Prostate Cancer

First diagnosed three years ago, Wells had "knocked that on the head", only to have the cancer spread to other parts of his body, Anderson said.

He passed away Monday night at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, surrounded by his wife and family.

Like Anderson, Wells's name was synonymous with Rose Tattoo, a hard rock band that conquered the Australian charts in the late 1970s and early 1980s with such hits as Bad Boy for Love and We Can't Be Beaten.

The band broke up in 1983, but re-formed in the 1990s to resume recording and touring following a wave of overseas interest.

Anderson paid tribute to Wells today, saying he "had a magic that will live a lot longer than any of us".

"His influence (as a guitar player and songwriter) goes right around the world," he said.

"The musical fraternity in Australia have always realised what wonderful music he's left us, and what an amazingly innovative player he was.

"And we got to meet a lot of young bands when we were touring overseas, who said Rose Tattoo had a huge influence on them.

Big bands like Metallica and Guns 'n' Roses." "The music 30 years on was still rich and influential." Wells was also a private man.

After knowing the guitarist for 30 years, Anderson said there were some things he never knew about him, including how old he was.

"In all the 30 years I've known him, there were certain things I didn...

Wells emerged in 1966 playing bass in the Brisbane blues band Head.

He moved to Sydney and joined heavy metal band Buffalo.

The band's "Volcanic Rock" was the first Australian metal album to go gold; the act also scored an overseas deal with Vertigo.

In 1976 he switched to slide guitar, formed the seminal Rose Tattoo and went on to hire lead singer Angry Anderson.

They became one of Australian's main street outlaw bands and found a loyal following in the United Kingdom, Germany and France.

Wells' original concept for the band was for all the members to sport bright orange hair, tattoos, shaved eyebrows and black T-shirts and jeans.

Rose Tattoo's influence later became apparent on U.S.

rock combos like Guns N' Roses, who covered its track "Nice Boys (Don't Play Rock'n'Roll)," Motley Crue and L.A.

Guns.

Rose Tattoo's self-titled debut album was released in November 1978 on Albert Records.

It became an instant classic, thanks to tracks like "Rock'n'Roll Outlaw" and "Bad Boy for Love." Wells left Rose Tattoo in 1983.

But he rejoined in 2000 for tours in Europe and for a 2002 album, "Pain." In between running a tattoo parlor, House of Pain, Wells later played in a series of bands such as Illustrated Men, Scattered Aces and Romeo's Dog.

He also made music with his partner, Lucy De Soto.

His five solo albums, including 1991's "Everything You Like Tries ...