Few nowadays are surprised when music industry stars take up drugs. From Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds to DMX, most musicians have been there and smoked that. Motown icon Rick James is no exception, but that didn't mean he couldn't make good music on his own. With numerous chart hits and ten Motown albums under his belt, critics could say that he was over-the-top but never claim that James was untalented.

Rick James: Life In The Fast Lane

"You ain't heard nothin' yet."

Few nowadays are surprised when music industry stars take up drugs. From Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds to DMX, most musicians have been there and smoked that. Motown icon Rick James is no exception, but that didn't mean he couldn't make good music on his own. With numerous chart hits and ten Motown albums under his belt, critics could say that he was over-the-top but never claim that James was untalented.

Rick James' Beginnings

He was born James Ambrose Johnson, Jr. in 1948, the third of eight children in Buffalo, New York. Music was evidently his first passion; at 16, he began prioritizing his career over the U.S. Naval Reserve, of which he was a member at the time. After leaving the Navy behind, he made his way to Toronto where his career would take off.

Under the name Big Jimmy, he joined the Mynah Birds, which was formed with Jimmy Livingstone, Ian Goble, Rick Cameron, John Goadsby and Nick St. Nicholas. Although the bad would never release an album of its own, several of its members would go on to respectively successful musical careers. The band through several lineup changes in 1964 and 1965, concluding with the addition of Neil Young in 1966.

Motown signed the group in 1966, and an album was already in progress. A disagreement with their manager, however, caused James' arrest for his desertion of the Navy in 1964. This caused the shelving of their planned album, as well as the departure of Young and Palmer. Despite James' attempt to revive the group in 1967, more legal troubles meant that he had to leave it again. The Mynah Birds finally disbanded not long after.

Rick James' First Comeback

Setbacks like those weren't enough to put James out of the game. He returned to Motown in 1968, working mostly as a producer and a man behind the scenes. James then went on to form a string of bands that included Salt and Pepper, Heaven and Earth, and Great White Cane. In 1972, the single My Mama was released under solo artist Rick James.

His debut album, 1978's Come Get It, put James on the map, particularly with the single You and I. It wasn't until 1981's Street Songs, however, that he was able to make his own mark on the industry with the much-sampled Super Freak, one of his biggest hits. This was followed by a series of hits well into the 1980's with the likes of Cold Blooded, You Turn Me On and Glow.

Rick James' Downward Spiral

Despite his success for most of the 1980's, the next decade couldn't have been anything but difficult for James. His crack cocaine habit hit a much publicized peak when he was found guilty of assault and kidnapping on two separate occasions. This landed him a two-year sentence in Folsom Prison as well as a $2 million civil suit, which he lost.

After his release in 1997, James tried to stage a comeback by releasing a new album and going on tour. His attempt failed, however, when he suffered a stroke at a Denver event. Little material was made during this time, during which he was said to be working on an autobiography titled The Confessions of Rick James: Memoirs of a Superfreak. The book was finally published in 2007, after several delays.

His caretaker found Rick James dead in his California home on the morning of August 6, 2004. Although the autopsy found that he was under the influence of several drugs at his death, the coroner stressed that his demise was due to an enlarged heart and not a drug overdose. James was 56.

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