R.I.P Rick James

[Emerald City]

LOS ANGELES - Funk legend Rick James, best known for the 1981 hit "Super Freak" before his career collapsed in a cloud of violent drug charges, died Friday. He was 56.


James died in his sleep at his residence near Universal City, apparently of natural causes, said his publicist, Sujata Murthy. James lived alone and was found dead by his personal assistant, who notified police, she said.


The exact cause was not immediately known. "There'll be an autopsy and we'll find that out shortly," Murthy said.


With long hair elaborately styled in braids or Jheri curls, James was one of the biggest R&B stars of the 1980s, composing danceable rhythms and passionate ballads that gained a wide following.


Aside from "Super Freak" — which MC Hammer used a decade later as the backing track for his rap smash "U Can't Touch This" — James' hits included "Mary Jane," "Ebony Eyes" and "Fire and Desire," a stirring duet with Teena Marie.


"He was really fantastic, he was a creator," singer Little Richard told MSNBC.


Toward the end of the '80s, James' fame began to fade as he became embroiled in drugs, legal problems and health troubles.


In 1993 he was convicted in two separate cases of assaulting women. The first case occurred in 1991, when prosecutors said James and his girlfriend tied a woman to a chair, burned her with a hot crack pipe and forced her to perform sex acts during a cocaine binge at his West Hollywood home.


James was free on bail when the second assault occurred in 1992 in James' hotel room.


He served more than two years in Folsom Prison.


In 1997 he released a new album, but a year later he suffered a stroke while performing at Denver's Mammoth Events Center, derailing a comeback tour.


In 1998 he also underwent hip replacement surgery.


James was not married and names of survivors were not immediately available, Murthy said. Funeral arrangements were being planned.

[Emerald City]

Man, I was really shocked when I heard this. A few days ago I went to visit the Motown cafe and the last thing I watched before I left was the 'Superfreak' video and it truly brought a smile. He is gonna be missed dearly....R.I.P Rick :angelwings:

[Motorcity]

Yet another article on the 'punkfunk' LEGEND


"Super Freak" Rick James Dead

Fri Aug 6, 8:35 PM ET

By Joal Ryan

Rick James lived the rock 'n' roll life to excess--right up until he faced a life sentence in prison.

On Friday, the influential, but troubled funkmeister, known for his 1981 hit, "Super Freak," and a pair of cocaine-fueled assaults in the 1990s, died in his sleep at 9:20 a.m. of natural causes at his Los Angeles home, James' longtime label, Motown Records, said in a statement. He was 56.


James, who lived alone, was discovered by his assistant, who notified police.


His publicist says that James' family suspected the artist was felled by heart failure. Although authorities say the death did not appear suspicious, the Los Angeles County Department of Coroner said it would investigate the death because of James' history with drugs.


On Friday, two sources said James was back to his partying ways as of last week, when he was spotted doing cocaine at a party.


Professionally, the rocker and producer had been busy of late, working on an album, and writing an autobiography to be called Memoirs of a Super Freak. Comic Dave Chappelle was in talks to portray James in a planned biopic based on the book, the Hollywood Reporter said in June.


Last month, James told BET.com that the new album would feature as many as 30 songs.


"Music is a universal language, every color, every creed, every race," James told the Website. "I want everybody to enjoy my [stuff]."


Motown founder Berry Gordy Jr. praised James on Friday as a "pioneer who took Motown in a whole new direction." Singer Smokey Robinson called James the "original R&B rock star."


In June, James was presented with ASCAP's Rhythm & Soul Heritage Award, credited by the organization for being the father of "punk-funk" with hits such as "Mary Jane," "Give It to Me Baby," and his signature groove, "Super Freak."


In addition to being a best-selling song for James, "Super Freak"'s bass line helped make a Grammy-winning hit out of "U Can't Touch This," and a chart-topping rapper out of former batboy and future Surreal Life star M.C. Hammer.


Though old-school James loathed sampling ("People want to see a live group, nobody want to see somebody up there working a turntable and sampling," he told BET.com), sampling loved him.


Other artists to have borrowed riffs from James include Mary J. Blige, Erykah Badu and Will Smith.


James also spread his influence as a producer, most famously with actor Eddie Murphy, from whom he coaxed the 1985 hit, "Party All the Time." James also worked with Motown legends Robinson Smokey Robinson and the Temptations, the Mary Jane Girls (his brainchild), and R&B singer Teena Marie, with whom he recently toured.


While in recent years it was the work that kept James in the spotlight, in the 1990s, it was the arrests and the drugs.


In 1991, he was arrested for singeing a woman with a hot crack pipe. In 1992, while out on bail, he was arrested for beating up another woman at a West Hollywood hotel.


