Founding member of the Sugar Hill Gang, Henry 'Big Bank Hank' Jackson (l) has passed away. (Also pictured: Michael "Wonder Mike" Wright (c) and Guy "Master Gee" O'Brien (r).  Photo Credit: Google Images
Founding member of the Sugar Hill Gang, Henry ‘Big Bank Hank’ Jackson (l) has passed away. Also pictured: Michael “Wonder Mike” Wright (c) and Guy “Master Gee” O’Brien (r).
Photo Credit: Google Images

Jessica Goodman of the Huffington Post is reporting that a member of the pioneering rap group the Sugarhill Gang has died. Henry “Big Bank Hank” Jackson passed away on Tuesday from complications due to cancer. The author writes:

“The news — first reported by TMZ — was confirmed to HuffPost Entertainment by David Mallie, business manager for Sugarhill Gang members Michael “Wonder Mike” Wright and Guy “Master Gee” O’Brien. Jackson was 57 years old.

In a statement to HuffPost Entertainment via Mallie, Wright and O’Brien expressed sorrow and condolences: “So sad to hear of our brother’s passing. The three of us created musical history together with the release of ‘Rapper’s Delight.’ We will always remember traveling the world together and rocking the house. Rest in peace Big Bank.”

The Sugarhill Gang was named after the Sugar Hill neighborhood in Harlem.  The group of which Jackson was a founder, made music history in 1979 when the single “Rapper’s Delight” became the first hip hop track to be listed in the Top 40 charts in the United States.

Jackson was 57.

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