U2’s Bono Explains Why He’s Always Wearing Sunglasses

If there’s one thing to say about Bono‘s appearance over his lengthy career it’s that his eyewear at least has stayed consistent. Cowboy hats may come and go but those sunglasses are eternal. Now, the U2 frontman has revealed to the world that those trademark sunnies actually serve more of a purpose than straight up fashion.

“This is a good place to explain to people that I’ve had glaucoma for the last 20 years. I have good treatments and I am going to be fine,” he was quoted, by Reuters, as telling Graham Norton during an appearance on the BBC’s The Graham Norton Show to be broadcast this week.

“You’re not going to get this out of your head now and you will be saying ‘Ah, poor old blind Bono’,” he then quipped. Glaucoma is a degenerative disease of the eye, that can make them more sensitive to light, and if left untreated can sometimes lead to blindness.

Bono has spent a lot of time explaining himself over the last few weeks, mostly apologising for his band’s likely ill-conceived deal with Apple to give away their new album, Songs of Innocence, to 500 million iTunes users without their knowledge.

“I had this beautiful idea, might have gotten carried away with ourselves. Artists are prone to that kind of thing,” he said during a recent Q&A on Facebook. “A drop of megalomania, a touch of generosity, a dash of self-promotion, and deep fear that these songs that we poured our life into over the last few years mightn’t be heard. There’s a lot of noise out there. I guess, we got a little noisy ourselves to get through it.”

Speaking to Norton he again reiterated those sentiments. “We wanted to do something fresh but it seems some people don’t believe in Father Christmas,” he told Norton. “All those people who were uninterested in U2 are now mad at U2. As far as we are concerned, it’s an improvement.”

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