In 1993, he was convicted of assault in the two arrests, but cleared of a torture charge in the crack-pipe incident that could have put him behind bars for the rest of his life. He served two years in prison.


Following his release in 1996, James battled health problems--a stroke and hip replacement in 1998--and settled into the role as the beloved elder statesman of funk.

"I'm too old to do crazy things anymore," a 50-year-old James said, per RickJames.com. "Before, I'd just smoke dope and have sex. I never knew if it was day or night. Now I go to bed at 11 and get up at 7. I don't have aluminum foil on my windows anymore."

In 1997, he released a comeback album, Urban Rapsody, which featured him mixing it up with the likes of Snoop Dogg.

James steered clear of the wrong kind of headlines until 2002 when a woman claimed he sexually assaulted her at his home. James proclaimed his innocence and said his accuser was trying to get money out of him. No charges were ever filed.

Born James A. Johnson Jr., on Feb. 1, 1948, in Buffalo, New York, James married twice and, in the 1980s, dated Exorcist star Linda Blair (news).

His second wife, Tanya Hijazi, was with him the night of the 1992 assault, and was arrested for shoplifting in 1996 just as James was being sprung from prison, delaying their planned wedding. The couple, who had one child, a son, split around 2002.

All told, James is survived by three children and two grandchildren.

In 2002, James was asked by Rolling Stone how he'd like to be remembered.

"As someone who beat the odds, and as a musician who gave up the truth," James said, adding emphatically--and colorfully: "My music ain't no contrived [B-S]. It ain't no sci-fi [crap]. It's the real [you-know-what] deal."

[Motorcity]

Administrator said:

In 2002, James was asked by Rolling Stone how he'd like to be remembered.

"As someone who beat the odds, and as a musician who gave up the truth," James said, adding emphatically--and colorfully: "My music ain't no contrived [B-S]. It ain't no sci-fi [crap]. It's the real [you-know-what] deal."

Gotta love that quote :word:

[Emerald City]

Here's another article:

Rick James' Cause of Death Uncertain

Sat Aug 7,11:19 PM ET


LOS ANGELES - An autopsy Saturday failed to determine the cause of death for funk legend Rick James, authorities said. James, 56, died in his sleep Friday at his home near Universal City. The singer was a diabetic and also had a pacemaker. He suffered a stroke in 1998.

His three children — daughter Ty and sons Rick Jr. and Tazman — said Friday through a spokeswoman that they believe their father died of heart failure.

James had a history of cocaine addiction that led him to two assault convictions in the 1990s and a two-year stretch in prison.

Officials are awaiting results of a toxicology test, which could take several weeks, said Lt. David Smith, supervising investigator of the Los Angeles County coroner's office.

[Motorcity]

Vintage78 said:

Here's another article:

Rick James' Cause of Death Uncertain

Sat Aug 7,11:19 PM ET


LOS ANGELES - An autopsy Saturday failed to determine the cause of death for funk legend Rick James, authorities said. James, 56, died in his sleep Friday at his home near Universal City. The singer was a diabetic and also had a pacemaker. He suffered a stroke in 1998.

His three children — daughter Ty and sons Rick Jr. and Tazman — said Friday through a spokeswoman that they believe their father died of heart failure.

James had a history of cocaine addiction that led him to two assault convictions in the 1990s and a two-year stretch in prison.

Officials are awaiting results of a toxicology test, which could take several weeks, said Lt. David Smith, supervising investigator of the Los Angeles County coroner's office.

Wow, I didn't know Rick suffered from Diabetes and had a pacemaker :soblue:

I hope they discover the cause, because I've been through this and it really prolongs the grieving process :bawling:

[Emerald City]

Administrator said:

Wow, I didn't know Rick suffered from Diabetes and had a pacemaker

I hope they discover the cause, because I've been through this and it really prolongs the grieving process

I didn't either But at least he's gone to a better place

[Motorcity]

Vintage78 said:

I didn't either But at least he's gone to a better place

Yes he is...Singing with the angels :kingtheman:

[Emerald City]

Yet another article in honour of the Original Funk Master (obtained from SFGate.com)



'Super Freak' singer Rick James goes out on funky note'


The "Super Freaks" were super sad.

Some wore black to funky singer Rick James' memorial service on Thursday -- while others came in tie-dyed T-shirts, glowing neon outfits, midriff baring crop-tops, and cleavage-revealing suits.

Friends and family -- ranging from popstars to pornstars to Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan -- bid farewell to the "Super Freak" performer, who died at age 56 last week, with a ceremony filled with music at Forest Lawn cemetery in Hollywood Hills.

