Bio: James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 - December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer, and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honorific nicknames "Godfather of Soul", "Mr. Dynamite", and "Soul Brother No. 1". In a career that lasted more than 50 years, he influenced the development of several music genres. Brown was one of the first 10 inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at its inaugural induction in New York on January 23, 1986.Brown began his career as a gospel singer in Toccoa, Georgia. He first came to national public attention in the mid-1950s as the lead singer of the Famous Flames, a then-only Rhythm and blues vocal group founded by Bobby Byrd. With the hit ballads "Please, Please, Please" and "Try Me", Brown built a reputation as a dynamic live performer with the Famous Flames and his backing band, sometimes known as the James Brown Band or the James Brown Orchestra. His success peaked in the 1960s with the live album Live at the Apollo and hit singles such as "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag", "I Got You (I Feel Good)" and "It's a Man's Man's Man's World".During the late 1960s, Brown moved from a continuum of blues and gospel-based forms and styles to a profoundly "Africanized" approach to music-making, emphasizing stripped-down interlocking rhythms that influenced the development of funk music. By the early 1970s, Brown had fully established the funk sound after the formation of the J.B.s with records such as "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine" and "The Payback". He also became noted for songs of social commentary, including the 1968 hit "Say It Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud". Brown continued to perform and record until his death from pneumonia in 2006.Brown recorded 17 singles that reached No. 1 on the Billboard R&B charts. He also holds the record for the most singles listed on the Billboard Hot 100 chart that did not reach No. 1. Brown was inducted into the first class of the Rhythm & Blues Music Hall of Fame in 2013 as an artist and then in 2017 as a songwriter. He also received honors from several other institutions, including inductions into the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame, and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In Joel Whitburn's analysis of the Billboard R&B charts from 1942 to 2010, Brown is ranked No. 1 in The Top 500 Artists. He is ranked seventh on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
Tivia: Coordinated his dance moves to lead his band. Each movement was actually an instruction to the band.In live shows, Brown would sometimes add the "I got ya" lyric in a song when he caught a musician making a mistake.Insisted on using the title Mr. or Ms. for everyone in his band. He felt it was a sign of respect if people called each other by their proper title.Holds the record for holder for charting the most singles on the Billboard Hot 100 without ever reaching #1.Was friends with Elvis Presley. He was one of only three celebrities present at his funeral. The others were Ann-Margret and George Hamilton. He was also good friends with Reverend Al Sharpton since the 1970s and Reverend Jesse Jackson since the 1950s.He served 26 months in prison for leading police on a high speed chase in Georgia in 1988.Was lifelong friends with Little Richard, since they were both teenagers.US Secretary of State General Colin Powell appointed Brown to be the first US "secretary of soul and foreign minister of funk", but said the job description for the post had not yet been drawn up. (December 2003)His third wife, Adrienne Rodriguez, charged him four times with felony assault. She passed away from heart failure following plastic surgery.Paroled after serving three years of his six years. His crime was in 1988 when he threatened pedestrians with firearms, abused PCP, and led a high-speed car chase down Interstate 20 in Augusta, Georgia. (1991)J. Anthony Lukas's book on Boston race relations, "Common Ground", notes that a 1968 Brown performance the day after Reverend Martin Luther King's was assassinated helped keep the city from exploding.His funeral was officiated by his good friend, Reverend Al Sharpton.Dismayed by the school shootings of the late 1990s, he spoke out against violence in schools, even writing a song, "Killing's Out and School's In".Inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame for his outstanding contribution to British music and integral part of British music culture. (November 14, 2006)Son, with girlfriend Tomirae Brown, James Brown II, was born on July 1, 2001.28 January 2004 - Arrested for allegedly pushing his wife at their South Carolina home. Brown later filed for an annulment of their marriage.Performed at President Richard Nixon's first inauguration on 30 January 1969.On account of the timing of Brown's death, there were no flights out of Atlanta to fly Brown's body up to New York for a public viewing at the Apollo Theater. The funeral director and Al Sharpton opted to drive Brown's body from Atlanta to New York, instead.He is the world's most sampled recording artist, and his song "Funky Drummer" the most sampled individual piece of music in history. The list of artists that sampled Brown ranged from Jay-Z to Eric B. and Rakim to Public Enemy to DJ Shadow.Receiving three Grammy Awards: Best R&B Recording ("Papa's Got a Brand New Bag", 1965), Best Male R&B Performance ("Living in America", 1986) and "Best Album Notes" ("Star Times", 1991). On February 25 1992, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 34th Annual Grammy Awards.Got his start in music singing with Bobby Byrd's group the Famous Flames.Brown's hit singles like "Say It Loud (I'm Black and I'm Proud)" and "Funky President" galvanized black youth during the turbulent 1970s.Released from hospital following treatment for addiction to painkillers. (January 1998)Underwent surgery for prostate cancer. (December 2004)Reverend Jesse Jackson regularly visited Brown while he served time for leading the police on a car chase and other various offenses in South Carolina in 1988.Voted the tenth greatest singer of the rock era in a Rolling Stone magazine poll (2008).Some radicals criticized him for his patriotism. He received death threats after playing to US troops in Vietnam in 1972.Inducted into the American Songwriters Hall of Fame (2000).Charter member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1986).In 2003, South Carolina granted him pardons for seven criminal convictions, some involving guns and drugs, over a 10-year period.Was planning on singing at B.B. King's blues club in New York on New Year's Eve a week before he passed away.One of five recipients of the 2003 Kennedy Center Honors. The other recipients were Carol Burnett, Loretta Lynn, Mike Nichols and Itzhak Perlman.[May 7, 2005] Reverend Al Sharpton unveiled a life-size bronze statue of Brown in Augusta, Georgia. The statue was supposed to be unveiled in May 2004, for Brown's 71st birthday, but the city postponed the ceremony because Brown was facing domestic violence charges for pushing and threatening his fourth wife, Tomirae Brown .Some of his most popular songs include "Please, Please, Please" (1958), "I Got You (I Feel Good)" (1965), "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" (1966), "Cold Sweat" (1967), "I Got the Feelin'" (1968), "Get Up (I Like Being a) Sex Machine" (1970) and "Living in America" (1985).Augusta's 9th street was renamed "James Brown Boulevard" by Mayor Charles DeVaney. (November 11, 1993)He was diagnosed with heart disease (2003).Daughters with second wife Deidre or "Deedee" are Deanna Brown and Yamma Brown.Singer-songwriter, band leader and record producer.He was voted the 7th Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Artist of all time by Entertainment Weekly.Sons with first wife Velma were Teddy (1954-1973), Terry (1955-), and Larry (1958-).One of the personalities mentioned in the song "Genius of Love" by Tom Tom Club. The others were Bob Marley, Smokey Robinson, Hamilton Bohannon, George Clinton, Bootsy Collins, Lowell 'Sly' Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare (as Sly and Robbie), and Kurtis Blow.Portions of James Brown's funeral services in Augusta, GA were shown live on CNN.He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording at 1501 Vine Street in Hollywood, California on January 10, 1997.Resided in Beach Island, South Carolina at the time of his death.Was friends with M.C. Hammer.In 1991, the Techno group L.A. Style released a highly irreverent and controversial single entitled "James Brown Is Dead". There were two songs quickly made in response: "James Brown Is Still Alive" by Holy Noise, and "Who the F*** Is James Brown?" by Traumatic Stress.Mentioned in the song "When the World is Running Down" by The Police.