Among those paying tribute to Verlaine was Mike Scott of The Waterboys, who tweeted: "Tom Verlaine has passed over to the beyond that his guitar playing always hinted at.
"He was the best rock and roll guitarist of all time, and like Hendrix could dance from the spheres of the cosmos to garage rock. That takes a special greatness."
Will Sergeant, guitarist of Echo & The Bunnymen, said: "Tom Verlaine's playing meant the world to me. If I ever played anything that sounded like him I was happy. He set me on my path as a guitarist, thank you Tom."