As the most wholesome of love stories always begin, Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson met at church in 1964, and immediately started building a future together. By 1966, they were Motown songwriters, with hits for greats like Ray Charles, Ronnie Milsap and the Guess Who already topping the charts.

During the two years in between, they made a few valiant attempts at recording as a duo, and over the next TWELVE, they’d occasionally try again. Every now and then, Nick might recording backing vocals for Paul Simon, and Valerie laid guide tracks for Tammi Terrell, but their biggest successes always came from the songs they wrote for other artists.

UNTIL “SOLID.”

Nick & Valerie had been married and recording their own music together again for about 10 years when they released “Solid” in 1984.

(If you’re keeping count, we’re up to 20 years of making literal and figurative music together.)

AND IT SHOWS.

While the video for “Solid” is admittedly WILDLY corny and full of ALL of the 80’s tropes from “girl lost and alone in the Big City” to “oh-no-that-gang-is-coming-oh-wait-they-just-wanna-sing!,” the most amazing part is how genuine Nick & Valerie are when they look at each other, and how effortless they are together in this TOTAL fabrication of a video.

But totally real is the fact that Ashford & Simpson were such tremendous contributors to American music across ALL genres that in 2002, they were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame for their efforts in making Diana Ross, Chaka Khan, Teddy Pendergrass, and of course, themselves into stars.

Nick & Valerie are the DEFINITION of goals in every. possible. way.

The greatest love stories always end sadly though, and in 2011, just four days before Valerie’s 65th birthday and after 47 years together, Nick passed away. But not before the duo made history together one last time with their greatest hit. At the first inauguration of notorious music lover President Obama in 2009, Ashford & Simpson transformed their song into “Solid as Barack” in his honor.

They are part of the foundation that modern day African-American music was built on, they are easily among the most successful married musical duos of all time, and for many of us, they were one of the first and most visible examples of Black love and Black hustle rolled all into one.

And on every single one of those levels, they were undeniably solid.

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