Bono's Prognosis "Excellent," Can't Say Same About U2's Tour

Rocker discharged from hospital as band postpones U.S. and U.K. legs of summer tour

By Gina Serpe May 25, 2010 2:23 PMTags
E! Placeholder Image

Sometimes you can't make it on the road. Particularly when you're recovering from emergency spinal surgery.

Bono has been discharged from the Munich hospital where he had a back operation last week, and now faces a minimum of two months of physical rehabilitation.

As a result, and in what should come as a surprise to no one, U2 has postponed upcoming tour dates in the U.S. and U.K.

As for Bono's health…

"Bono suffered severe compression of the sciatic nerve," Dr. Hans-Wilhelm Muller-Wohlfahrt said. "On review of his MRI scan, I realized there was a serious tear in the ligament and a herniated disc, and that conservative treatment would not suffice."

Bono (real name: Paul Hewson) underwent surgery at Ludwig Maximilians-University Hospital in Munich and was operated on by professor Dr. Jeorg Tonn.

Tonn said Bono, 50, suffered a sudden onset disease, and said the rocker was "in severe pain with partial paralysis in the lower leg." Fragments of his herniated disc had made their way to his spinal canal and had to be removed.

"The surgery was the only course of treatment for full recovery and to avoid further paralysis," Tonn said. "Bono is now much better, with complete recovery of his motor deficit. The prognosis is excellent, but to obtain a sustainable result, he must now enter a period of rehabilitation."

Which, translated, means: no touring.

"Our biggest and I believe best tour has been interrupted and we're all devastated," U2 manager Paul McGuiness said. "For a performer who lives to be onstage, this is more than a blow.

"He feels robbed of the chance to do what he does best and feels like he has badly let down the band and their audience. Which is of course nonsense…the most important thing right now is that Bono make a full recovery."

The 16-date U.S. leg of their tour, scheduled to kick off June 3, will now be rescheduled to take place in 2011.

The band has also pulled out of their scheduled headlining performance at England's Glastonbury Festival next month, with Bono personally calling fest head Michael Eavis.

"I'm heartbroken," Bono said. "We really wanted to be there to do something really special—we even wrote a song especially for the festival."

No replacement has been named, but Coldplay and British rapper Dizzee Rascal are among those in line to potentially take the spot.

Follow @eonline on Twitter!

________

Well, that explains why Bono couldn't make E!'s 20th birthday party. You're invited, though!