U2: Larry Mullen Jr. revealed a learning disability

U2 recently announced the return of drummer Larry Mullen Jr. to the lineup.

for the recordings of their next album which the band is working on together with Brian Eno. The drummer who helped found the group in 1976 with the famous notice posted on the bulletin board of Mount Temple Comprehensive School in Dublin, Ireland, and organized the first rehearsal in the kitchen of his mother’s house, had to skip all the residency dates at the Sphere in Las Vegas to recover from physical problems (he said he suffered from severe pain in “elbows, back and neck” after so many years behind the drums) and was replaced by the Dutch Bram Van Den Berg of the band Krezip.

Now, however, Larry Mullen Jr. has revealed that he has other problems that can compromise his ability to play the drums: he has been diagnosed with dyscalculia, a learning disorder (which can occur at any age) which affects the ability to recognize numbers and can also make counting difficult. “I always knew there was something wrong with the numbers,” Larry Mullen Jr. said in a radio interview. And again: now counting the beats and maintaining the rhythm has become like climbing Mount Everest. I’m looking for a new way to play the drums. Every now and then someone watching my live videos said to me: you seem to be in pain. Now I can say: yes, I’m forcing myself to count the lines.” This year he co-produced the documentary “Left Behind” by director Anna Toomey which tells the story of five mothers who managed to found the Soith Bronx Literacy Academy, the first public school for dyslexic children in New York.