Diane Martel, the legendary music video director who created iconic videos for some of the biggest artists for more than three decades, has died in New York. She was 63.

“Diane passed away peacefully at Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital  – surrounded by friends and family – after a long battle with breast cancer,” her family said in a statement on Thursday (September 18th). “She is survived by her Aunt, Gail Merrifield Papp (wife of Joseph Papp, founder of The Public Theatre), her three beloved, loyal cats (Poki, PopPop, PomPom) and many loving lifetime friends.”

Diane was a trailblazing music video director, a crucial figure in the emergence of hip hop videos in the early 90s for the likes of the Wu Tang Clan and its individual members, at a time when female directors were few and far between. She went on to be a trusted collaborator with numerous top artists, including Beyoncé, Mariah Carey, Justin Timberlake, the Killers, and Miley Cyrus. And she also made two of the most controversial music videos of the 2010s, with Cyrus's We Can't Stop and Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines.

A born and bred New Yorker, Diane was a giant figure in the world of music videos, both for her influential work - including her collaborations with hip hop luminaries such as Ol' Dirty Bastard, LL Cool J and Method Man, and pop stars of the likes of Mariah Cary, with whom she worked on numerous occasions - and also her personality.

"Diane was a brilliant, amazing and crazy talent, someone who genuinely impacted global culture,"  says James Hackett, head of music at Anonymous in London, "Few have the stories she was able to regale.  Gone too soon."