NEW YORK (Billboard) - Dennis Miles, the hockey-masked rhythm guitarist with rapper Ice-T's hard-rock band Body Count, has died after a battle with lymphoma.
Miles, whose stage name was D-Roc, died Aug. 17 in California. He was 45.
Two other members of Body Count have already died: drummer Beatmaster V succumbed to leukemia in 1996 and bassist Mooseman was killed in a drive-by shooting in 2000.
"D-Roc was the backbone of the Body Count sound," said Ice-T. "Words cannot explain how much we will miss D-Roc more as a friend than as a band member."
In the wake of the controversy over the album and single "Cop Killer" during Body Count's early '90s heyday, D-Roc wore a hockey mask on and off-stage. "He didn't want to get caught up in the hype of being a star," said lead guitarist Ernie C, who hoped Body Count would continue in some form. "Ice and I will always play together," he said.