Coroner's officials said Thursday they were still awaiting results of a toxicology test, which they said could take several weeks. James, who was born in Buffalo, N.Y., will be buried Saturday in his hometown following a funeral service.

The four-hour ceremony, including a 45-minute speech by Farrakhan, was the last chance for Hollywood to say goodbye.

Yvette "Corvette" Barlowe, a former singer with James' Mary Jane Girls, wore a tight white outfit and leopard-print heels to the ceremony. "I did show cleavage because that's what Rick liked," she told the crowd.

Aidita, 28, a singer who goes by only her first name, said James would have appreciated her jeans, crop-top emblazoned with the words "Miami Beach" and beachball-sized afro hairdo because it's a rock 'n' roll look.

"Rick didn't want you to come wearing black," she said. "Black is cool, but rock 'n' roll is forever."

One man sported a rainbow tie-dye T-shirt with this motto on the back: "Ain't No Party Like a Funk Party 'Cuz A Funk Party Don't Stop!" Another was dressed entirely in neon green, and one woman was covered in bright red, topped with a hat rimmed with crimson feathers sailing off the brim.

Stretch limousines pulled up to the cemetery's auditorium for the closed-casket service, which reflected the zany, in-your-face lifestyle that James helped popularized with his campy, signature song.

James' career peaked in 1981 with the Grammy-winning hit "Super Freak," but the singer had enjoyed a bit of a revival recently, partly due to comedian Dave Chappelle portraying him as violent and arrogant on his "Chappelle's Show." James himself appeared on the Comedy Central show.

James, who suffered a stroke in 1998, was a diabetic and also had a pacemaker.

He also had a history of cocaine addiction that led to two assault convictions in the 1990s and a two-year stretch in prison.

Among the 1,200 guests were Motown founder Berry Gordy Jr., singer Chaka Kahn, Jermaine Jackson, singer Stevie Wonder, actor Jamie Foxx, actress Nona Gaye (the daughter of soul-singer Marvin Gaye) and pornstar Ron Jeremy.

Wonder sang the traditional song "I've Had Some Good Days," and told the crowd: "We're here to celebrate a father, a husband, a brother, a friend, a son ... to celebrate life."

Some said they wanted to remember James' more gentle, less-superfreaky side.

"A lot of people don't know this, but he was a very, very warm guy," Jeremy said. "People think of Rick James, 'Super Freak,' ... but he was a big teddy-bear."

[Emerald City]

Thousands Say Goodbye to Singer Rick James



By CAROLYN THOMPSON, Associated Press Writer

BUFFALO, N.Y. - Grammy Award-winning funk singer Rick James was laid to rest Saturday in his hometown, where 6,000 people waited for hours to pay their final respects.

The line of mourners stretched more than two city blocks for the funeral service. Seventy gospel singers and a band performed a lively tribute.

"This Buffalo project boy was like a phoenix rising from ashes to the pinnacle of America's musical world," said his cousin, former Ohio congressman Louis Stokes. He attended the funeral, along with the singer's three children, aunt, uncle, other cousins and friends.

The singer died in his sleep last week at his home near Universal City, Calif. James, whose real name was James Johnson Jr., was 56. He was to be cremated after the service, funeral director Vincent Amigone said.

An autopsy has failed to determine what caused the singer's death. Results of a toxicology test were pending. James, who suffered a stroke in 1998, was a diabetic and had a pacemaker.

James never failed to publicly praise his late mother, Mabel Sims Gladden, said Stokes, who described a mutual devotion between the hardworking mother and son.

"He took us all with him on a roller coaster ride," said Stokes, whose brother, Carl Stokes, was elected the first black mayor of a major city, Cleveland, in 1967. "Rick James became our family's first superstar."

James' 1981 hit "Super Freak" earned him a Grammy for best R&B song nearly a decade later, after rapper MC Hammer, who shared the Grammy, used it in his "U Can't Touch This."

"He was without a doubt a musical genius," said longtime friend Aaron Dublin, who worked with James until 1983. "He changed the game of music. There was never anybody like him before and there's never been anybody like him since."

[Diamond Girl]

:rockon: :RIP: :jammin:

Thanks for all you've done for music :sniffling:

[Emerald City]

Some pics of Ricks memorial

www.wireimage.com/GalleryListing.asp?navtyp=gls====72205

[Diamond Girl]

HitsvilleSoul said:

Some pics of Ricks memorial

www.wireimage.com/GalleryListing.asp?navtyp=gls====72205

It's beautiful to see how many come out to bid a final farewell to the Funkmeister :jammin:

[Motown Honey]

:angelwings: Farewell, Brother Rick :tearing: