Nick Ashford Dies

Ashfortd & Simpson

Nick Ashford


Nick Ashford of Ashford & Simpson with wife Valerie Simpson wrote such legendary Motown songs as "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and "Reach Out and Touch Somebody's Hand," has died after a prolonged battle with throat cancer, his publicist announced. He was 70. 

Their songs were spun into hits by, among others, Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross, Gladys Knight, Marvin Gaye, Chaka Khan, Whitney Houston and Ashford & Simpson themselves – including the '80s hit "Solid As a Rock." 

Ashford and Simpson'srelationship went back to 1964, when they (she a 17-year-old from the Bronx, he a 21-year-old from Michigan) met in a Harlem church and decided to write songs together. They wed 10 years later. 

"Being married is the best thing that ever happened to me," Ashford told PEOPLE in 1978. "I don't feel like I'm married. Valerie brought me around to the idea that every time you fight it isn't the end. You can knock each other down but then you make love." 

They had their first hit in 1966, when Ray Charles recorded "Let's Go Get Stoned." Motown quickly signed them to write for Ross, Gaye and Tammi Terrell, and the relationship with that label lasted seven years. Simpson cut her two solo albums for Motown. But in 1973, said Ashford, "We felt it was time for growth, to reach out as artists." 

The duo moved to the Warner Bros. label and also started producing albums for others, which they found less satisfying artistically but highly lucrative, allowing them to purchase a four-story Manhattan townhouse with a staff of five, and a 14-room Westport, Conn., estate with a pool, tennis courts and a barn that doubled as a stable for horses. 

They were married in that Connecticut house after a long platonic spell and a couple of years of living together. Simpson admitted to PEOPLE that she was reluctant. 

"First he decided we should have a baby," she said with a laugh. "Then we bought the house. I still thought getting married was, oh, so old. I wanted him to think of me as his woman, not his wife. But when I realized that I felt secure enough to allow him all the freedom he needed, we went ahead." 

Besides Valerie Simpson, Ashford is survived by their two daughters, Nicole and Asia; his brothers Paul, Albert and Frank; and his mother, Alice Ashford. our condolences to the family he will be dearly missed.

The Sound Of Patty Labelle

Big Boi Arrested On Drug Charges


half of Grammy-winning duo OutKast — was arrested in Miami on drug charges Sunday. The rapper was charged with illegal possession of ecstasy and Viagra, of all things.

It’s been almost 11 years since the world heard an OutKast album that heavily featured both Antwan “Big Boi” Patton and Andre “3000” Benjamin on the same tracks, but the duo has been keeping busy, says Grammy-winning OutKast
.After 2000’s genre-bending “Stankonia,” the group released the diamond-selling Album of the Year, “Speakerboxxx/The Love Below.” It was a project that carried the OutKast name but featured Big Boi and Andre 3000 on two separate solo discs packaged as one.

Fast forward three years, and the OutKast album/soundtrack “Idlewild” - with the exception of a few cuts - didn’t satisfy the ‘OutKast diehards longing for the "Southerplayalistic" days of old. Things only got more frustrating when label politics blocked Andre from being featured on Big Boi’s solo album, “Sir Lucious Leftfoot: The Son of Chico Dusty.”Let’s just say the frustration has reached its zenith and the need for both Andre and Big Boi to get back in the studio together is more dire than it’s ever been,for fans and critics alike, that day may come sooner than you think."It’s very important to me because I’m a fan and I need my OutKast,” . “There’s a lot of bulls- out here...So when people say ‘get back together,’ I don’t take it like they’re saying they broke up they just mean like, ‘literally, we need that energy!’ That energy only works when there’s two poles, a positive and a negative and energy’s conducted through.”Dre  he’s back at it [rapping],” , who just returned to Atlanta from performing with Big Boi in Sweden. “He’s recorded some stuff solo and he’s also indicated there’s going to be another OutKast album.” The rapper couldn't pin down an exact date, but he did intimate that it’s on the way, adding, “I definitely want to be on that album if it all possible.” Southern hip-hop legends Goodie Mob, who recently reunited with the return of their most recognizable member Cee-Lo.“I can definitely say Big and Dre are together now, they’re on a cruise hanging out,” he said, laughing. “I know that sounds funny, right? They took the families out – I missed it. I hate that I missed it too.”“On the Goodie Mob news they got a record coming and they even got a title,” he says of the album, which in his opinion won’t hit shelves 'til next year. “I can’t say yet, Big [Boi] shared it with me on the low, but they got a title and they got an album coming, so it feels like Atlanta’s hip-hop is coming full circle.”MIAMI — Grammy-winning OutKast rapper Big Boi has been arrested in Miami for possession of drugs including ecstasy and Viagra pills.

The rapper was charged with three counts of possession of a controlled substance and one count of possession of drug paraphernalia on Sunday. According to the Miami-Dade County Corrections website, the 36-year-old Patton was also carrying MDMA, which is the main ingredient in Ecstasy.

The rapper was booked around 1:30 p.m. on $16,000 bond.

Phone and email messages were left for Big Boi’s publicists.

Big Boi is best known as half of the groundbreaking rap duo OutKast, which includes Andre 3000. The Atlanta-based group won six Grammys and churned out six platinum-plus albums, including their “Speakerboxxx/The Love Below,”the huge movie which sold over 10 million copies.

The group Outkast is known for their creative sound & videos even though the all do single projects they are still one. Holding on leading the way to the top of the charts in music & movies. Cant wait for the next movie guys Andre is a great actor as well as rapper and also has that swagger in his dress  André Patton), better known by his stage name Big Boi, is an American rapper, song-writer, record producer and actor, best known for being a member of American hip hop duo OutKast alongside André 3000. His work in the duo has produced six studio albums. During the duo's hiatus, he and André 3000 each announced plans to release a solo album. Big Boi's solo debutSir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty was released in July 2010 to respectable sales and critical acclaim.Patton was born and spent the first half of his childhood in Savannah, Georgia, attending Herschel V. Jenkins High School ^[1] before moving to Atlanta with his Aunt Renne. Eventually he decided to pursue his interest in music at Tri-Cities High School, a Visual and Performing Arts Magnet School.Patton is married to Sherlita Patton, with whom he has two children: daughter Jordan and son Cross. Another child, a son named Bamboo, is from a previous relationship. Numerous references to the Patton family are present in Big Boi's rhymes. His younger brother James raps under the name "Lil' Brotha", and is a member of hip-hop group Konkrete, while 'Uncle Donell' was 'locked up in prison' but has now been released. His other brothers, Marcus and Jason, also make their way onto some songs as well.

Just two months ago, Big Boi sat down with urban entertainment website, TheUrbanDaily.com and elaborated on his rapping skills hometown Miami , Atlanta & The worldwide Dungeon Family. One of the best rappers by far. 

His wife Sherlita Patton is also the co-owner of a clothing boutique in Atlanta, Georgia called PValentine. She co-owns the store with Tracy Valentine. The expensive brands carried by the store and the ties to Big Boi attract many music artists and other celebrities to the store. The store was featured on an episode of MTV's My Super Sweet 16 when R&B artistChris Brown went for a birthday gift from Big Boi. He is also a registered pit bull breeder.

In August 2011, Patton was returning from a cruise when a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement drug dog at the Port of Miami alerted officers. Patton was arrested and charged with illegal possession of controlled substances Viagra, ecstasy pills and MDMA powder. Patton was released from the Miami-Dade County jail on a $16,000 bond

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