The Rock World Pays Tribute To Surf Rock Pioneer Dick Dale Who Died At 81

Surf rock icon Dick Dale passed away this weekend at the age of 81.

Dick is credited with influencing everyone from Jimi Hendrix to The Beach Boys with his signature style of frantic guitar playing.

Of Lebanese descent, his interest and knowledge of Arabic music was incorporated into his brand of rock 'n' roll playing, adding non-western scales to his style, going on to define surf rock.

It was his track Let's Go Trippin' that will go down as arguably the first surf rock song ever, but it's his swaggering rendition of Misirlou that non-aficionados will know, being adopted for the Pulp Fiction soundtrack and later The Black Eyed Peas.

The cause of his death is not yet known, but Dick suffered several health problems in his life, including diabetes and rectal cancer.

His contribution to guitar playing cannot be underestimated and some of rock's biggest stars came out to pay their respect on social media.