Rick James was one of the most iconic singer-songwriters of the 1970s and '80s — but he also left behind a controversial legacy.
Pictorial Press Ltd/Alamy Stock PhotoJames Ambrose Johnson Jr., better known by his stage name Rick James.
Rick James was a true musical force, one that shook the foundations of funk and R&B. The “Super Freak” singer grew up in Buffalo, New York before he became a musical sensation in the 1970s and 1980s, leaving a permanent mark on American pop culture. But like every star who shines too brightly, James had a troubled life that flickered out too soon.
His rebellious streak coincided with an ongoing addiction to drugs, especially cocaine, which fueled his demons as much as his creativity. James’ behavior became erratic, his relationships became strained, and the lines between his stage persona and true self became blurrier and blurrier. And disturbingly, in the early 1990s, he was convicted of brutally assaulting two women.
Although Rick James spent time behind bars and sought treatment at rehabilitation centers, his final years were a far cry from the glamorous life he had once known. He attempted to relaunch his career, but he struggled to find his place in a new musical landscape, and his health also suffered after decades of drug abuse and a wild lifestyle in Hollywood.
This is the complicated story of Rick James.
Rick James’ Turbulent Early Life
James Ambrose Johnson Jr. was born on February 1, 1948 in Buffalo, New York. The future singer was the third of eight children and raised by a single mother after his father left when he was just 10 years old. He was exposed to a life of crime from a young age since his mother took up an illegal business running numbers, and he later said he lost his virginity at age 9 or 10 to a 14-year-old girl. As a teen, he began experimenting with drugs.
If there was any beacon of hope in young James’ life, it was music. His uncle, Melvin Franklin, was a bass vocalist for The Temptations, and James became a singer in his church’s choir. But music didn’t offer any guarantees for a better life. So, as described in Rick James’ posthumous autobiography, Glow, he enlisted with the U.S. Naval Reserve, only to realize that this wasn’t the life for him either (especially after naval officers shaved his Afro).
Wikimedia CommonsRick James began experimenting with drugs and sex early on, and he also dabbled in pimping and burglary.
Determined not to serve in the Vietnam War, James fled to Toronto in 1964, hoping a more fulfilling life awaited him in Canada. But soon after he arrived, a group of drunk men jumped him. Fortunately, three other men came to his aid, including Levon Helm, who would later become a member of The Band. At the time, Helm was playing in Ronnie Hawkins’ backing band, The Hawks, and he offered James the opportunity to join their band on stage that night.
It was around this time that James Ambrose Johnson Jr. came up with his new stage name, Ricky James Matthews (which would later be shortened to Rick James). Before long, he had formed his first band, The Mynah Birds, writing music that blended together elements of rock, folk, and soul. Several future stars joined the band’s lineup at different points, including Neil Young.
Gale Rodriguez JonesThe Mynah Birds performing in the mid-1960s.
But while the band was recording its first Motown album, a number of issues emerged. The lead guitarist Tom Morgan left, financial disputes arose, and Motown learned of James’ AWOL status. Unsurprisingly, record executives were not willing to release music recorded by a military fugitive.
In 1966, Rick James surrendered himself to the FBI at age 18, leading to a sentence of five months’ hard labor for his unauthorized absence from the Navy. Six weeks later, James made a break for it once more, becoming a fugitive again for about six months. This landed him in more trouble, and he was soon facing a potential sentence of five years’ hard labor.
Thanks to his cousin, future U.S. Congressman Louis Stokes, that sentence was talked down to just five months, and Rick James was ultimately released from the Portsmouth Naval Prison in August 1967.
Rick James’ Move To Los Angeles And His Frightening Brush With Death
Thanks to his newfound freedom, Rick James was able to reconnect with Motown. During their partnership, he would write songs for groups like The Spinners and The Miracles, among others. It was when he met bassist Greg Reeves, though, that their fortunes would truly begin to change.
Together, the two set their sights on Los Angeles, hoping to make it big in California. There, they linked up with musician Stephen Stills, who offered James a place to crash. While he was staying at Stills’ home, James once woke up in the middle of the night to see none other than The Doors frontman Jim Morrison sitting on the floor with his wrist cut.
“I awoke to see a young dude sitting on the floor in the lotus position, stoned as a motherf**ker,” James later recalled in his memoir. “Nothing unusual about that except for the blood dripping from his wrist. He seemed hypnotized by the flow of his blood, saying things like, ‘Isn’t the blood beautiful? Isn’t that the deepest red you’ve ever seen?'”
Disturbed, James ran to get Stills, who bandaged Morrison up. The two would later be formally introduced, and soon after that, Morrison tricked James into dropping acid for the first time. James later described Morrison as “one far-out cat. He was the first sure-enough poet I’d ever met.”
Police HandoutRick James was supposed to attend a “big party” at Sharon Tate’s home on the same day that she and four others were murdered by Charles Manson’s followers in 1969 — but luckily for James, he was too hungover to go.
James eventually introduced Greg Reeves to his old bandmate, Neil Young, and the two musicians hit it off, as Reeves was asked to join Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young as a bassist. He accepted, but that meant the musical duo of James and Reeves came to an end. And around that same time, James’ own life nearly came to an end — at the hands of the Manson Family.
He had been invited by celebrity hairstylist Jay Sebring to attend a “big party” at the home of Sharon Tate, but fortunately for James, he was too hungover to go. That hangover ultimately saved his life, as that same day, Tate, Sebring, and three others were murdered by Charles Manson’s followers.
Though James was grateful to have missed that party, he was still waiting to catch his big break as a singer. Finally, in 1973, he signed with A&M Records and released his first single, “My Mama,” a year later.
How Rick James’ Career Took Off
George Rose/Getty ImagesRick James unapologetically indulged in drug binges, orgies, and wild parties as his fame skyrocketed, and at the height of his cocaine addiction, he was spending up to $7,000 per week on drugs.
After generating a buzz with his early singles, Rick James’ debut album Come Get It! was released in 1978. Thanks to the hit songs “You and I” and “Mary Jane,” his fame rose, and the album eventually sold two million copies.
Clearly, James’ time working as a Motown songwriter had paid off, and he was quick to follow up the debut album with 1979’s Bustin’ Out of L Seven, and his third album, Fire It Up, released later that same year. With three albums under his belt, James launched his first headlining tour in 1980, and booked a then up-and-coming artist named Prince to be his opening act.
Unfortunately, James and Prince’s relationship soon soured, as James thought that Prince was trying to steal his schtick. In his memoir, he wrote that Prince had been “emulating my moves like a motherf**ker.”
Public DomainPrince and Rick James famously began feuding in the early 1980s.
“I know imitation is the sincerest form of flattery,” Rick James said of the experience, “but because my act followed his, it looked like Rick James was copying Prince rather than vice versa.”
But James didn’t get too distracted by the feud. He soon released two more albums, 1980’s Garden of Love and then 1981’s Street Songs, which featured his most popular song, “Super Freak.” His streak continued into 1982 with Throwin’ Down and 1983’s Cold Blooded, which included a song by the same name that was inspired by his romance with The Exorcist star Linda Blair.
The two dated in the early 1980s, and at some point in the relationship, Blair discovered that she was pregnant. She chose to have an abortion, however, which seemed to weigh heavily on James, even years down the line.
“I loved Linda and it hurt me that she would choose to abort our child without even wanting to talk to me about it first,” he later wrote. “I still look back on her choice with sadness and wonder about our baby, and how having that child might have changed my life.” (James eventually went on to have four children with three different women.)
Motown RecordsThe artwork for Rick James’ “Cold Blooded,” which was inspired by his relationship with Linda Blair.
Meanwhile, James’ star continued to rise, but he also courted controversy wherever he went. He unapologetically pursued drugs and “kinky” sex — including orgies — and often refused to censor himself in the public eye. Police in multiple cities threatened to arrest him if he smoked marijuana on stage, and the overtly sexual nature of his performances made some stations wary of playing his music videos.
As the 1980s came to an end, James’ career started to fall off. His 1989 album, Kickin’, was released as a promo in the United Kingdom and flopped, and a year later, he lost a deal with Warner Bros.
