"Even if you took away all of his musical accomplishments, Rick James could have filled multiple novels with the juicy details of his life. He hooked up with the hottest women around him, was a known drug user and was also arrested for assault. He was born James Ambrose Johnson Jr. in Buffalo, New York in 1948. His mother worked for the mob, along with other jobs, and his uncle was none other than Melvin Franklin of the Temptations. He and his band were signed in the mid 1960s to a record deal, but did not release an album because of James's trouble with the military and the band members' relocation to Los Angeles. James then moved to London and formed a blues band, who he stayed with for seven years while he was also a songwriter for Motown.He came back to the U.S. in 1977 and formed the rock and funk group Stone City Band. He got a record deal through Motown in 1978, and he released Come Get It that same year. Two of the singles from that song hit the charts and started to get James's name out there. He started touring after the release of his next album with the artist Prince. He released multiple albums in the early 1980s and found super stardom with the release of his fifth album, Street Songs, which featured the single ""Super Freak.""James followed up that released with more successful released throughout the 1980s, but none reached the same heights that Street Songs had. During this time, James was frequently hospitalized as he started to reap the consequences his hard-living lifestyle. The confirmed womanizer somewhat changed his lifestyle and even got married in 1997. That same year, he released Urban Rhapsody, which featured other stars like Snoop Dogg and Bobby Womack. James died of a heart attack in 2004."