Some good news out of Dublin: Bono is back. As you remember, Bono hurt his back during rehearsals on May 21st of this year and had to undergo emergency surgery. 

The injury forced U2 to cancel the entire sold-out, 16-city North American tour scheduled for this summer. All those dates have been rescheduled for May-July 2011 with the original tickets still valid.

Bono announced that he has fully recovered from that injury and is working on getting ready to tour again. He apologized to North American fans who had purchased tickets prior to Bono’s injury and who now have to wait a full year to see the band return to action. “I wanted to apologize for the trouble that this injury has put you all through, those of you that bought tickets, and organized hotels and travel plans. It’s a very big deal. People go to a lot of trouble to get U2 tickets and we don’t take it for granted. Thank you for standing by us in our hour of need.”

Bono did not explain how he had hurt his back which his neurosurgeons in May had described as sudden partial paralysis. He did say, however, that his injury, surgery and convalescence “was not a lot of fun for me. The injury was quite serious … but staring at the ceiling has some advantages — forced indolence.” He said he used the time to write new lyrics and tunes.

U2’s next scheduled performance is Aug. 6 in Turin, Italy.

   Older age catching up with the U2 lead singer? Perhaps. The 50-year old Bono injured his back during rehearsals and underwent emergency surgery today in Munich, two weeks before U2 is set to kickoff the North American leg of their “360 Degree” world tour in Utah. If you have tickets to any U2 concerts in the near future, you should keep an eye out for Bono’s recovery. U2’s manager, Paul McGuinness,  has already voiced hints that the injury could cause postponements of future shows. “It’s unfortunate that we’re inconveniencing fans,” he said in an audio message. “We will make plans to reinstate these dates as soon as possible.”