Sometimes the music business feels as if it is all about artists on one side and suits on the other, locked in an antagonistic relationship of mutual dependency. Yet in the middle of it all are the unsung heroes, the real lubricators of the machinery, men and women who are primarily driven not by glory or money, but by their love of music.

Photo: ADRIAN BOOT

Rob Partridge, who passed away on Wednesday at the age of sixty, after a battle with cancer, was one of those heroes. Involved in press and management, he was a good humoured adviser to many bands (including some of my own) really taking time to explain the workings of this business.

As head of press at Island back in the seventies, he was the earliest music business champion of U2, and helped persuade Head of A&R Nick Stewart that he should sign them when no one else in Britain thought them worth taking a chance on. His support was all about fandom, enthusiasm, instinct and generosity. As Bono has commented, “he was a nurturer… a person who would educate you about the kind of obstacles you were going to meet and how to get over them… a rare human being.”

It is really impossible to understate his importance in the U2 story. Mostly, as fans (and critics), we focus on the music and musicians who make it, and the impact they have on our lives. Yet without Rob it is likely that U2 might have fallen at the first hurdle, like so many other lost talents, and never even been signed to an international record deal at all. And it doesn’t stop there, because Rob became a vital ally of the band and manager Paul McGuinness in those early years, helping guide them through choppy waters, and supporting them within the record company when others were ready to drop them for poor sales. U2 went on to become the biggest rock band of our age, and everyone who has enjoyed their music (not to mention those who made fortunes from it) owes Rob a debt of gratitude.

Later Rob left to form the PR and management company Coalition, who have one of the best rosters of heartfelt, soulful artists you could ever imagine. Past and present clients include Tom Waits, The Verve, The Strokes, The Libertines, Franz Ferdinand, Marianne Faithfull, The Zutons, Kings Of Leon, Glasvegas, The Streets, The View, Bloc Party, Fionn Regan and Noah and the Whale. That’s quite a list.

I saw Rob a few weeks back, bald from chemo therapy, apparently stoically preparing for the worst, yet remarkably good humoured and upbeat.

Rob touched a lot of lives, and, if you are a music lover, he has probably touched yours, whether you were aware of it or not. We will miss him.

- Neil McCormick