Rock mourns The Ox

Tributes were today being paid to John Entwistle, bass player with rock legends The Who, after he was found dead in a Las Vegas hotel room.

The musician, 57, who was due to open the band's US tour in the gambling mecca tonight, is believed to have suffered a massive heart attack in his sleep.

He was found by a roadie at the Hard Rock Hotel on Paradise Road shortly after fellow band members Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey were getting ready for a sound check for tonight's concert.

The Who's manager, Bill Curbishly, spoke of the band's devastation. "The entire Who family is terribly saddened. Our deepest sympathies go out to his family, friends and the millions of Who fans the world over."

Entwistle's band mates were said to be too upset to talk. Despite the group's reputation for excess, authorities in Las Vegas said there were no suspicious circumstances, although the exact cause of death would not be known until a post mortem later today.

"There were no signs of drugs, alcohol or violence," said an official. "It looks as though he simply died in his sleep from natural causes.''

Ray Manzarek, keyboardist for the Doors, described Entwistle, nicknamed The Ox, as "one of the great, great rock 'n' roll bassists of all time. A real genius".

The group, famous for hits including Pinball Wizard, My Generation and I Can See For Miles, had been due to play a sell-out concert at the Hard Rock's Joint Club, before leaving for the two-month tour that would take them to the Hollywood Bowl and New York's Madison Square Gardens.

Born on 9 October 1944 in Chiswick, it was not until Entwistle left Acton County Grammar School, where lead guitarist Townshend and vocalist Daltrey were also pupils, that he began to take music seriously. He later gave up his job as a tax clerk to join the fledgling Mod band.

Unlike Townshend, who electrified audiences with wild guitar-smashing sprees, and the brash good-looking Daltrey, Entwistle concentrated on the music, often playing while seeming oblivious to his surroundings. His solid, almost studious playing earned him the nickname The Ox but he often poked fun at his image, saying: "I ain't quiet. Everyone else is loud."

But he also knew that he was a crucial anchor to group, boasting: "I can make any band sound like The Who.''

After the death of wild man drummer Keith Moon from a drug overdose in 1978, the band lost much of their momentum, but still continued to play and tour.

There was no word last night on the future of the group, although the tour now seems almost certain to be abandoned.