Bono’s cool factor with fans has likely taken a hit. Turns out, the U2 singer’s always-present sunglasses aren’t a fashion statement so much as a medical need — to help him deal with his decades-old glaucoma.
Glaucoma makes its sufferers more sensitive to light, and dark glasses are often prescribed to help ease the pains. But many fans didn’t know that Bono suffered from glaucoma. So it came as somewhat of a surprise when he revealed to BBC One the reason behind his mysterious, ever-present dark glasses.
“This is a good place to explain to people that I’ve had glaucoma for the last 20 years,” he said, when asked by Graham Norton of “The Graham Norton Show” on BBC One if he ever took off the shades. “I have good treatments, and I am going to be fine.”
He then followed with a joke to the host.
“You’re not going to get this out of your head now, and you will be saying, ’Ah, poor old blind Bono,’ ” he said, The Telegraph reported.
U2 was on the BBC show to promote their new album, “Songs of Innocence.”
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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