U2 Tour Manager Found Dead in LA Hotel

Dennis Sheehan had been with the band 33 years
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted May 27, 2015 11:32 PM CDT
Updated May 28, 2015 12:03 AM CDT
U2 Tour Manager Found Dead in LA Hotel
In this 2008 photo provided by Timeless Communications, U2 tour manager Dennis Sheehan accepts his Parnelli Lifetime Achievement Award at the Rio Las Vegas Hotel and Casino.   (Timeless Communications via AP)

U2 is in mourning for the tour manager who had been with the band since they were barely out of their teens. Dennis Sheehan, 68, was found dead at the Sunset Marquis Hotel early yesterday morning after emergency services were called to the West Hollywood hotel for a report of a cardiac arrest, Variety reports. He had been the band's tour manager since 1982 and, earlier in his career, worked for Led Zeppelin on their 1975 and 1977 tours, Rolling Stone reports. "We've lost a family member, we're still taking it in," Bono said in a statement on the band's website. "He wasn't just a legend in the music business, he was a legend in our band."

The cause of Sheehan's apparent heart attack is unclear: A coroner’s office spokesman tells the Los Angeles Times that he may have died from natural causes, but an LA County Sheriff’s Department spokesman says homicide investigators are looking into the death. Sources tell Billboard that U2's current tour will continue despite the death, though the band will pay tribute to Sheehan at tonight's concert. "Dennis always got the band on stage, pretty much on time. We're going to make sure we do that tonight, in his memory," Arthur Fogel from tour promoter Live Nation says. "It is absolutely what he would have wanted." (More rock bands stories.)

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