’t know if he could play for 15 minutes. And he just played up the storm.”
The Edge added: “John [Mullen Jr’s drum technician] was saying that he loved the sound of the room so much, he ended up playing for like three hours.”
The band also shared that progress on their new album is “somewhat tied” to Mullen and his recovery. In an interview with Mojo, Clayton shared: “Starting work on new songs is somewhat tied to Larry’s situation. Could he commit to an album project? I don’t know.”
In other news, U2 recently shared a new song called ‘Happiness’ that was originally recorded in 2004.
The song came together during the sessions for the Irish rockers’ 2004 album ‘How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb’ and is set to feature on the shadow album ‘How To Re-Assemble An Atomic Bomb’ alongside the previously released songs ‘Country Mile’ and ‘Picture Of You (X + W)’.
The forthcoming record – available to pre-order here – will include new, unreleased songs dug up from the archive of the original album’s sessions. It will be released on November 22 alongside a remastered version of ‘How To Disassemble An Atomic Bomb’.
‘How To Re-Assemble An Atomic Bomb’, meanwhile, will be exclusively available in physical format for Record Store Day Black Friday as a limited edition black and red marble 1LP vinyl, and as a standalone 10 track digital release on November 29.
