Before Aretha Franklin was a pop legend, she was a gospel and blues singer. Like Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday and Dinah Washington before her, she has had to overcome prejudice, frustration, teen pregnancy and devastating emotional trauma during her career.
Nick Ashford, who with wife Valerie Simpson,co-wrote and sang some of music’s best known R&B classics, has died in a New York City hospital after a bout with throat cancer. He was 70.
