Larry Mullen Jr. is “back on his stool”.
The 63-year-old drummer was forced to miss U2’s residency at The Sphere in Las Vegas after undergoing neck surgery but he is on the road to recovery and feeling “much better”.
His bandmate, Adam Clayton, told The Sun newspaper: “He’s back on his stool. Look, we are a little bit like athletes, but have a longer shelf life.
“Larry’s body had taken a battering over the years and his primary issue was pain.
“He’s finally feeling much better and is very enthusiastic about playing again.”
The ‘One’ group formed in 1976 but have no plans to slow down or stop making music together.
Adam said: “I feel, I hope not mistakenly, that we still have a lot to give.
“No matter where our lives have led us, the constant is mucking about in a studio, creating music together.
“That is the greatest reward.”
The 64-year-old bassist thinks the process of making a record has changed hugely in recent years as artists seek to find more economical ways of getting their music out for public consumption.
He said: “Compared with 20 years ago, music today is made in an entirely different way.
“Back then, records were based on people in a room, playing instruments together.
“Now that’s become uneconomical. Artists are in their bedrooms or home studios, creating music alone, and that is being streamed.
“It’s a different sound, not that of four men forging a future for themselves.”
Frontman Bono previously admitted U2 wouldn’t make new music until Larry was recovered.
Speaking to MOJO magazine, he said: “Starting work on new songs is somewhat tied to Larry’s situation.
“Could he commit to an album project? I don’t know.”
The lead singer says new music without him wouldn’t feel the same as he brings a “psychic force” to U2.
He added: “It’s beyond the beyond of ‘tough’.
“It was the late ’70s, the last time we played without Larry. I think a motorcycle fell on his foot, and he couldn’t play, and we had a drummer called Eric [Briggs]. That wasn’t a great feeling, but Eric was very good-looking, and Larry hurried back – he hopped behind the kit! But it’s not just that, you know, it’s a psychic force that Larry brings.”
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