‘Last night we lost a member of our family’

Last night in California, Bono took to the stage to pay a touching tribute to the late Dennis Sheehan.

Dennis, who was 68, died early yesterday; it is believed that a heart-attack is responsible.

U2 is in the midst of its Innocence + Experience tour, and was last night playing the second of five shows at The Forum arena in Inglewood. There, the band's frontman made sure to honour their late friend.

“U2’s family – it’s a brotherhood, although there’s a lot of sisters in it, too,” he said. “But the extended family is very important to us and we look after each other. It takes a lot to put on a show like tonight, and last night we lost a member of our family.

“Dennis Sheehan was his name. He was U2’s tour manager for 33 years.”

He went on to say: “A lot of U2 songs over the years have been written to fill a void, an absence, a hole in the heart left by a loved one.

“And this next one is one of those…” The group then began to play Iris, which is taken from from their 2014 album Songs Of Innocence.

The song was originally written in honour of Bono’s mother, who died when he was 14.

In an official statement posted yesterday on the U2 website, Bono said, “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.”