Frontman ordered to recuperate for at least eight weeks, pushing 16 North American tour dates to 2011. By Gil Kaufman U2’s Bono Photo: Kevin Mazur/WireImage The good news is that after Friday’s successful emergency back surgery, U2 singer Bono was discharged from Ludwig Maximilians-University Hospital in Munich on Monday. The bad news is that in order to recover fully, the 50-year-old singer (born Paul Hewson) is under doctor’s orders to start a rehabilitation and recuperation program that will keep him sidelined for at least eight weeks, forcing the postponement of the band’s 16 North American 360 Tour dates until 2011. According to a statement from tour producer Live Nation, the concerts, which were to kick off in Salt Lake City on June 3 and run through a July 19 show at New Jersey’s Meadowlands Stadium, have been pushed to an unspecified date next year. “Bono suffered severe compression of the sciatic nerve,” explained Dr. Muller Wohlfahrt, one of the singer’s doctors. “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. I recommended Bono have emergency spine surgery.” The surgeon who performed the procedure, Professor Joerg Christian Tonn added, “Bono was referred to me by Dr. Muller Wohlfahrt late last week with a sudden onset disease. He was already in severe pain with partial paralysis in the lower leg. The ligament surrounding the disc had an 8mm tear and during surgery we discovered fragments of the disc had traveled into the spinal canal.
