Ashford & Simpson

Ashford & Simpson were an American husband-and-wife songwriting, production and recording duo composed of Nickolas Ashford (May 4, 1941 – August 22, 2011) and Valerie Simpson (born August 26, 1946).

Ashford was born in Fairfield, South Carolina, and Simpson in the Bronx, New York City. Ashford's family relocated to Ypsilanti, Michigan, where he became a member of Christ Temple Baptist Church. While there, he sang with a group called the Hammond Singers (named after the founding minister, James Hammond). Later, Ashford attended and graduated from Willow Run High School in Ypsilanti, Michigan, before pursuing his professional career, when he would ultimately meet his wife, Valerie Simpson. They met at Harlem's White Rock Baptist Church in 1964. After having recorded unsuccessfully as a duo, they joined an aspiring solo artist and former member of The Ikettes, Joshie Jo Armstead, at the Scepter/Wand label, where their compositions were recorded by Ronnie Milsap ("Never Had It So Good") and Maxine Brown ("One Step at a Time"), as well as The Shirelles, The Guess Who, and Chuck Jackson. Another of the trio's songs, "Let's Go Get Stoned", gave Ray Charles a number one U.S. R&B hit in 1966. That same year, Ashford and Simpson joined Motown, where their best-known songs included "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", "You're All I Need to Get By", "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing", and "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)." Ashford and Simpson wrote many other hit songs, including Chaka Khan's "I'm Every Woman" (1978) and "Is It Still Good to Ya?", originally recorded by the duo in 1978 and covered by Teddy Pendergrass in 1980.

As performers, Ashford & Simpson's best-known duets are "Solid" (1984) and "Found a Cure" (1979). The duo was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2002. They are also recipients of The Rhythm & Blues Foundation's Pioneer Award, ASCAP Founders Award, and the Grammy Trustee Award. Rolling Stone ranked them No. 19 on its list of the 20 Greatest Duos of All Time.

Nick Ashford was also an occasional actor, having appeared as Reverend Oates in the 1991 movie New Jack City.

Career

Songwriters

The duo essentially had two careers: one as a successful writing and producing team and the other as singers and performers themselves. They started their career in the mid-1960s, writing for artists such as the 5th Dimension ("California Soul"), Aretha Franklin ("Cry Like a Baby"), and Ray Charles ("Let's Go Get Stoned"). Their work with Charles brought them to the attention of Motown chief Berry Gordy. and "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", Surrender ("Remember Me"), and The Boss. In 1973, Warner Bros. released their first duo album titled Gimme Something Real. This was followed in 1974 by I Wanna Be Selfish. In 1975, Simpson sang backing vocals on Paul Simon's number-one hit "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover", and in 1976 they released Come As You Are. 1977 saw the release of two albums – So So Satisfied and Send It. This was followed by the hit singles "Send It", "Don't Cost You Nothin'" (1977), "It Seems To Hang On" (1978), "Is It Still Good To Ya" (1978), "Found a Cure" (1979), "Street Corner" (1982), and their biggest hit, "Solid", released in 1984. Around that time, they were also featured disc jockeys on New York radio station WRKS.

On August 16, 2006, Playbill Online reported that they were writing the score for a musical based on E. Lynn Harris's novel Invisible Life.

Ashford died at the age of 70 in a New York City hospital on August 22, 2011, four days before Valerie Simpson's 65th birthday, of complications from throat cancer. His publicist, Liz Rosenberg, said that he had undergone radiation therapy to treat his illness.

Simpson released a solo album in June 2012, called Dinosaurs Are Coming Back Again, which also featured the last recorded performance of Nina Simone, a second duet with Roberta Flack and an instrumental version of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough".

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

Awards and nominations

In 1969, Ashford and Simpson won three BMI Awards for the songs "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing," and "Your Precious Love."

Ashford and Simpson were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2002. They were also recipients of The Rhythm & Blues Foundation's Pioneer Award in 1999, and ASCAP's highest honor, the Founders Award, which they received in 1996.

Grammy Awards

Ashford and Simpson were nominated for three Grammy Awards. In 2019, they received the Grammy Trustees Award.

! style="width:35px;"| US R&B

! style="width:35px;"| CAN

! style="width:35px;"| GER

! style="width:35px;"| NLD

! style="width:35px;"| NZ

! style="width:35px;"| SWI

! style="width:35px;"| UK

|| 1973

| style="text-align:left;"| Gimme Something Real

| 156

| 18

| —

| align=left|

| rowspan="8"| Warner Bros.

|| 1974

| style="text-align:left;"| I Wanna Be Selfish

| 195

| 21

| —

| align=left|

|| 1976

| style="text-align:left;"| Come as You Are

| 189

| 35

| —

| align=left|

| rowspan="2"| 1977

| style="text-align:left;"| So So Satisfied

| 180

| 30

| —

| align=left|

| style="text-align:left;"| Send It

| 52

| 10

| —

| 53

| —

| align=left|

RIAA: Gold

|| 1978

| style="text-align:left;"| Is It Still Good to Ya

| 20

| 1

| —

| 43

| —

| align=left|

RIAA: Gold
MC: Gold

| style="text-align:left;" rowspan="3"| Solid

| rowspan="2"| 1985

| style="text-align:left;"| "Outta the World"

| 102

| 4

| —

| align=left|

| style="text-align:left;"| "Babies"

| 102

| 29

| —

| 53

| —

| 56

| align=left|

| rowspan="2"| 1986

| style="text-align:left;"| "Count Your Blessings"

| 84

| 4

| —

| 79

| align=left|

| style="text-align:left;" rowspan="3"| Real Love

| style="text-align:left;"| "What Becomes of Love"

| —

| align=left|

| style="text-align:left;"| 1987

| style="text-align:left;"| "Nobody Walks in L.A."

| —

| align=left|

| rowspan="2"| 1989

| style="text-align:left;"| "I'll Be There for You"

| —

| 2

| —

| align=left|

| style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2"| Love or Physical

| style="text-align:left;"| "Cookies and Cake"

| —

| align=left|

|| 1990

| style="text-align:left;"| "Hungry for Me Again"

| —

| 40

| —

| align=left|

| style="text-align:left;"| Def by Temptation

|| 1996

| style="text-align:left;"| "Been Found"

| —

| 80

| —

| align=left|

| style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2"| Been Found

|| 1997

| style="text-align:left;"| "What If"

| —

| 94

| —

| align=left|

|| 2001

| style="text-align:left;"| "We Are Family" (with Various Artists)

| —

| align=left|

| align=left rowspan="1"

| colspan="15" style="font-size:90%" | "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Singles credited to Valerie & Nick
Ashford & Simpson and Khan sang uncredited co-lead vocals on "Stuff Like That"

Solo recordings

Valerie Simpson

Listed below are solo recordings made by Valerie Simpson.

Albums

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

! rowspan="2"| Year

! rowspan="2"| Album

! colspan="2"| Peak chart positions

! rowspan="2"| Record label

|- style="font-size:smaller;"

! style="width:35px;"| US

! style="width:35px;"| US R&B