U2 Postpones N. American Tour To 2011

From the moment the news hit last week that rock superstar Bono had emergency back surgery, it looked likely that the North American tour scheduled to start in June would be delayed.

Now it turns out it's been postponed until 2011. The band announced Tuesday that it was canceling its North American dates because of the time needed its lead singer's recuperation.

An update from the band's manager, Paul McGuinness, is on U2's website. An excerpt:

Paul McGuinness said, 'Our biggest and I believe best tour has been interrupted and we're all devastated. For a performer who lives to be on stage, this is more than a blow. He feels robbed of the chance to do what he does best and feels like he has badly let down the band and their audience. Which is of course nonsense. His concerns about more than a million ticket buyers whose plans have been turned upside down, we all share, but the most important thing right now is that Bono make a full recovery. We're working as fast as we can with Live Nation to reschedule these dates.'