Simpson, Valerie (1946–)

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Simpson, Valerie (1946–)

African-American songwriter, pop singer, and record producer. Born in the Bronx, NY, Aug 26, 1946; sister of Ray Simpson, lead vocalist for Village People; studied music at Chatham Square School; m. Nickolas Ashford (songwriter), 1974.

Joined with future husband to become the writing team of Ashford and Simpson (1964); had 1st success with "Let's Go Get Stoned" (1966), sung by Ray Charles; signed with Motown and wrote a series of hits, including Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell's duets "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and "You're All I Need to Get By" and Diana Ross' "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)"; also made 2 solo albums, Exposed! (1971) and Valerie Simpson (1972); with Ashford, launched a performing career as Nick & Valerie (1973); had breakthrough with gold album Send It (1977), which included Top-10 hit "Don't Cost You Nothing"; followed that with another gold-seller, Is It Still Good to Ya? and a 3rd gold album, Stay Free (1978), which contained the single "Found a Cure"; had biggest hit album with Solid (1984); continued to create hits for such singers as Diana Ross, Gladys Knight, and Whitney Houston.

See also Women in World History.

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