以Super Freak和Give It to Me Baby等名曲成为放克/灵魂乐界传奇歌手/制作人的Rick James，美国时间上周五在家中去世，享年56岁。根据医生表示，Rick在1998年曾因为颈部血管破裂而中风，这一次可能是因为此宿疾而导致他的去世。
 
Rick James以热力十足的作品以及豪放不羁的形象闻名，他从70年代与Motown唱片签约之后，不但以多首畅销歌曲成为该唱片公司最赚钱的艺人之一，到了80年代后，他还为一些其它同门歌手像是Teena Mari、Mary Jane Girls等艺人制作出许多畅销专辑。Rick James到了80年代末期与Motown唱片解约，但从此他的事业也开始走下坡，一直到1990年MC Hammer一首取样自Super Freak的歌曲U Can't Touch This红遍大街小巷，Rick才又重新回到媒体的聚光灯焦点下。不过这短暂的好运却在1993年因为Rick自己所犯的错误而烟消云散，他在该年被控伤害两位女性，因此坐了两年多的牢。出狱后的他在新世纪来临后想要重振旗鼓，最近他还与老搭档Teena Mari一起巡回演唱，并且与年轻一辈的歌手像是Kanye West等人合作。Rick原本计划要和Teena Mari在明年度为他筹备中的新专辑巡回演唱，不过现在都不可能实现了。
 
Rick今年五月接受MTV记者访问时表示，他已经彻头彻尾地洗心革面，他的个性已经收敛许多，也不再沉迷于酒色，他现在的重心都是放在他的小孩身上，同时也在为未来新的创作而努力。Rick同时表示，他对他的新生活很满意，他很高兴能与Teena再度合作，“或许明天一切就会结束，不过我现在感觉很好。”没想到Rick的这段话竟然一语成谶。
 
by William Ruhlmann
 
In the late 70s, when the fortunes of Motown Records seemed to be flagging, Rick James came along and rescued the company, providing funky hits that updated the labels style and saw it through into the mid-80s. Actually, James had been with Motown earlier, though nothing had come of it. After growing up in Buffalo and running away to join the Naval Reserves, he ran away from the Navy to Toronto, where he was in a band with future Buffalo Springfield members Neil Young and Bruce Palmer, and with Goldy McJohn, later of Steppenwolf. As the Mynah Birds, they signed to Motown and recorded, though no record was ever released.
 
James had a journeymans career playing bass in various groups before signing again to Motown as an artist, songwriter, and producer. His first single, You and I (May 1978), topped the R&B charts and reached the pop Top 40. Mary Jane (September 1978) was another hit. Both were on James debut album, Come Get It! (June 1978), which went gold. Subsequent efforts were not as successful, though Bustin Out of L Seven (January 1979) featured the R&B hit Bustin Out (April 1979). James returned to form with the number one R&B hit Give It to Me Baby (March 1981), featured on the million-selling Street Songs (April 1981), which also featured the hit Super Freak.
 
James turned his production attention to resuscitating the career of the Temptations, recently returned to Motown, and Standing on the Top (April 1982), credited to the Temptations featuring Rick James, was an R&B Top Ten. (He also produced recordings by Teena Marie and the Mary Jane Girls.) James follow-up to Street Songs was the gold-selling Throwin Down (May 1982), which featured the hit Dance Wit Me. The title song of Cold Blooded (August 1983) became James third R&B number one, and the album also featured his hit duet with Smokey Robinson, Ebony Eyes. James greatest-hits album Reflections (August 1984) featured the new track 17 (June 1984), which also became a hit. Glow (April 1985) contained Top Ten R&B singles in the title track and Cant Stop, which was featured in the summer movie blockbuster Beverly Hills Cop. The Flag (June 1986) featured the hit Sweet and Sexy Thing (May 1986).
 
James left Motown for the Reprise division of Warner Bros. Records as of the album Wonderful (July 1988), which featured his number one R&B hit Looseys Rap, on which he was accompanied by rapper Roxanne Shante. Nevertheless, his punk funk didnt seem to rest comfortably with the trend toward rap/hip-hop. In 1989, James charted briefly with a medley of the Drifters hits This Magic Moment and Dance With Me. In 1990, MC Hammer scored a massive hit with U Cant Touch This, which consisted of his rap over the instrumental track of Super Freak. That should have made for a career rebirth, but James was plagued by drug and legal problems that found him more frequently in court and in jail rather than in the recording studio. The majority of his legal woes behind him, James returned in 1997 with Urban Rapsody, which didnt yield any hits but was well accepted by critics. Rick James died of a heart attack on August 6, 2004, at his Los Angeles home.