Valerie Simpson

Prior to launching their own thriving performing partnership as a duo in the early 1970s, Valerie Simpson collaborated with her husband Nickolas Ashford on a string of soul successes. Ashford & Simpson first supplied songs to artists including Chuck Jackson and Ray Charles, then moved to Motown’s production roster and delivered hits for many of the label’s flagship acts, most prominently Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. Their own initial soul chart entry arrived via Warner in 1973, after which they amassed further smashes such as “Don’t Cost You Nothing” (1978), “Found a Cure” (1979), “Street Corner” (1982), and “Solid,” the pair’s first R&B number one in 1984.