Bono to return to stage in weeks - McGuinness
By Aoife Anderson


Wednesday June 23 2010



FIGHTING FIT: Bono is expected to shortly be back on stage for U2's world tou

BONO will be back on stage in a matter of weeks despite his recent emergency surgery, according to U2's manager Paul McGuinness.

The Irish rocker (50) was operated on after becoming temporarily paralysed -- forcing the band to cancel the start of the US leg of their 360° Tour and their headline slot at Glastonbury.

An optimistic McGuinness told the Diary: "He's making a full recovery. The doctors told me he's going to be fine. It was serious surgery but we expect him to make a full recovery. He's pretty fit."

McGuinness said there was no reason to believe the tour's massive stage production had anything to do with the singer's injury.

"It's a big stage to run around, but no," he said. "I'll be very relieved when I see him running around the stage again. The European leg of the tour starts in Turin on August 6 and that has not been postponed.

"Rescheduling the American leg is quite difficult because it is an outdoor show; we can't do it in the winter because it's the northern hemisphere.

"So what we're doing now is trying to seek availability of the buildings that we had already pretty much sold-out, so we're getting availabilities and routing a coherent tour for next summer in the US and Canada. We've nearly done it so I hope we'll be able to announce that shortly."

McGuinness insisted the rest of the band hasn't been enjoying an impromptu holiday while Bono recovers.

"No not really, they're doing some work and planning to do some recording. It never stops really," he said.

- Aoife Anderson

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