U2 'preparing for stadium tour' after new album announcement and surprise Dublin show
Bono and The Edge are rehearsing songs from Carnaval De Luz, their first album in nine years
U2 are in rehearsal to play their first world tour since 2019, according to reports, with Larry Mullen Jr set to make a full return after undergoing back surgery.
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The band last week played in the same Dublin school where they formed 50 years ago to mark the anniversary, having announced their sixteenth album Carnaval de Luz will be released in November.
Bono, Adam Clayton and The Edge most recently performed their Achtung Baby Live residency at The Sphere in Las Vegas, with Dutch drummer Bram van den Berg filling in for the injured Mullen.
Mullen has confirmed the band is rehearsing for a stadium tour, though he hinted he might need a deputy to step in for parts of a show if his body isn't ready.
He told Rolling Stone: “Even if I can’t play for two and a half hours, if I can play for an hour, that’s enough. I’ve had it so good that I’ll accept that."
U2 are yet to announce full details of the tour, which would be their first since The Joshua Tree 2019, which celebrated the 30th anniversary of their iconic album.
Carnaval De Luz will be released on November 13 and any announcement around shows is expected to follow on from that.
Bono added: “I just pray that we are all well. And that Larry, of all of us, keeps hold of his fitness.”
As part of their 50th anniversary, the four also played a live, unannounced show in Dublin's Grafton Street.
U2 released their first new music in nearly a decade earlier this year, with two EPs, Days of Ash and Easter Lily.
The Edge hinted in the Rolling Stone interview that tracks from both EPs and the new album could feature in any upcoming setlist, which means much of their 50-year back catalogue will not make the cut.
Other bands are already starting to finalise their summer plans, with Oasis confirming dates at Knebworth House and Manchester's Etihad stadium as part of a world tour and Slipknot announcing a date at Wembley Stadium.