Remembering Jerry Leiber and Nick Ashford: Two Songwriting Legends

The music world lost two legends on Monday. Jerry Leiber, who wrote hits for Elvis Presley, Ben E. King, and the Coasters, died at 78 in Los Angeles. His first hit, Elvis Presley’s “Hound Dog,” took him and songwriting partner Mike Stoller to the top of the charts when he was only 17. Nick Ashford, who with his writing partner and wife Valerie Simpson, penned some of Motown’s biggest hits, including “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” died in New York at age 70. Ashford and Simpson wrote hits for Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Diana Ross, Smokey Robinson, the Marvelettes, Teddy Pendergrass, Chaka Khan, and Marvin Gaye.