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Source: The Denver Business Journal

Published: 5-21-10

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Denver Business Journal - by Mark Harden

Bono — singer for the rock band U2, which is slated to perform June 12 in Denver — has suffered a back injury that required surgery, the band’s website announced Friday.

Bono, 50 — born Paul Hewson — was hurt in Germany while in rehearsals for the Irish band’s summer tour and underwent emergency surgery at a Munich hospital, according to postings on the band’s website.

U2’s show at Invesco Field at Mile High, home of the Denver Broncos, stands to be one of the city’s biggest concerts of the year.

There was no word from tour promoter Live Nation of whether the Denver date will be canceled or rescheduled. However, the tour-opening June 3 show in Salt Lake City, nine days before the scheduled Denver event, already has been postponed.

Bono will spend the next few days in Munich “before returning home to recuperate,” a website statement said. “Once his condition has been assessed further, a statement will be made regarding the impact on forthcoming tour dates.”

Denver is to be the fourth show on the “U2 360°” summer tour, with June 6-7 performances in Anaheim, Calif. leading up to the Denver date.

If it happens, it will be the Irish rockers’ first outdoor show in Denver since they performed in 1997 at the old Mile High Stadium. U2 has played at the Pepsi Center on more recent tours.

U2 — arguably the world's biggest rock band — has had a special relationship with Denver over the years. Early in the band's career, a 1983 concert at Red Rocks Amphitheatre — later featured in the video "Under a Blood Red Sky" — helped establish U2 as stars. And a 1987 show at Denver's now-demolished McNichols Sports Arena was showcased in the documentary feature "Rattle and Hum."

The current tour features what is believed to be the largest set for any rock concert, including a 150-foot spider-like construction looming over the midfield stage and a massive system of video monitors encircling the stage.

Invesco Field was designed to accommodate rock concerts, although they have seldom been staged there, as the economics of the rock-concert business has shifted most major tours to smaller basketball and hockey arenas. The first ticketed event ever held at Invesco Field was an Aug. 11, 2001, concert by the Eagles, who performed Thursday at the Pepsi Center.

mharden@bizjournals.com

Read more: U2 singer Bono injured ahead of June 12 Denver show - Denver Business Journal