U2 Member Reveals Serious Injuries, Won’t Tour With Band in 2023

U2 drummer Larry Mullen Jr. won’t be touring with the band if they hit the road next year, as the 61-year-old musician will need surgery to continue playing. The U2 founding member, who has been drumming with the band since its formation in 1976, opened up about his health and plans for the future to The Washington Post last month, revealing he has injuries to his elbows, knees and neck that require surgery.

“I have lots of bits falling off, elbows, knees, necks, and so during COVID, when we weren’t playing, I got a chance to have a look at some of these things. So there’s some damage along the way,” Mullen said. “So I’d like to take some time, which I will do to get myself healed. And I really enjoy playing and I enjoy the process of playing and being in the company of creative people. I enjoy that. I don’t care if that’s big or small. It’s a bit like the sprout looking for water.”

He continued, “My body is not what it used to be physically. Like next year, I won’t be performing live next year. I don’t know what the band’s plan is. There’s talk of all kinds of things.” In a follow-up tweet thread, Washington Post reporter Geoff Edgers confirmed that despite Mullen’s talk of taking time off, he never said he would be exiting or retiring from U2.

Mullen did vaguely reference being independent of the band moving forward in the profile, however. Explaining that he is “autonomous” and values his “autonomy,” the drummer continued, “I don’t sing from the same hymn sheet. I don’t pray to the same version of God. So everyone has their limits, and you only do this if it is a great time you’re having.”

U2 frontman Bono, meanwhile, has recently addressed rumors that the band will perform in a Las Vegas residency in 2023. “I can’t announce Vegas, you’d have to shoot me! But if it happens, I can promise you it won’t be like anything you’ve ever seen in Las Vegas or anywhere, ever,” he said on The Brendan O’Connor Show last month. “There’s no place yet big enough. For us to go, it has to be something that no one’s ever gone [to] before.”