Saddleback Church's pastor Rick Warren has paid tribute to Dennis Sheehan, road manager for rock bank U2, who died unexpectedly on Wednesday at the age of 69.

Warren, whose son died at the age of 27 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, prayed for the band before their concert in Los Angeles. He posted on his Facebook page: "U2's road manager for 33 years, the amazing Dennis Sheehan died suddenly last night here in LA. Dennis was a calm and kind Christian man.

"The team is heartbroken so Adam, Larry, Edge, and Bono asked me to share some scripture, words of comfort, and pray with them right before they walked on stage tonight. After sharing the ‪#‎ChooseJoy‬ story from my son's death, I asked 'So how do you go out and do a concert when your heart is hurting?' Bono said 'We choose joy!' Right. Pray for Pam who lost the love of her life."

A statement from Bono on the band's website 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."

At the Los Angeles concert Bono introduced the song Iris, saying: "We look after each other and it takes a lot to put on a show like tonight. Last night we lost a member of our family. Dennis Sheehan was his name. He was U2's tour manager for 33 years."

Later in the set he said: "We dedicate this song ... in fact, we dedicate the night — in fact, we dedicate our whole tour to the very vivid memory of Dennis Sheehan," he concluded. "St Dennis of Dublin, as he's known around here."