Quitting U2 a ‘sensible’ idea – Bono
‘It’s never been a given that the band would go on forever’
U2 FRONTMAN Bono has said it would be ‘quite sensible’ if any of the band members decided it was time to call it quits.
The superstar group, who are all in their late 50s, have been on a mammoth globe-trotting tour for most of the past three years.
In an interview with music bible Q, the Dubliner described being part of the biggest rock band in the world as a high-octane profession.
He said: ‘It’s never been a given between the four of us that this would go on forever. U2 is a fast car. It’s not meant to be cruising.
‘It’s perfectly sensible for people to say, “Y’know what? I can’t give it any more. I can’t stay at this level. I need some time with my kids or my friends”. I could not hold that against anyone or myself.’
But The Edge is less certain that any of the globe-conquering band will bow out in the near future.
‘Everyone’s been playing out of their skins and it’s been a lot of fun,’ he says of the band’s recent American dates.
The guitarist, 56, also referred to Bono’s unspecified brush with mortality which inspired their latest album, Songs Of Experience.
‘The details aren’t important,’ he told Q. ‘But it was definitely a big part of the catapulting of us and him into this creative space. It’s being played out still in the live show.’
Bono also joked about performing a ‘big old rock show about death’. ‘It’s amazing we got away with it,’ he tells Q of the dark subject material on the new album.
‘I’m sublimely proud of these songs. Cos what a bummer that could’ve been – making a miserable album about a miserable subject.
‘Or a certain sort of Gothic candlelit procession for your own ego.’
Forbes recently named U2 as the highest-paid musicians in the world, largely on the back of their Joshua Tree anniversary tour which grossed $316million (€272.5million). Still the biggest Irish act on the planet, their stadium anthem – Beautiful Day – was recently ranked among this century’s top 100 songs by Rolling Stone.
Meanwhile, Q urged its readers to see U2 while they’re still in their prime after giving their Madison Square Garden gig a full five stars.
‘Catch U2 operating at this scale while you can,’ it urged. ‘Nobody does the enormous, retina-searing, emotional-tugging rock show better.’