December 23, 2009

By By Lars Brandle, Brisbane

Mick Cocks, rhythm guitarist and founding member of seminal Australian hard rock band Rose Tattoo, has lost his battle with liver cancer. He died Dec. 22 at a Sydney hospital.

Cocks becomes the fourth member of a Rose Tattoo line-up to pass away in as many years, following the deaths of feted guitarist Lobby Loyde in 2007 and the 2006 losses of bass player Ian Rilen and guitarist Pete Wells, all of whom had suffered with cancer.

Cocks established the band in 1976 with the late Wells and Rilen. Two years later, Albert Records issued Rose Tattoo's self-titled debut album two years later. It became an instant classic, with tracks as "Rock'n'Roll Outlaw" and "Bad Boy For Love.

With the instantly-recognizable frontman Gary "Angry" Anderson on the mic, the hits kept coming with "We Can't Be Beaten," "Scarred for Life," and "One of the Boys.' The band's success crossed borders and inspired a new generation of rock outfits, including Motley Crue, LA Guns and Guns N'Roses, who covered Rose Tattoo's track "Nice Boys (Don't Play Rock'n'Roll)."

Cocks left the band in 1979 and went on to create his own solo projects and work with the likes of Aussie rockers the Ted Mulry Gang and Heaven.

Rose Tattoo was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2006. The band announced in April that Cocks had developed liver cancer. Three months later, Rose Tattoo joined forces with Jimmy Barnes, You Am I and an array of the best in Australia's rock fraternity to play a benefit gig in Sydney for the ailing guitarist.

Subscribe to Billboard magazine today!