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Sugarhill Gang's Big Bank Hank Dead At 57

11/12/2014
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(Radio.com) Henry Jackson, best known as Big Bank Hank from the pioneering rap group Sugarhill Gang, has died. He was 57. News of the rapper's death broke via TMZ on Tuesday (Nov. 11); it was reported that he died early Tuesday morning in New York City. Jackson had reportedly been ailing from cancer.

The Bronx-born Hank was one third of the Sugarhill Gang, which released the song "Rapper's Delight" in 1979. Along with being considered one of the top songs in the genre of all time, it's also considered by many as the track that helped popularize hip-hop across the United States - even entered into the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry in 2011 for its historical significance. Jackson was only 22 years old at the time of its recording and release.

"Rapper's Delight" was also the first hip-hop song to find its way into the top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, peaking at No. 36 in 1980. Read more here.

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