Naturally, James’ personal life remained infamous as he fell deeper into his drug addiction. When he was 39, he met a 17-year-old named Tanya Anne Hijazi and began a “romance” with her just a year later after she turned 18. And the age gap was the least controversial thing about their relationship.
A Shocking Arrest And Conviction
APRick James and his future wife Tanya Anne Hijazi were found guilty of brutally assaulting two women.
In the early 1990s, both Rick James and Tanya Anne Hijazi were accused by two women of violent abuse. The first incident occurred in July 1991, when the couple kept 24-year-old Frances Alley locked in James’ home for nearly a week, during which they reportedly smoked cocaine non-stop, tied the woman naked to a chair, and tortured her with a hot knife and crack pipe.
The woman also said that James forced her to have oral sex with Hijazi before forcing her to join them for a threesome.
A second woman, music executive Mary Sauger, recounted a different incident that took place in November 1992. Sauger said James and Hijazi invited her to a hotel to discuss a recording label, during which they drank wine and Sauger took a “hit” of cocaine. An argument broke out between James and Hijazi, and Sauger eventually left the room, with Hijazi then following after her and convincing her to come back.
As the three continued their conversation, Hijazi left the room and returned wearing only her panties, then suddenly became angry and started slapping Sauger. James joined in, and they beat Sauger into unconsciousness. Then, they revived Sauger by throwing water on her, and beat her again.
“There was nothing to keep me from descending into the lowest level of Hell. That meant orgies. That meant sadomasochism. That even meant bestiality. I was the Roman emperor Caligula. I was the Marquis de Sade.”
“It seemed they were just getting their kicks out of beating someone,” Sauger recalled, according to the Los Angeles Times. “I still have problems with my left eye. There is constant throbbing behind the socket.”
James was ultimately found guilty of assaulting both Sauger and Alley, but he was cleared of a torture charge that could have meant life in prison. He was sentenced to five years and four months in prison and ended up serving about two years total. As for Hijazi, she served 15 months for assault.
In 1996, James and Hijazi got married, and they later divorced in 2002.
Before the attacks, James had seemingly been poised for a career revival thanks to “Super Freak” being sampled in MC Hammer’s 1990 hit “U Can’t Touch This.” Unsurprisingly, James’ arrest thwarted his plans for a comeback.
But while he vanished from the limelight for several years after his release from prison, he didn’t stay out of the public eye forever. Years later, he reemerged from the shadows, to a surprisingly receptive audience.
Rick James’ Final Years And Death
L. Cohen/WireImage/Getty ImagesRick James shortly before his death in 2004.
Following his release from prison, Rick James released the album Urban Rhapsody in 1997, but a minor stroke in 1998 forced him to put music on hold. In 1999, he made an appearance in the Eddie Murphy movie Life, though this did little to restore him to the heights he had once known.
The years passed, and Rick James was seemingly all but forgotten. Then, in 2004, he was offered another chance to appear in the spotlight, when Dave Chappelle featured James in a sketch on Chappelle’s Show, in which James recounted stories from his life, acted out by Chappelle, with two new catchphrases: “I’m Rick James, b*tch!” and “Cocaine is a hell of a drug.”
The former catchphrase would earn James a standing ovation after his final performance at the fourth annual BET Awards on June 29, 2004.
But if Rick James felt that his career was going to see a new resurgence, fate had other plans for him. On August 6, 2004, he was found dead inside his home in Los Angeles. He was 56 years old, and many initially believed he overdosed, but an autopsy report found that he died from a heart attack. However, his many years of drug abuse likely contributed to his demise.
Even at the time of his death, he had nine different drugs in his system, including cocaine, though none were determined to have directly caused his death. Meanwhile, in the aftermath of his death, the public regained their fascination with his life. His autobiography was published — and then re-published, a documentary was made about his life, and most recently, the stage musical “Super Freak: The Rick James Story” took off in 2024.
All in all, Rick James leaves behind a wild, dark, and ultimately complicated legacy. Though James will always be remembered for his talent as a singer, he’ll also be remembered for his inability to conquer his demons.
After reading about the life of Rick James, go inside the mysterious death of James Brown. Then, learn about the wild life of GG Allin.
