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| Birth Name(s) : James Ambrose Johnson, Jr |
Date of Birth: N/A |
| Status:
Single
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Partner:
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| Profession:
Musician, Record producer |
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Full Rick James Biography
Born in Buffalo, New York, James was the third of eight children. His father was an autoworker who abandoned the family, and his mother was a former dancer. "She raised us strict Catholics," James recalled. His uncle was Melvin Franklin, bass vocalist of The Temptations. Two cousins were Carl Stokes, the first black mayor of Cleveland, and Louis Stokes, a former Ohio congressman.
At age 16, James joined the U.S. Naval Reserve after dropping out of Bennett High School. He began missing weekend training because it interfered with his music career and was reported AWOL. Fleeing north to Toronto, Ontario in the summer of 1964, James, now using the stage name Ricky Matthews, continued his musical career. His first band was called The Mynah Birds, which also featured Neil Young and future Steppenwolf member Nick St. Nicholas. In 1965, the group recorded a single for the Canadian arm of Columbia Records. In early 1965, St. Nicholas left the band and was replaced by Bruce Palmer.
Shortly afterwards, James and Palmer formed a new Mynah Birds lineup with guitarists Tom Morgan and John Taylor, and drummer Rickman Mason. In early 1966, the Mynah Birds auditioned for the Motown label in Detroit, Michigan. Morgan was unhappy with the label's attitude towards the musicians and left, with Neil Young taking his place. With Young on board, the Mynah Birds returned to Motown to record an album, but their manager pocketed the advance money the label had given the band. The band fired their manager, who in turn told the label that James was AWOL. Motown told him to give himself up to the FBI, and the Mynah Birds' album was shelved.
James spent a year in the Brooklyn Brig, after which he briefly returned to Toronto. During the summer of 1967, Rick James formed a new version of The Mynah Birds (sometimes spelled "Myna Byrds") with Neil Merryweather. The band returned to Motown and Detroit and recorded a new version of James and Neil Young's It's My Time, but the band broke up soon afterwards. During early 1968, James returned to Motown and became a songwriter and producer, writing under the name Terry Johnson and working with Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, Bobby Taylor and the Vancouvers and The Spinners.
During this time, he guest-starred on an episode of The A-Team entitled The Heart of Rock N' Roll, where he played himself and performed at a prison concert singing "Super Freak"; Isaac Hayes also guest starred in this episode.
In 1993, while out on bail for that earlier incident, a coked-up James assaulted another woman, music executive Mary Sauger, at the St. James Club & Hotel in West Hollywood. Sauger claims she met James and Hijazi for a business meeting, but claims the two kidnapped and beat her over a 20-hour period. He was found guilty of both offenses, but was cleared of a torture charge in the crack-pipe incident that could have put him behind bars for the rest of his life. Rick's life changed for the better when he met and befriended John Kistler. Kistler helped Rick get off drugs and the two were close friends up until Rick's death.
Serving two years in Folsom Prison, as well as losing $2 million in a civil suit to one of the women, did not stop him from writing new songs, even if he did it behind bars. He was released in 1995, and during interviews for a segment of the VH1 series Behind The Music, he spoke openly about his life and his battle with drugs for the first time.
James attempted a comeback with a new album and tour in 1997, but suffered a mild stroke during a concert in Denver, Colorado, effectively ending his musical career.
A coroner's report released September 16, 2004 officially ruled his death as accidental, reporting nine drugs found in James's bloodstream:"Toxicology revealed the presence of the following drugs,
- Alprazolam (Xanax),
- Diazepam (Valium),
- Bupropion (Wellbutrin),
- Citalopram (Celexa),
- Hydrocodone (Vicodin),
- Digoxin,
- Chlorpheniramine,
- Methamphetamine, and
- Cocaine "
On August 11, 2004, a public viewing was held at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills in Los Angeles, along with a public funeral service there the following day. Following the Los Angeles services, his remains were transported back to New York for burial where they were interred at the unrelated Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo, New York. At the time of his death, he was working on an autobiography, Confessions Of A Superfreak, as well as a new album. He was divorced and was survived by three children (Tazman, Ty and Rick James, Jr.) and two granddaughters (Jasmine and Charisma).
In the The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror X Halloween special in 1999, Rick James is shown singing "Super Freak" during a parody of Dick Clark's New Year's Eve special. As he finishes the song, he is promptly arrested by the police, saying, "Aw man! What did I do now?"
In The Simpsons episode The Great Money Caper, Chief Clancy Wiggum says "I'll show you the Rick James cell. It's superfreaky!".Dave Chappelle as James in the popular "Rick James sketch".
In Epic Movie, the Albino monk is nonsense-captioned saying "I'm Rick James, bitch!" for the Latin "Et tu Brute", after he shoots Mr. Tumnus.
Rick James once made an appearance on Judge Joe Brown as a plaintiff suing Jerome Turner for his favorite guitar. |
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