RIP Nick Ashford

Songwriter Nick Ashford, half of the songwriting and performing duo Ashford and Simpson, has passed away of throat cancer.

People of my generation will remember Ashford and Simpson for their hit “Solid as a Rock.” Around that time, probably my senior year in high school, I was on a plane from Pittsburgh to New York with them one time and had a brief and courteous chat with them. But they also wrote “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” and “Reach Out And Touch Somebody’s Hand” for Diana Ross, “I’m Every Woman” for Chaka Khan (remade by Whitney Houston), and many others.

Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson were married for 38 years. Until I read the above obituary, I had no idea that they owned a NYC club.