Well, now this is a revelation. Larry Mullen Jr, who has sat behind the drums for U2 for nearly five decades has opened up about his dyscalculia for the first time.
In a recent interview on Times Radio, Mullen has talked about what is commonly regarded as ‘maths dyslexia’. It means that he finds mathematical concepts, times tables and arithmetic in general difficult to comprehend. Which makes it all the more astonishing what he has achieved; keeping time for one of the world’s biggest rock bands all these years. As we all know, being able to count is one of the basic skills you need as a musician.
“I’ve always known that there’s something not particularly right with the way that I deal with numbers,” Mullen Jr. said. “I’m numerically challenged. And I realized recently that I have dyscalculia, which is a sub-version of dyslexia. So I can’t count (and) I can’t add.”
Mullen Jr explained that it’s the dyscalculia that is the reason behind the ‘pained’ look he often has on his face while playing drums, which has long been noticed by U2 fans. “I am pained because I’m trying to count the bars,” he said. “I had to find ways of doing this - and counting bars is like climbing Everest.”
Dyscalculia affects between 3% to 7% of the population. It occurs across all age ranges, abilities and levels of education. It’s much better understood now, but it’s probable that there wasn’t even a test for it when Mullen was at school in the 1960s and '70s.
Elsewhere in the interview, Mullen confirmed that the band were working on new material. “I don’t think it will be what we normally do,” he said. “ I would hope it would be something different. But I’m excited to get back in some capacity.”
Mullen, of course, had to sit out the group’s Las Vegas Sphere residency last year. He cited damage to his elbows, knees and neck that had built up over the years. It was then reported that he had had surgery to address the injuries.
Just a week or so back The Edge gave an interview to Radio 2’s Jo Whiley in which he talked about the band’s new music and described being back in the studio with Mullen as “wonderful”.
“He’s good,” he said of the drummer. “He’s taking it easy but he’s back in the saddle on the drums still doing some recording with us and so we’ll be doing a bit more of that before the end of the year.”
