James Joseph Brown
(May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006)
was an American singer,
songwriter,
dancer, musician,
and
record producer.
The central progenitor of
funk music
and a major figure of
20th-century music,
he is referred to by
various nicknames,
among them
"Mr. Dynamite",
"the Hardest-Working Man in Show Business",
"Minister of New Super Heavy Funk",
"Godfather of Soul",
"King of Soul",
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 ten inductees
into the Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame
on
January 23, 1986.
His music has been
heavily sampled
by hip-hop musicians
and other artists.
Brown began his career as a
gospel singer in Toccoa, Georgia.
He rose to prominence
in the mid-1950s
as the lead singer
of the Famous Flames,
a 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 new 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 and released
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 posthumously
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 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,
and at No. 44
on their list
of the
200 Greatest Singers
of All Time.
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