Brown, James (1933-2006), ranks among the most influential artists in popular music history. Brown’s rhythmic innovations and his tirelessly energetic concert appearances made him a leading performer of rhythm and blues music and soul music . Brown’s many nicknames included “the Godfather of Soul” and “the Hardest-Working Man in Show Business.”
James Joseph Brown was born in poverty on May 3, 1933, in Barnwell, South Carolina, and grew up in Augusta, Georgia. He shined shoes, picked cotton, and, before turning to music, served three years in prison for breaking into automobiles. His 1956 recording of “Please, Please, Please” became his first million-record seller. Brown later recorded about 100 hits, such as “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag” (1965), “I Got You (I Feel Good)” (1965), “It’s a Man’s, Man’s, Man’s World” (1966), “Cold Sweat” (1967), and “Say It Loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud” (1968). Although the peak of his career ran from the 1960’s through the early 1970’s, Brown experienced a renewal of popularity in the 1980’s with “Living in America” (featured in the motion picture Rocky IV, 1985) and other hit songs. Brown was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986. From 1988 to 1991, he served two and a half years in prison for assault. Brown wrote two autobiographies, The Godfather of Soul (1986) and I Feel Good (2005). He died on Dec. 25, 2006. Brown’s backup vocal group the Famous Flames was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012.
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