U2’s longtime friend and tour manager Dennis Sheehan died in his hotel room early Wednesday morning, just hours after the band kicked off a week of performances at the Forum in Los Angeles, according to TMZ.
The entertainment and gossip news site reports 67-year-old Sheehan was found unconscious in his hotel room at the Sunset Marquis Hotel in L.A.
Paramedics were called to the scene at around 5:30 a.m. to respond to a cardiac arrest and pronounced him dead at the scene.
Sheehan, who was U2’s tour manager for over 30 years, had previously worked with stars such as Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, Led Zepplin, and Patti Smith.
In 2008, the Parnelli Awards Board of Directors honored his four decades of work and contributions to live music with the Parnelli Lifetime Achievement Award at a ceremony in Las Vegas, NV.
Sheehan had a brush with death while working with the Scottish blues-rock band Stone the Crows in 1972 when guitarist Leslie Harvey was killed onstage after being electrocuted by a microphone. Sheehan was reportedly thrown back ten feet after he was also shocked as he was handling the band’s sound duties, according to the Parnelli Awards website.
After making a connection with Led Zeppelin’s manager, Peter Grant, Sheehan later assisted with many of the band’s biggest tours.
Sheehan has been responsible for handling U2’s biggest tours since 1982, and was also called on by the band to help with the band’s various other projects, which included getting Bono in front of Congress to testify on behalf of Africa and helping The Edge promote Music Rising, a charity for the central Gulf region post-Hurricane Katrina.
The Los Angeles Times reports U2 opened five nights at the Forum on Tuesday with a music set that drew from its 30-plus years as a band.