Bono must wait a year to play again

U2 frontman Bono says he may have to wait another year before he is able to play the guitar again.

The singer fell off his bicycle in New York last year, injuring his hand, shoulder, elbow and face. He later revealed he might never play guitar again. But he hopes that in around a year, the feeling will return to his injured hand.

Bono tells the New York Times: “It feels like I have somebody else’s hand. But they say that nerves heal about a millimetre a week, so in about 13 months I should know if it’s coming back.

“The shoulder’s better, the face is better but this is the hard bit because I can’t play guitar.” And he jokes that his bandmates “don’t seem to mind.”

He adds: “I really used to think that my head was harder than any surface it came in contact with, and I don’t anymore. I didn’t come off a Harley-Davidson. I came off a push bike and smashed myself to bits. There is no glory here.”

Meanwhile, Billboard reports that a member of the Russian parliament has accused the band and Apple of promoting homosexuality through the cover art on U2’s latest album Songs Of Innocence.

The record was automatically uploaded to millions of iTunes accounts last year and Alexander Starovoitov says the cover art – which features shirtless drummer Larry Mullen Jr embracing his also shirtless son Elvis – features “what I believe to be two men engaged in a manifestation of non-traditional sexual relations.”

U2 said last year that the image was intended to show “ how holding on to your own innocence is a lot harder than holding on to someone else’s.”

Russia introduced controversial legislation in 2013 which bans so-called gay propaganda.

Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022.