James Brown

James Brown was a singer-songwriter, producer, bandleader, and dancer. He was known as the “Godfather of Soul,” “Soul Brother Number 1,” “Mr. Dynamite,” and “the hardest working man in show business.” He was instrumental in the development of a number of popular musical styles such as funk and hip-hop.

Born in Barnwell, South Carolina on May 3, 1933, James Brown’s family settled in Augusta, Georgia when he was four or five years old. During his youth, Brown learned how to play the drums, guitar, harmonica and piano. At 16 years old, Brown was sent to a juvenile detention center in Toccoa, Georgia, on a robbery charge. It was there he began to sing and met his longtime musical partner Bobby Byrd, who was visiting the facility. Brown was paroled in 1952 and two years later, he joined Byrd’s group called the Gospel Starlighters, which changed to the Avons before switching to the Flames and then the Famous Flames. Hit ballads “Please, Please, Please” and “Try Me” brought national attention to Brown in the late 1950s, as he built a reputation as a relentless live performer with the Famous Flames.

In the 1960s and ‘70s, Brown moved away from the doo-wop sounds he performed with the Famous Flames and would begin making the heavy funk grooves he became known for. He led a band of talented musicians in a group known as The J.B.’s, which included Fred Wesley, Maceo Parker, and Bootsy Collins before he broke off to join Parliament-Funkadelic. He also became noted for creating songs with social commentary, most notably the 1968 hit “Say It Loud (I’m Black and I’m Proud).”

While interest in Brown’s new releases waned towards the end of the 1970s and into the 1980s, his back catalogue saw a resurgence in popularity as his funky compositions were being heavily sampled by hip-hop producers in the 1980s. It would be a few years before he actually began to profit off this when the laws around sampling were changed and required the samplers to pay the publishers. Brown is the most sampled artist and he is behind three of the most sampled songs of all-time: “Funky President (People It’s Bad),” Clyde Stubblefield’s drum break on “Funky Drummer,” and Lyn Collins‘ “Think (About It),” which he produced and provided with background vocals.

Brown has received multiple honors, including a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Grammy Awards. Brown continued to perform until his death on December 25, 2006 from congestive heart failure.