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WE REMEMBER JAMES BROWN: 'Godfather of Soul' dead at 73.
*Legendary soul singer James Brown, known all over the world as the "Godfather of Soul," died early Christmas morning at age 73, his manager confirmed.
The most sampled man in music died at 1:45 a.m. Monday at Emory Crawford Long Hospital in Atlanta after being admitted there on Saturday for treatment of severe pneumonia, his manager, Frank Copsidas, said. Charles Bobbit, Brown's longtime friend and personal manager, was at his side, he said.
The Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame inductee, also known as "Mr. Dynamite," brought musical innovations to R&B that helped to define the "funk" era - with such songs as "Papa Don't Take No Mess," "The Payback" and "Make it Funky."
He emerged in 1956 with his first hit single "Please, Please, Please," which was followed three years later by "Try Me" and in 1960 with "Think."
His 1968 single "Say it Loud (I'm Black and I'm Proud)" became a civil rights anthem. He performed the song at Richard Nixon's inauguration in 1969 -- an act that temporarily hurt his popularity among young blacks, Reuters reports.
Brown, also nicknamed "The Hardest Working Man in Showbizness," was just as widely known for his dazzling stage shows, which always promised several dramatic wardrobe changes and dancing himself into a frenzy on stage. His crew would throw a cape over his back and he would leave, only to reappear seconds later on his knees, moaning the song into the microphone. The routine would sometimes go on for 30-40 minutes and send his fans delirious.
Brown also built a successful business empire, including a string of radio stations and his own production company, and owned a fleet of expensive cars and his own plane, according to Reuters.
He had more than 119 charting singles, recorded over 50 albums and received a lifetime achievement award from the Grammys in 1992.
Brown also had his share of run-ins with the law. Per Reuters: He was chosen to be a member of President Reagan's Council Against Drugs but was arrested several times in the mid-1980s and 90s and charged with drug and weapons possession.
By 1988 Brown, who had begun his music career in jail as a juvenile offender, was back behind bars, sentenced to six years for drug, weapons and vehicular charges after a high-speed car chase through Georgia and South Carolina which ended with police shooting out the tires of his truck. He left prison in 1991.
Brown was born James Joseph Brown, Jr. on May 3, 1933, in the small town of Barnwell, South Carolina. He emerged from Depression-era poverty and petty crime to become one of the most influential artists in music. His raspy, soul-drenched vocals soon found favor among white audiences and powered such memorable top 100 hits as "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag," "I Got You (I Feel Good)" "Get Up (I feel like being a Sex Machine)" and "It's a Man's World."
His 1985 monster hit "Living in America," which was featured in the movie "Rocky IV," brought him a whole new generation of fans and his first Grammy.
Brown had been married four times. He and his last wife Tommie Raye Hynie were married in 2002, but the marriage was 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. Adrienne Rodriegues, Brown's third wife, had him arrested four times on charges of assault.
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 James Brown, the city of Augusta unveiled a seven-foot bronze statue of Brown. 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.
On August 22, 2006, the Augusta-Richmond County Coliseum Authority voted to rename the city civic center the James Brown Arena.
