Bono never seems to go anywhere without wearing his signature shades. Yet all this time, there was a specific, medical reason for this — one he finally told the public during a taping of BBC One's Graham Norton Show. When asked if he ever removes his shades, the U2 frontman responded:
"This is a good place to explain to people that I've had glaucoma for the last 20 years. I have good treatments and am going to be fine."
Glaucoma is a condition in which pressure on the eyeball can cause damage to the optic nerve, sometimes resulting in blindness if not properly treated. Those who suffer from the disease are often sensitive to light, and wear dark glasses to alleviate their symptoms.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Given how many decades U2 has spent in the spotlight, it's quite a surprise that Bono's glaucoma has never come up before. But at least he's making light of breaking the news, adding: "You're not going to get this out of your head now, and you will be saying 'Ah, poor old blind Bono'."
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.