The Ventures' Lead Guitarist Bob Bogle Dead At 75

Ventures lead guitarist Bob Bogle, whose fretwork on such instrumental hits such as "Walk -- Don't Run" and "Hawaii Five-O" influenced countless bands, died Sunday in Vancouver, Washington.

He was 75.

The cause was non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, according to Don Wilson, who co-founded the Ventures with Bogle in the 1950s.

During their lengthy career, The Ventures sold more than 100 million albums worldwide. They are credited with heavily influencing the surf music genre, and were known as "The Band that Launched a Thousand Bands".

Eddie Van Halen also told Rolling Stone magazine last year that the Ventures’ “Pipeline” was among the first songs he learned how to play on guitar. 'The Ventures In Space', because of its ethereal space-like effects, was deemed an influence on the later 1960s San Francisco psychedelic generation, as well as being cited as a favorite by The Who's Keith Moon .

They are also credited by The All Music Guide To Rock with the early formulation of the concept album.

The band became one of the most influential guitar-based bands of their era, and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame in 2008. “[”Walk, Don’t Run”] started a whole new movement in rock & roll. The sound of it became ’surf music’ and the audacity of it empowered guitarists everywhere,” John Fogerty said during induction-ceremony speech.

Bogle fought his illness with dignity, Wilson said.

"His doctors gave him 10 years to live, and he lived 12. The last two years were really tough. At least he lived to know the Ventures had been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame."