Nickolas Ashford

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Nickolas Ashford (May 4, 1941 – August 22, 2011) was an American R&B singer and songwriter who formed the musical partnership Ashford & Simpson with his wife, Valerie Simpson.

Personal life

Nicole (born in 1975), and Asia (born in 1987), Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson had two children, Nicole (born in 1975), and Asia (born in 1987). Nicole graduated from Wesleyan University in 1997.

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Career

The pair had basically two careers: one as a writer and producer team and the other as singers and performers themselves. They began writing for writers such as the 5th Dimension ("California Soul"), Aretha Franklin ("Cry Like A Baby"), and Ray Charles ("Let's Go Get Stoned") during the 1960s. Charles and his associates drew them to the attention of Motown chief Berry Gordy.

Ashford & Simpson were paired with the vocal pair, Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, in 1966, and they wrote and/or produced all but one of the late-60s Gaye/Terrell singles, including hits such as "You're Not a Real Thing," "Your Precious Love," "This Is Normal," "You're Just Right" and "You're All I Need to Get By." Simpson did the majority of the vocals on the last album she did with Terrell, Easy, as a result of Terrell's family's financial hardship, according to Gaye in the book Divided Soul. Although Louvain Demps, the Andantes' singer, has claimed that Terrell was recording the album, and Simpson is quoted as saying that they heard her singing the guide tracks for the album, which were later replaced by Tammi's own vocals.

Ashford & Simpson produced and performed almost all of the songs on three 1970s albums for former Supreme Diana Ross, including her first solo album Diana Ross ("Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand) and "Ain't No Mountain High Enough") and Surrender ("Remember Me") and The Boss. With Diana Ross, her 1970 album debut, and The Boss being certified platinum and "Surrender" certified gold, all three albums were critically acclaimed.

Gladys Knight & the Pips ("You Don't Know You'll Have to Cry Sometime"), Martha Reeves ("I Can't Change the Man Is"), Motown's ("Incredible"), Motown's ("Bourgie, Bourgie"), Bolton & the Miracles"), the Simpsons ("I Can't Change the Man I Feel for You"), and "With the Fourth Tops" by Phil Spector) include many artists with "I's

Teddy Pendergrass ("Is It Still Good to Ya"), Brothers Johnson ("Ride-O-Rocket"), Stephanie Mills ("Keep Away Girls"), and Chaka Khan, all on her own ("I'm Every Woman"), and Rufus ("Befortet Nothin' But a Maybe"), are among the Ashford & Simpson hits included Teddy Pendergrass ("Is It Still Good to You"), "Keep It Workin"), and "Keep It's

Ashford & Simpson's career as recording artists began in the early 1960s as part of the Followers, with whom they released the album Gospel Meeting (on Forum Circle), later known as Meetin' The Followers (on Roulette Records). The album includes vocals as well as four Ashford compositions. "I'll Find You" was their song "Valerie & Nick" in 1964. "It Ain't Like That" was followed by several obscure Ashford singles, including "California Soul," and "Dead End Kids," backed by his own version of "Let's Go Get Stoned."

Simpson appeared on the band's debut album Child Is Father to the Man in 1968 (with Melba Moore) as part of the "Blood, Sweat, Tears Soul Chorus." Simpson, who was concentrating on working with other artists, appeared on "Bridge Over Troubled Water" and "What's Going On" on the Quincy Jones albums Gula Matari in 1970 and its sequel, Smackwater Jack.

Simpsons later released two solo LPs for Motown: Exposed in 1971 and the following year, Valerie Simpson, which included the single "Silly, Wasn't I" from the film, "Get Rich or Die Tryin', was included in the title "Best Friend" series. Murray's Revenge had the song included in the album "Silly Girl" by 9th Wonder on Murs' "Silly Girl." Simpson's solo albums Ashford and Simpson were selected from Simpson's PBS television show Soul!, hosted by Ellis Haizlip in 1971. After the albums Simpson recorded for the label received poor exposure, the company refused to release an album of the duo's most popular songs for other artists in 1973.

Ashford and Simpson married in 1974 after resuming their careers as a pair on a duo, first with the Warner Bros. album Gimme Something Real released in 1973 and then I Wanna Be Selfish in 1974. Simpsons performed backing vocals on Paul Simon's number one hit "50 Ways to Forget Your Lover" in 1975 and 1976, when they first appeared on "40 Ways to Leave Your Lover." So So Satisfied and Send It was the first album to debut in 1977. "It Seems To You" (1977), "Unfortunately Good To You" (1978), "Street Corner" (1978), and "Solid" (1984), followed by the hit singles "Send It" (1978), "It Seems To Be "It Seems To Live" (1977), "It Does It Still Does") (1978), followed by "It Seems To Ya" (1978), "It't Cost You Nothin' (1996)

They appeared on Quincy Jones' Sounds... And Stuff Like That" album in 1978, alongside Chaka Khan, and they contributed to the development of the Wiz' soundtrack. In "Nocturne," a 1986 episode of the famous television show The Equalizer, the pair appeared as themselves.

Ashford (along with Frank Wilson) produced the hit "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me," which Diana Ross & the Supremes produced in 1968 in collaboration with the Temptations. Reverend Oates, an ordained minister who was part of Nino Brown's entourage, appeared in the film New Jack City (1991).

Simpson's brothers were in the recording business as well: Ray Simpson replaced Victor Willis in the Village People and their brother Jimmy Simpson formed the group GQ (which had big hits with "Rock-Freak" and "I Do Love You") and was in high demand as a mixing engineer during the disco period.

Ashford & Simpson performed and toured sporadically in recent times, and in 1996, they opened Sugar Bar in New York City, where Queen Latifah, Vickie Natale, and Felicia Collins appeared. Been Found with poet Maya Angelou in 1996, Ashford & Simpson released the album Been Found. On New York radio station WRKS, they were also featured disc jockeys at that time.

Playbill Online announced on August 16, 2006, that they were composing the score for a musical based on E. Lynn Harris' book Invisible Life. They were brought together in January 2007, alongside Tina Turner, Mary J. Blige, Mariah Carey, Sidney Poitier, Sidney Poitier, director Spike Lee, and comedian Chris Rock, as they welcomed Oprah Winfrey and her Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa.

They were given writing credit for Amy Winehouse's 2007 album "Tears Dry on Their Own," according to their own. The track is based on a sample of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell's 1967 Motown hit "Ain't No Mountain High Enough." They had begun performing their act in small, intimate venues, including Feinstein's at the Regency in New York and San Francisco's Rrazz Room, and then, in January 2009, they released a DVD and DVD of their live performances titled The Real Thing. They attended a party at Tribeca Rooftop, New York, on June 22, 2009, to honor Virgin Atlantic's birthday party. They made their first appearance in Tokyo, Japan, in November 2009, and the Blue Note Tokyo produced eight shows in four days.

Ashford and Simpson rewrote their song "Solid" as "Solid as Barack" at President Barack Obama's 2009 inauguration, according to "Solid as Barack." At his first festivities, the couple dedicated it to him.

On August 22, 2011, four days before Valerie Simpson's 65th birthday, Ashford died in a New York City hospital from throat cancer complications. Liz Rosenberg, his publicist, said he had undergone radiation therapy to fix his illness.

Simpsons released "I'm Coming Back Again" in June 2012, which also includes the last recorded appearance of Nina Simone, a second duet with Roberta Flack, and an instrumental version of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough."

Simpson appeared on Kindred the Family Soul's album A Couple Friends in 2014.

Simpson was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music from Berklee College of Music in May 2014.

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