Nick Ashford, who along with wife Valerie Simpson helped set the gold standard for R&B duets, both as songwriters and performers, died on Monday, August 22. He was 70.

Half of Motown songwriting team Ashford & Simpson, Nick Ashford died of throat cancer in a New York City hospital.

"His music is unmatched in terms of great songwriting," Verdine White of Earth, Wind and Fire said after learning of his friend's death. "They had magic, and that's what creates those wonderful hits, that magic. Without those songs, those artists wouldn't have been able to go to the next level."

Ashford and Simpson met in 1964 in a New York City church. After they've connected they begun writing songs together and their first success was Ray Charles' song "Let's Go Get Stoned". Soon they joined Motown Records.

They started out writing soulful, romantic works for the duo of Gaye and Terrell that would become instant classics, like "Your Precious Love," "Ain't Nothin' Like the Real Thing" and "Ain't No Mountain High Enough." Diana Ross later recorded "Ain't No Mountain" with a new arrangement that had sweeping pop grandeur and made it her signature song.

In 2002, Ashford & Simpson were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.