The rapper died in the early hours of Tuesday morning after battling cancer, according to US reports
American rapper and The Sugarhill Gang member Big Bank Hank has died at the age of 57.
Big Bank Hank - real name Henry Jackson - died from kidney complications due to cancer in New Jersey, according to US website TMZ.
Hank founded of The Sugarhill Gang along with Guy "Master Gee" O'Brien and Michael "Wonder Mic" Wright.
The trio formed in the late '70s and were the first hip-hop act to score a mainstream rap hit with 1979 track Rapper’s Delight.
In a statement to the Huffington Post, O'Brien and Wright said: "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 trio were put together by producer Sylvia Robinson, who formed Sugar Hill Records with her husband Joe Robinson.
Apart from Rapper's Delight they failed to achieve the same US chart success, but did have a handful of European hits, including Apache, Rapper's Reprise and Showdown.
