“Working three hours with Rick James,” Lanois told The Times last year, “that’s like five years in a university studying record-making. James crossed paths with another future rock name - a kid named Daniel Lanois, who had a basement recording studio in nearby Hamilton, Ontario, and would go on to produce records by Bob Dylan, U2 and others. There he formed a band that would become a trivia answer for later rock fans the Mynah Birds featured two future members of the Buffalo Springfield, Neil Young and Bruce Palmer, as well as Goldie McJohn, later of Steppenwolf. After his superiors put him on active duty, James crossed the border to Canada. I made a pact with myself from that day on - music was my life,” he said in a 1996 Rolling Stone article.īy 1964, James was enjoying local success with a vocal group called the Duprees - enough success that he was failing to meet his obligations in the Naval Reserve, though those duties kept him out of the draft. “The feeling of the crowd singing, the people dancing in the aisles cast a magic spell on me. At 15, he entered a school talent show, and his performance marked a clear turning point. James chafed under the discipline of his Catholic parochial school, and though he wore altar boy robes, he compiled an arrest record for petty crimes. “Her main income was from running numbers for the Italian mob,” James later recalled. There was still an edge to their life, however. His mother was a former dancer whose days as a housekeeper and single mother were far removed from her Harlem nights of glamour. His father, described by the son as abusive, left the home before James was 8. 1, 1948, in Buffalo, N.Y., the third child among eight born to James and Mabel Gladden Johnson. In addition to “Super Freak,” James’ most notable hits were “You and I” in 1978 and “Give It to Me Baby” in 1981. Although his number of Top 40 hits was limited to just five songs, all released from 1978 to 1984, the bassist was viewed at one point in his career as a worthy rival to Prince and as a pioneer carrying on the funk traditions of James Brown and George Clinton. The lurid case only added to the salacious vibe James fostered with his concerts, album covers and lyrics. Among the charges were accusations by a 24-year-old woman that she was held against her will and assaulted by James and his then-girlfriend, Tanya Anne Hijazi. He had faced a potential life sentence if convicted of all charges, but the verdict led to two years in prison. In 1993, a jury convicted James on three of 14 charges in assault and torture cases. He has said that he was on cocaine binges when he assaulted women in two separate incidents. The spoof has such appeal that there has been talk of expanding it into a film.Īt one point in his life, the Grammy-winning musician had, by his own estimation, a $10,000-a-week drug habit. James enjoyed an unexpected surge in name recognition in recent months through the skits of David Chappelle, the popular comedian whose Comedy Central “Chappelle’s Show” features sendups of James as a menacing celebrity Lothario. He recently performed on the televised BET Awards, and finished an album scheduled for release next year. Still, in recent months he had been fit enough to tour, undertaking a road run that included a July 26 show at the Universal Amphitheatre with Teena Marie and Morris Day & the Time. In addition to years of drug abuse, James had endured a battery of health problems in the last decade, including a stroke, heart problems and a hip replacement. “But given his history of substance abuse, we think it is prudent to look into the case.” “He has a significant medical history, and it may prove that he died a natural death,” said Craig Harvey, the agency’s chief of operations. The preliminary finding was that James died of natural causes, but the Los Angeles County coroner’s office will perform an autopsy. after a live-in caretaker reported finding his body. Police arrived at the singer’s home about 9:50 a.m. Funk music pioneer Rick James, famous for the raunchy 1981 hit “Super Freak (Part 1)” and later infamous for drug and sex crimes that outdid the debauchery of his songs, was found dead Friday morning in his home near Universal City.