Wednesday 26 May 2010

U2 confirms they will miss Glastonbury after Bono's emergency back surgery

U2 confirmed yesterday they will miss Glastonbury after doctors ordered Bono to rest for two months to recover from emergency back surgery.

The band have also been forced to postpone 16 shows of a North American tour.

Bono called Glasto organiser Michael Eavis yesterday.

The singer said: "I'm heartbroken. We really wanted to be there to do something really special. We even wrote a song especially for the festival."

Mr Eavis said: "U2 are hugely disappointed. At this point we have no comment about possible replacements for their Friday night slot."

Bono, 50, who hurt his back while training for the tour last week, left Ludwig-Maximilians-University hospital in Munich yesterday.

Dr Muller Wohlfahrt said: "Bono had severe compression of the sciatic nerve." He was in a lot of pain and had partial paralysis but recovery prospects are "excellent".