Nickolas Ashford

The husband-and-wife team of composers Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson authored some of Motown's finest songs, including the classic duets of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, before parlaying their success into an enduring performing career of their own. Born May 4, 1942, in Fairfield, South Carolina, Ashford was raised in Ypsilanti, Michigan (near the Willow Run manufacturing plant), and sang in the church choir as a youth; after dropping out of Eastern Michigan University, he relocated to Harlem and accepted a job as a busboy. In 1964, he met Simpson, then a music student...