jrtm 0 Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 Just been watching a fair few clips from the 360 tour and Bono's voice at the beginning of the tour seems ok, not as good as the Vertigo tour. I know in the middle of the 360 tour Bono hurt his back so he got a bit of a break from singing but his voice seemingly got worse to the point where he almost seems as though he is wording songs and not even singing. I also heard a rumour he had taken up smoking again. Freddy Mercury had an issue with polyps on his vocal cords and it actually caused him pain hitting higher notes so he had to tone it down on stage (Not that I noticed) I just wonder if Bono has an issue with his vocal cords as he really seemed to struggle. Has anyone heard anything as to what the go is? Link to post Share on other sites
Sigma957 2 Posted November 12, 2011 Share Posted November 12, 2011 Julie Andrews lost her voice too. Bono has a voice coach now (so I'm told) but didn't when U2 first started out so he never learned until too late that Kermit Bono was not good for his singing voice. Nor the shouting. So I have observed.. Link to post Share on other sites
jrtm 0 Posted November 12, 2011 Author Share Posted November 12, 2011 Interesting, I think it was in Bono on Bono that I read he had had some Surgery in 1999 on his vocal cords and since that operation his voice has not been the same hence why he sounded terrific on ATYCLB but had a different vocal sound and range and probably not as crisp as we had heard him on previous albums. Link to post Share on other sites
Subscriber peterferris8 648 Posted November 12, 2011 Subscriber Share Posted November 12, 2011 Bono's voice on the Popmart tour was shot to pieces. On the Elevation tour, it got better but was still rather nasal. On the Vertigo tour it was at its best since Popmart, but still a little bit nasal. When I first heard No Line On The Horizon I thought his voice had lost some of its backbone, but in Turin he sang like a bird - and his performances of Miss Sarajevo was incredible, as it remained for the rest of the tour. At Glastonbury, his voice was pure awesomeness. So I think it's better now than it was during the Vertigo era. The reason his voice isn't the same now draws from Popmart. It was a combination of smoking (he started doing it more during the Zoo TV era to give a 'rougher timbre' as he said in U2 By U2) and also an allergic reaction to desert weeds (he found himself a lot of those in Las Vegas at the start of the Popmart tour). This reaction caused a swelling on his vocal cords which had to be dealt with in the '99 operation. After the op, he started to recover, and as I've been saying above, in my opinion, his voice has been constantly improving since. Link to post Share on other sites
Sigma957 2 Posted November 12, 2011 Share Posted November 12, 2011 I read it was an allergic reaction to red wine that prompted the throat surgery in 1999. And what does Bono do shortly after, he appears with Kirk Franklin and and Friends on a CBS special, singing "Lean On Me". A few months later he does Jubilee 2000 with Wycleaf Jean and his voice is not yet ready for prime-time. I missed all but Bonolulu during Vertigo. But I did see U2 a fair bit on the US Elevation tour and Bono sounded fantastic at most shows. When he sang that segment of "When I Look At the World" in front of me at Kemper Arena, it was fantastic. His voice was hit or miss at POPmart Oakland I (o6-18), but Edge was on fire...heh. Link to post Share on other sites
Subscriber LinneaS 0 Posted November 13, 2011 Subscriber Share Posted November 13, 2011 He sounded fantastic in Minneapolis, too. Hopefully, his realizing that he isn't indestructible anymore (as he said after his back injury) extends to his voice as well, and he'll pay a little more attention to taking care of it. Link to post Share on other sites
Sigma957 2 Posted November 13, 2011 Share Posted November 13, 2011 Hopefully he will heed the lessons of Julie Andrews and Steve Perry and not force his voice (just work on proper technique). Link to post Share on other sites
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