An American rock guitarist and pioneer of surf music, born as Richard Anthony Monsour, in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, on May 4, 1937. He won the Felix Award for Best Song at the 20/20 Awards in 2015. He married three times and had two children. In cinema, he's known for Escape from L.A. (1996), The Rum Diary (2011) and Beach Party (1963). He was inducted into the Hollywood Rock Walk of Fame in 1996 and was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by LA Weekly in 2000 for his contributions to music. His father was of Lebanese-Syrian descent, and his mother was of Polish descent, and he learned to play the piano when he was nine. He studied at Quincy High School and graduated from Washington Preparatory High School. As a Lebanese-American, he maintained a great interest in Arabic music and relied on the scales of Middle Eastern music. He died in Loma Linda, California, USA, on March 16, 2019, due to heart failure and kidney failure.