Nickolas 'Nick' Ashford (b. 4th May 1942, Fairfield, South Carolina, U.S.A.) and Valerie Simpson (b. 26th August 1946, The Bronx, New York, U.S.A.). Collectively they have many gold and platinum records and awards and have been married for many years.
Ashford & Simpson
Ashford & Simpson
Ashford & Simpson
Ashford & Simpson
Ashford & Simpson
In 1964 at the White Rock Baptist Church in New York City; Nick had come to New York from Detroit to pursue a career in theatre as a dancer. Valerie, who had studied the piano from the age of five, was playing and singing with the church's choir. Nick joined the choir and the two began writing pop songs for fun then for Motown. Their first hit song - Let's Go Get Stoned, was recorded by Ray Charles. At Motown, they wrote and produced hits for Marvin Gaye and Diana Ross. Valerie released a couple of solo albums at Motown which are now collector's items. In 1973 they left. They freelanced and wrote Chaka Khan's hit I'm Every Woman before becoming artists in their own right.