Sugarhill’s Joey Robinson, has died

Joey Robinson, Jr., the man that headed up the famed Sugar Hill Records legacy, has died.

According to sources, Robinson died from complications with and undisclosed form of cancer and had been sick for a prolonged period of time.

The 53-year-old music executive was part of the legendary empire — based in Englewood — founded in the 1970s and led by his parents, Sylvia and Joseph Robinson Sr. Sylvia, a successful songstress herself, was dubbed “the mother of hip-hop,” and the label’s talent, the Sugarhill Gang, put the music on the map with the hit “Rapper’s Delight” in 1979. The song was added to the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2014.

Joseph Robinson Jr. was executor of the Sugarhill Music Publishing estate, helping to keep his family’s legacy alive.

In addition to tending to the business side of the label, Robinson in 1985 became a member of the Sugarhill Gang, replacing Guy O’Brien and touring with Big Bank Hank and other band members.

Robinson, known as Joey, was released Friday from Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck, where he had been hospitalized since May 17 with cancer, his brother Leland said. Robinson died at the home in Tenafly  he shared with Leland, 49.