On this day, Aug. 2, in 1991, funk pioneer Rick James was arrested and charged with the sex torture of a 24-year-old woman.

Best known for 1980s hits "Super Freak" and "Give it to Me Baby," James claimed to have been undone by a $10,000-a-week cocaine habit.

James, then 43, and his wife Tanya Hijazi, 21, were accused of tying up an acquaintance and holding her at their West Hollywood home during a weeklong cocaine binge.

The woman went to police and said James burned her with a crack pipe and forced her to perform sex acts.

While out on bail, James was arrested for assaulting a female music executive.

He was convicted of assaulting both women and served more than two years in Folsom Prison.

-- Scott McCabe