Bono (pictured here) of U2 described Rob Partridge as a rare human being. - file

ROB PARTRIDGE, the British music industry veteran who worked as a publicist for Bob Marley and Irish superband U2, has died. Partridge succumbed to bowel and liver cancer on November 26 in London, England.

He was 60 years old.

Partridge was head of Island Records' publicity department for 16 years. Marley and U2 were signed to Island, which was owned by Chris Blackwell.

He played a significant role in publicising the April 1978 One Love Peace Concert at the National Stadium in Kingston, which featured an all-star cast headlined by Bob Marley. Two years later, Partridge signed an emerging band from Dublin, Ireland, called U2.

Tribute

The quartet's frontman, Bono, paid tribute to Partridge on the band's website: "Rob Partridge was the first person in the British music industry to sing our praises. He not only had an eye for upcoming talent, 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," read the statement from Bono.

As Island's head of press, Partridge acted as U2's publicist for over a decade, seeing them to superstardom with the 1987 album, The Joshua Tree.

He was also responsible for keeping the images and music of Marley and another Jamaican act, Grace Jones, in the international spotlight at a time when reggae was largely an underground sound.

Partridge worked as well with British singers Tom Waits and Marianne Faithfull.

Faithfull was also full of praise for Partridge. "He was) one of the greatest men I have known and a great man to work with. I don't know what I will do without him, we have been friends for so long," Faithfull said.

Rob Partridge, who was born in Devon, south England, is survived by his wife Tina.