Sylvia Robinson, Who Helped Make 'Rapper's Delight,' Has Died

Sylvia Robinson was an important figure in American pop music for more than half a century. She first gained recognition as half of the duo Mickey and Sylvia (with ace guitarist Mickey Baker). They scored a hit in 1957 with "Love Is Strange," which has been used in movies from Dirty Dancing to Mermaids to Casino.

A little more than 20 years later she co-founded Sugar Hill Records and came up with the idea for the first commercially-successful hip-hop release, 1979's "Rapper's Delight," by The Sugarhill Gang. Her label also signed Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, and released "The Message," from the album of the same name, in 1982.

Robinson died Thursday morning at a New Jersey hospital at the age of 75.

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