Former Hamilton radio host Kerry Gray has died of cancer at the age of 50.

Gray — co-host of the popular Ben and Kerry morning show on Y108 from June 2008 to July 2013 — died in a hospice in Red Wing, Minnesota, Thursday, his longtime friend and former broadcast partner Ben McVie said.

"He went peacefully in his sleep," McVie said. "He had been battling brain cancer for about a year."

Gray, a native of Dearborn, Mich., recently settled in Minnesota working at Red Wing radio station 105.9 FM while being treated nearby at the world famous Mayo Clinic.

McVie, who still works the morning show at Y108, said he last visited Gray about four weeks ago.

"I went down to see him and, unfortunately, the day I got there he took a turn for the worse," McVie said.

Gray gave McVie his first full-time job in radio in 1999 at 977 HTZ FM in St. Catharines. The two also worked together at Dave FM in Kitchener and JACK FM in Toronto before landing at Y108.