AcesHigh27
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Post by AcesHigh27 on Aug 6, 2004 18:06:01 GMT -5
Ok 1st off, I'm serious about bowing our heads in a moment of silence. Aside from some really great funk songs, most notably, "Superfreak," Rick James brought us great joy and entertainment through Dave Chappelle and his famous skit of the funk legend. The term, "I'm Rick James, bitch," will forever be engrained in my mind, as well as George's and Scott's. In his honor, next time you walk up to someone who dislike, look at them and say, "Charlie Murphy" and proceed to punch them in the forehead. Thank you.
LOS ANGELES - Funk legend Rick James, best known for the 1981 hit "Super Freak" before his career disintegrated amid drug use and violence that sent him to prison, died Friday. He was 56.
AP Photo
Reuters
Slideshow: Rick James Dies In Los Angeles
James died in his sleep at his residence near Universal City, said publicist Sujata Murthy. James lived alone and was found dead by his personal assistant, who notified police, she said.
Police and Murthy believe James died of natural causes. The exact cause was not immediately released.
"There'll be an autopsy and we'll find that out shortly," Murthy said.
Publicist Maureen O'Connor, speaking on behalf of James' three children, said they believed he died of heart failure.
"He passed away peacefully in his sleep," O'Connor said.
"I think he was really fantastic, he was a creator," singer Little Richard told MSNBC.
"He made a lot of people happy, he made a lot of friends and a lot of people got famous through his music," he said, referring to sampling by hip-hop artists such as MC Hammer, who used the "Super Freak" bass line in his hit "U Can't Touch This."
The song earned James and Hammer the Grammy for best R&B song in 1990.
"Today the world mourns a musician and performer of the funkiest kind," said Neil Portnow, president of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. "Grammy winner Rick James was a singer, songwriter and producer whose performances were always as dynamic as his personality. The `Super Freak' of funk will be missed."
James had hit songs and albums from the 1970s into the '80s, but by the following decade his fame began to fade as he became embroiled in legal problems and health troubles.
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I'm Rick James, Bitch.