'Super Freak' singer Rick James dead.

Singer Rick James, a musical icon of the 1980s who helped define the "punk funk" style of that decade, was found dead in his home Friday morning by his caretaker, a Los Angeles police Department spokesman said. He was 56.

James' personal physician signed his death certificate, and said his death was the result of "existing medical conditions," police spokesman Jason Lee said.

Despite his meteoric rise and recording success, James won only a single Grammy, for co-writing M.C. Hammer's monster hit "U Can't Touch This," a song sampled from James' "Super Freak."