Has Larry Mullen Jr left U2? Rock band announces grand return in Super Bowl commercial
GLENDALE, ARIZONA: Rock band U2 announced their 'Achtung Baby' concerts in Las Vegas in a Super Bowl commercial. The ad also teased to the launch of the website U2 x SPHERE, where fans can register.
Meanwhile, the concerts will not have the band's favorite drummer, Larry Mullen Jr. The MSG Sphere is a partnership project between Madison Square Garden Company and the Las Vegas Sands Corporation and was originally scheduled to open in 2021, but was suspended due to Covid-19.
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Has Larry Mullen Jr left U2?
Mullen has officially not left the band. Earlier this year, he tweeted, “I would like to take some time… to get myself healed. 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.” He also added, "I really miss the audiences. I miss that interaction even though I'm sitting behind a drum kit ... 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.” Further, he noted, “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," as per Washington post.
What is the official statement from U2?
Bono, The Edge and Adam said to Billboard, “It’s going to take all we’ve got to approach the Sphere without our bandmate in the drum seat, but Larry has joined us in welcoming Bram van den Berg who is a force in his own right…The Sphere show has been in the works for a long time. We don’t want to let people down, least of all our audience… the truth is we miss them as much as they appear to miss us… our audience was always the fifth member of the band. Bottom line, U2 hasn’t played live since December 2019 and we need to get back on stage and see the faces of our fans again. And what a unique stage they’re building for us out there in the desert… We’re the right band, ACHTUNG BABY the right album, and the Sphere the right venue to take the live experience of music to the next level… That’s what U2’s been trying to do all along with our satellite stages and video installations, most memorably on the ZOO TV Tour, which ended in Tokyo 30 years ago this Fall. The Sphere is more than just a venue, it’s a gallery and U2’s music is going to be all over the walls.”