Bono has revealed that he could have gone blind had he not received treatment for glaucoma over the past 20 years.
The U2 frontman has teamed up with Revo eyewear with a percentage of profits being donated to Buy Vision, Give Sight campaign and the Brien Holden Vision Institute. The campaign is dedicated to preventing vision impairment and disease in over five million people by 2020. The 55-year-old singer admitted the cause is very close to home.
He said in a video announcing the collaboration "I've been dealing with glaucoma for 20 years.
"I was told just yesterday that without the treatment I'm getting, I would be blind."
The campaign is aiming to earn $10 million in the next five years, and 10 dollars from every pair of Revo sunglasses sold - both from Bono's line and their other collections - will be donated to the cause.
The 'One' hitmaker previously revealed he wore his trademark sunglasses to ease some of the symptoms of the eye disease, which is a buildup of pressure in the eyeball which can damage the optic nerve and lead to blindness if left untreated.
He said: "This is a good place to explain to people that I've had glaucoma for the last 20 years. I have good treatments and I am going to be fine.
"You're not going to get this out of your head now and you will be saying, 'Ah, poor old blind Bono.'"
Bono made these revelations about his eye health days before U2’s homecoming concert, in front of 14,500 fans at the 3Arena (the Point), on Monday night. This was the smallest show of the Innocence and Experience tour. It’s also the first time in 26 years that the Dublin rock legends have played an indoor gig in their hometown.
The show was filled with visuals and animations of their lives growing up in Dublin as well as tributes to victims of the Dublin/Monaghan bombings, in 1974, and those caught up in the recent Paris terror attacks. Monday night’s 25-long set list included the new hit “The Miracle of Joey Ramone” and finished with the classic “One.”
This was the first of four home shows with another on Tuesday, Nov 24 and the remaining two on Saturday Nov 28 and Sunday Nov 29.
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