James Brown

James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. He is widely regarded as the primary creator of funk music and a towering presence in 20th-century music, earning nicknames like "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." Over a career spanning more than five decades, his work shaped multiple musical genres. On January 23, 1986, he was among the first ten artists inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. His recordings have been extensively sampled by hip-hop artists and others.

Brown started out singing gospel in Toccoa, Georgia. He gained fame in the mid-1950s as the lead vocalist of the Famous Flames, an R&B vocal group founded by Bobby Byrd. With ballads like "Please, Please, Please" and "Try Me," he built a reputation as an electrifying live performer, backed by the Famous Flames and a band sometimes called the James Brown Band or the James Brown Orchestra. His peak success came 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."

In the late 1960s, Brown shifted away from blues and gospel-based styles toward a new musical approach focused on stripped-down, interlocking rhythms—a move that helped define funk. By the early 1970s, after forming the J.B.s, he had fully established the funk sound with records like "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine" and "The Payback." He also became known for socially conscious songs, including the 1968 hit "Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud." Brown continued performing and recording until his death from pneumonia in 2006.

He released 17 singles that reached No. 1 on the Billboard R&B charts and holds the record for the most singles on the Billboard Hot 100 that never hit No. 1. Posthumously, he was inducted into the first class of the Rhythm & Blues Music Hall of Fame in 2013 as an artist and again in 2017 as a songwriter. He also received honors from the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In Joel Whitburn's analysis of Billboard R&B charts from 1942 to 2010, Brown ranks No. 1 among the Top 500 Artists. *Rolling Stone* placed him seventh on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time and 44th on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.

**Early life**

James Joseph Brown was born on May 3, 1933, in a small wooden shack in Barnwell, South Carolina, to 16-year-old Susie (née Behling; 1916–2004) and 21-year-old Joseph Gardner Brown (1912–1993), who was of Black and Native-American descent. His name was meant to be Joseph James Brown, but his first and middle names were accidentally swapped on his birth certificate. The family lived in poverty in Elko, South Carolina, an impoverished town in 1933. When James was four or five, they moved to Augusta, Georgia, first staying at one of his aunts' brothels and later moving into a house shared with another aunt. His mother eventually left the abusive marriage and relocated to New York.

As a young child, Brown began singing in talent shows, first appearing at Augusta's Lenox Theater in 1944, where he won by singing the ballad "So Long." In Augusta, he performed buck dances for spare change to entertain troops from Camp Gordon during World War II as their convoys crossed a canal bridge near his aunt's home. There, he first heard blues legend Howlin' Wolf play guitar. During this period, he learned piano, guitar, and harmonica, and was inspired to become an entertainer after hearing "Caldonia" by Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five. As a teenager, he briefly boxed.

At age 16, Brown was convicted of robbery and sent to a juvenile detention center in Toccoa. There, he formed a gospel quartet with four cellmates, including Johnny Terry. He met singer Bobby Byrd while playing baseball against him outside the detention center. Byrd learned of Brown's singing ability after hearing about "a guy called Music Box"—Brown's prison nickname. Byrd later said his family helped secure Brown's early release, with Brown promising the court he would "sing for the Lord."

Brown was released on a work sponsorship with Toccoa business owner S. C. Lawson, who was impressed by his work ethic and arranged his parole on June 14, 1952, with a promise to keep him employed for two years. Brown worked for both of Lawson's sons and occasionally visited the family throughout his career. Shortly after his parole, he joined the gospel group the Ever-Ready Gospel Singers, which included Byrd's sister Sarah.

**Music career**

**1954–1961: The Famous Flames**

In 1954, Brown joined Bobby Byrd's group, which had evolved from the a cappella gospel group the Gospel Starlighters into the R&B group the Avons. He reportedly joined after one member, Troy Collins, died in a car crash. Along with Brown and Byrd, the group included Sylvester Keels, Doyle Oglesby, Fred Pulliam, Nash Knox, and Nafloyd Scott. Influenced by R&B groups like Hank Ballard and the Midnighters, the Orioles, and Billy Ward and his Dominoes, they changed their name first to the Toccoa Band and then to the Flames. Nafloyd's brother Baroy later joined on bass. Brown, Byrd, and Keels traded lead vocal and instrumental roles, often playing drums and piano. Johnny Terry later joined, by which time Pulliam and Oglesby had long left.