Nick Ashford, who along with his wife Valerie Simpson, became one of America’s most prolific singing and songwriting duos, has died in New York at age 70. Ashfrord had been suffering from throat cancer and is survived by his wife and their two daughters. Ashford & Simpson had several huge hits for themselves like “Found A Cure”, “It Seems To Hang On”, “Solid”, and the classic ballad “Is It Still Good To Ya”. They wrote several big Motown hits as well, like “You’re All I Need To Get By” by Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell, and “Reach Out And Touch Somebody’s Hand” by Diana Ross were among them. Ashford was a South Carolina native who met Valerie in church, and after they married and began writing songs, their first major hit was “Let’s Go Get Stoned” by the legendary Ray Charles.
