Larry Mullen Jr. has set the record straight on his return to U2, speaking in a cover story for Rolling Stone. The U2 drummer discussed his years-long struggle with neck pain. The pain led him to consider stepping down from his role in the band. He also addressed a possible return to U2’s live shows after the release of their new album, Carnaval de Luz.
Mullen described how he felt while the band continued without him. He said his emotions were personal and not directed at his bandmates.
“It wasn’t as bad as you’d think,” Mullen said. “The band were doing what the band needed to do.”
“Those drum parts are mine, those parts that I played when I was a kid, a lot of them not really knowing what I was doing,” he continued. “And I was hearing those parts played very well by Bram, and I was grateful for that. It’s an odd thing to say, but I was.”
He explained that he never felt left behind. “‘Cause I had no sense of having been left behind,” Mullen said. “All those feelings were my own. They were personal feelings of humiliation. But they weren’t to do with the band. They were directed at myself.”
Mullen also spoke about how his injury affected him. “There’s a certain amount of humiliation when you get injured and you can’t get over it,” he said. “And I felt humiliated.”
Looking ahead, Mullen said he is open to a reduced role on stage. “Even if I can’t play for two and a half hours, if I can play for an hour, that’s enough,” he said. “I’ve had it so good that I’ll accept that.”
His comments come at a pivotal moment for the band. They shed light on how Mullen’s physical struggles shaped one of the most unusual periods in U2’s history.
Mullen’s neck problems stem from a congenital fusion in a facet joint. The condition worsened over the years until the pain became too severe for him to keep playing. His layoff lasted from 2022 to 2024. He later made a full recovery after surgery that carried a risk of paralysis.
During U2’s Las Vegas Sphere residency, Bram van den Berg took over drum duties while Mullen was sidelined. It was the first time the band had performed without its founding drummer since its formation. Mullen has said he heard his own parts played well by his stand-in. That helped him separate the band’s decisions from his own feelings.
Mullen has described the toll the condition took on him in stark terms. “It was through COVID that I realized that I was physically damaged beyond repair… I shut down, everybody had, and my body just went, ‘You’ve had enough.'”
Carnaval de Luz is set for release on November 13, 2026. It is U2’s first album of new material in nine years and the band’s 16th studio album. The twelve-track record includes “Go (Carnaval de Luz),” “Street of Dreams,” “The Mirror Maker (Rosalía),” “Silencio” and “Torn,” a duet featuring Dolly Parton.
No tour or live dates have been confirmed since the album announcement. Mullen’s willingness to play shorter sets leaves the shape of any future U2 shows open.
