James Brown

James Joseph Brown, Jr. (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006), commonly referred to as "The Godfather of Soul", was an American entertainer recognized as one of the most influential figures in 20th-century popular music.

As a prolific singer, songwriter, bandleader and record producer, Brown was a seminal force in the evolution of gospel and rhythm and blues into soul and funk. He left his mark on numerous other musical genres, including rock, jazz, reggae, disco, dance and electronic music, afrobeat, and hip-hop music.

Brown began his professional music career in 1953 and skyrocketed to fame in the late 1950s and early 1960s on the strength of his thrilling live performances and a string of smash hits. In spite of various personal problems and setbacks, he continued to score hits in every decade through the 1980s. In the 1960s and 1970s Brown was a presence in American political affairs, noted especially for his activism on behalf of African Americans and the poor (as well as his outspoken support for Richard Nixon).

Brown was recognized by a plethora of (mostly self-bestowed) titles, including Soul Brother Number One, Mr. Dynamite, the Hardest-Working Man in Show Business, Minister of The New New Super Heavy Funk, Mr. Please Please Please, The Boss, and the best-known, the Godfather of Soul. He was renowned for his shouting vocals, feverish dancing and unique rhythmic style.


In December 2004 Brown was diagnosed with prostate cancer, which was successfully treated with surgery. He appeared at Edinburgh 50,000 - The Final Push, the final Live 8 concert, on July 6, 2005, where he did a duet with British pop star Will Young on "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag." He also did a duet with another British pop star, Joss Stone, a week earlier on the UK chat show Friday Night with Jonathan Ross. Before his death, he was scheduled to perform a duet with singer Annie Lennox on the song "Vengeance" on her new album Venus, scheduled for release in early 2007.


In 2006, Brown continued his "Seven Decades Of Funk World Tour", to be his last, performing all over the world. His latest shows were still greeted with positive reviews. His last Irish performance was at the Oxegen festival in Punchestown in 2006.


James Brown received several prestigious music industry awards and honors. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at its inaugural induction dinner in New York on January 23, 1986. On February 25, 1992 he was given a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 34th annual Grammy Awards.


Exactly a year later, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 4th annual Rhythm & Blues Foundation Pioneer Awards. On November 14, 2006, Brown was inducted to the UK Music Hall of Fame. He was one of several inductees that performed at the ceremony.


Brown was married four times. He and his last wife, Tommie Raye Hynie, were married in 2002, but the marriage was later annulled. They remarried in 2004 and had one child together. Brown also had two children by his first wife, Velma Warren, and three more by his second, Deidre Jenkins.

Brown's personal life was marked by several brushes with the law. At the age of 16, was arrested for theft and served 3 years in prison. Adrienne Rodriegues, his third wife, had him arrested four times on charges of assault between the mid-1980s and mid-1990s.


Brown also served 2 years of a 6 year jail sentence after he led police on a car chase across the Georgia-South Carolina border in 1988. He was convicted of carrying an unlicensed pistol and assaulting a police officer, along with various drug-related and driving offenses.


A larger-than-life-sized bronze statue stands on the 800 block of Broad Street in Augusta, Georgia.James Brown lived in a riverfront home in Beech Island, South Carolina, directly across the Savannah River from Augusta. On November 11, 1993, Augusta mayor Charles DeVaney held a ceremony during which Augusta's 9th Street was renamed "James Brown Boulevard" in the entertainer's honor.


On May 6, 2005, as a seventy-second birthday present for Brown, the City of Augusta unveiled a seven-foot bronze statue of the singer. The statue was to have been dedicated a year earlier, but the ceremony was put on hold because of a domestic abuse charge Brown was facing at the time. He later forfeited bond on the domestic abuse charge.

Brown was a recipient of Kennedy Center Honors in 2003.

On August 22, 2006, the Augusta-Richmond County Coliseum Authority voted to rename the city's civic center the James Brown Arena.


Brown was admitted to the Emory Crawford Long Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia on December 24, 2006 after a dentist visit where he was found to have severe pneumonia. Brown died the next day on December 25, 2006, around 1:45 a.m. (06:45 UTC) at age 73. The cause of death was heart failure, according to his agent.