Influential Australian hard rockers Rose Tattoo had sad news for fans on Tuesday, "We're very sad to announce that Rose Tattoo founding member and guitarist Mick Cocks lost his battle against liver cancer and passed away today, on December 22th,'' they said in a statement on their website.

The Australian reports that Cocks is the fourth member of the legendary band to have died from cancer in the past three years, following the deaths of Pete Wells and Ian Rilen in 2006 and guitarist Lobby Loyde in 2007. Back in 1991, another member Dallas Royal also died from cancer.

Rose Tattoo was formed in the mid-70s, and delivered a sound that some have compared to a harder rocking Rolling Stones. While they never attracted a huge audience in the U.S. by touring with the likes of Aerosmith and ZZ Top, they did grab an underground following which included future members of Guns N' Roses who covered Rose Tattoo's "Nice Boys" on the G N' R Lies album and tapped the band to support them on tour in Australia.