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U2 Tour Manager Found Dead In LA Hotel Room

Veteran U2 tour manager Dennis Sheehan has been found dead in his Los Angeles hotel room after suffering a suspected heart attack.

Sheehan, 68, was pronounced dead at the scene at the Sunset Marquis Hotel in West Hollywood at 5:30am on Wednesday.

The Los Angeles County Fire Department was called to the hotel for a reported cardiac arrest.

U2 brought its Innocence & Experience tour to Inglewood on Tuesday, the first of five performances in the Los Angeles area.

Bono said in a statement: "We've lost a family member, we're still taking it in.

"He wasn't just a legend in the music business, he was a legend in our band. He is irreplaceable."

Sheehan has worked with the Irish rockers since 1982.

Music promoter Arthur Fogel confirmed the death "with profound sadness".

"U2's longstanding tour manager and dear friend to us all has passed away overnight," he said.

"Our heartfelt sympathy is with his wonderful family."

Sheehan - who also worked with Led Zeppelin, Lou Reed and Iggy Pop - was born in Wolverhampton, England, but grew up in southern Ireland.

He took up the guitar at the age of 12 and played in bands around Britain and Europe through his teenage years.

His eventual career was launched when the tour manager of a Jamaican band, Jimmy James and the Vagabonds, had to return to the Caribbean, and he agreed to step in.

Sheehan once joked that his main qualification for the job was being able to drive.

He landed the U2 position through the Irish quartet's overall manager, Paul McGuinness.

"The band works incredibly hard, and they go to extreme lengths to achieve what they want," Sheehan once said.

"With many bands, you get to a peak, and that's it. With U2 they are still climbing that mountain."

He almost died in 1972 when an unearthed on-stage microphone electrocuted the guitarist for Glaswegian band Stone the Crows.

Sheehan was flung back after being shocked when he touched a sound board.