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FUNK LEGEND RICK JAMES: 1948-2004

The creator of the hit "Super Freak" RICK JAMES has died, a Los Angeles Police Department spokesperson confirmed to ET. No details regarding his death were immediately available and the investigation is ongoing. The 56-year-old funk star was best known for his 1981 hit "Super Freak." He later fell victim to a crack cocaine addiction that led to a conviction for assaulting and holding a woman against her will. In 1998, James suffered a stroke. Just two months ago, James took the stage to receive a special ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Music Awards in Beverly Hills.

:(

That's really sad.:(

Interesting that Chappelle's Show sort of put his name back into public consciousness and now he's passed on. I know he had been touring with Teena Marie and Morris Day in the last month. He's been responsible for a lot of funky music. -RIP-

:eek: He was a great guy.....:( RIP Ricky boy

:crying: :crying: peacesign: peacesign:

I saw him at the BET Awards a few week ago, he looked in good shape. He was starting to make a comeback, thanks to Dave Chappelle like vashti1999 pointed out.

One of the best R&B tours was his 1980 tour, with Prince as his opening act. That was a great one two punch.

Isn't is ironice that Rick dies, the same week Dave signs a big contract with Comedy Central?

Rick will be missed.

I know it was sad. I thought Rick James was part of my Motown 45th Anniversary Artists Avatar of the Week back in June.:( I was so disapointed. I love the songs "Give It to Me Baby" and "Super Freak". I like to play that as a tribute to Rick James. The song was called "U Can't Touch This" by MC Hammer. I found another article taken from wnbc.com:

FUNK PIONEER RICK JAMES DIES AT 56
Singer was born in Buffalo

Los Angeles -- Funk legend Rick James, best known for the 1981 hit "Super Freak" before his career disintegrated amid drug use and violence that sent him to prison, died Friday. He was 56.

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

Police and Murthy believe James died of natural causes. The exact cause was not immediately released.

"There'll be an autopsy and we'll find that out shortly," Murthy said.

Publicist Maureen O'Connor, speaking on behalf of James' three children, said they believed he died of heart failure.

"He passed away peacefully in his sleep," O'Connor said.

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

"He made a lot of people happy, he made a lot of friends and a lot of people got famous through his music," he said, referring to sampling by hip-hop artists such as MC Hammer, who used the "Super Freak" bass line in his hit "U Can't Touch This".

The song earned James and Hammer the Grammy for best R&B in 1990.

"Today the world mourns a musician and performer of the funkiest kind," said Neil Portnow, president of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. "Grammy winner Rick James was a singer, songwriter and producer whose performances were always as dynamic as his personality. "The 'Super Freak' of funk will be missed".

James had hit songs and albums from the 1970's into the 80's, but by the following decade his fame began to fade as he became embriiled in legal problems and health troubles.

James was convicted in 1993 as assaulting two women. The first attack occurred in 1991 when he restrained and burned a young woman with a hot pipe during a cocaine binge at his house in West Hollywood. He was free on bail when the second assault occurred in 1992 in James' hotel room.

James 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 born James A Johnson Jr. in Buffalo NY. He had long been reported to have been born in 1952, but according to his website and police he was born on February 1, 1948.

James went to work for Motown in the 1970's and got a chance to record an album, "Come and Get It", which was released in 1978 and produced the hit "You and I". He followed with "Bustin' Out of 'L' Seven", which had a hit with the single "Bustin' Out", and another popular LP, "Fire It Up."

His hits in1980 included the album "Garden of Love" and the singles "Fool on the Street", "Love Gun", "Come Into My Life", and "Big Time". The following year came the well-recieved album "Street Songs and the hits "Give It to Me Baby" and "Super Freak".

After a decade at Motown, James left the label as the sexually graphic themes of his music conflicted with the company's conservative approach to pop music.

"They never totally understood what I was trying to do, where I was trying to come from with my music," he said in a 1988 interview with the Associated Press. "For the whole 10 years, it was a constant battle in me trying to acquaint them with what I wanted to say and how I want to say it."

At the time he said he had freed himself from a cocaine addiction that threatened his life.

"There was a bad period in my life some years ago when I got into serious cocaine habit; $10,000 to $15,000 a week," he said "I didn't really see it. My lawyers and my accountants and friends really saw it before I did. They saw that my usage of coke was getting to be a million-dollar-a-year habit. I didn't see it until I went into rehab and I didn't understand it until I got out".

James said he got caught up in living the "bad boy" persona he had cultivated.

"There was a time where I was just trying to live the image wholeheartedly; I wasn't thinking about the person, James Johnson," he said. "I mean, Rick James was just a man-made image, the image I created. Just trying to live Rick james almost killed me."

James was not married, Murthy said. He is survived by daughter Ty, sons Rick Jr. and Tazman, and granddaughters Jasmine and Charisma.

I saw a blurb about it on CNN this afternoon. Very sad.

The catch phrase comes from a skit in which Chappelle made light of real-life accounts given by Eddie Murphy's brother, Charlie, of partying with Rick James, getting into physical altercations, and then making up.

"I am totally freaked out," Rick James said, laughing. "It shocked the sh-- out of me. I had no idea that comedy had that much of an impact."

James' real-life phrases like "It's a celebration" and his most popular, "I'm Rick James, bitch!," have bled into popular culture thanks to Chappelle's Show.

"It's helped Dave [Chappelle] out, it's helped Charlie [Murphy] out, and it's helped me out," James said. "I've always been able to laugh at myself, the character Rick James. I created it, that extroverted part of James Johnson. I was able to laugh at myself 'cause that's what it's meant for, it's meant to have fun with. It's not meant to be serious."

For the record, James said that the skit's account of what happened "was true, it was just exaggerated. It was really me kicking [Charlie's] ass more than him kicking mine."

C'mon, everybody sing along with me:

I'm in love with Mary Jane, she's my main thang
She makes me feel alright, she makes my heart sang
And when I'm feeling low, it comes as no surprise
She turns me on with her love and takes me to
Paradiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiise, Do you love me
Maaaaaaary Jaaaaaaaaane?
Yeah, ohhhh ohhhh ohhh Do ya Do ya Do ya Do ya Do ya Do ya
now do you think you love me Maaaaary Jaaaaane
Don't you play love gaaaaaaames
Do do do do Mary Jaaaaane, I love her just the same
Maaary Jaaaaaane


:( Rest in peace Rick, you super freak

RIP Super Freak

There's 3 separate interviews with Rick James at www.allhiphop.com. Ya'll should read what Rick has to say about the state of rap music & why he thinks it sucks.