The funk singer, producer and songwriter Rick James passed away 20 years ago this week.

He was born in New York in 1948 and in 1964 he moved to Canada and formed his first band the Mynah Birds which included Neil Young and signed a record deal with Motown in 1966. He served a few months in prison because he formed bands to avoid being drafted into the US Navy. On his release he moved to California and, in 1977, began a solo career whilst still at Motown.

He had hits with You & I and Give It To Me Baby, but his most popular song was Super Freak which became internationally famous when MC Hammer used it as the basis for his 1990 hit U Can’t Touch This.

In the 1980s, James suffered various health problems; he had a hip replacement and his drug abuse, which had begun some 20 years earlier, got out of hand. In 1998, a blood vessel burst in his neck causing him to have a stroke. He and his wife took a woman hostage, made her perform sexual acts and burnt parts of her body with a hot cocaine pipe. He was convicted and served a further five years in prison.

On 6th August 2004 he was found dead at his home in California with numerous drugs in his body, but his publicist said he died of natural causes.

Let’s remember his 1981 hit Super Freak