Nickolas Ashford (May 4, 1941 – August 22, 2011) was an American R&B singer and songwriter who formed the musical partnership Ashford & Simpson with his wife, Valerie Simpson. 　　Nickolas Ashford was born in Fairfield, South Carolina and raised in Ypsilanti (Willow Run), Michigan. His father, Calvin, was a construction worker at Willow Run, Michigan. He got his musical start at Willow Run Baptist Church, singing and writing songs for the gospel choir. He briefly attended Eastern Michigan University, in Ypsilanti, before heading to New York, where he tried but failed to find success as a dancer. In 1964, while homeless, went to White Rock Baptist Church in Harlem, where he met Valerie Simpson, a 17-year-old recent high school graduate who was studying music. They began writing songs together, selling the first bunch for $64. In 1966, after Ray Charles sang "Let’s Go Get Stoned," a song Ashford & Simpson wrote with Josephine Armstead, the duo signed on with Motown as writers and producers. Ashford and Simpson married in 1974.