James Brown

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May 3, 1933

James Joseph Brown Jr.

Tomirae Brown (14 December 2001 - January 2004) (annulled) 1 child

Adrienne Rodriguez (1984 - 6 January 1996) (her death)

Deidre Jenkins (22 October 1970 - 10 January 1981) (divorced) 2 children

Velma Warren (19 June 1953 - 1969) (divorced) 3 children

King releases

Please Please Please 1958

Try Me 1958

Think! 1960

The Amazing James Brown 1961

James Brown Presents His Band/Night Train 1961

Shout and Shimmy 1962

James Brown and His Famous Flames Tour the USA 1962

Prisoner of Love 1963

Excitement - Mr. Dynamite 1963

Showtime (contains studio tracks with overdubbed audience) 1964

The Unbeatable James Brown 1964

Grits and Soul 1964

Out of Sight 1964

Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag 1965

I Got You (I Feel Good) 1966

James Brown Plays James Brown Today and Yesterday 1966

Mighty Instrumentals 1966

James Brown Plays New Breed (The Boo-Ga-Loo) 1966

It's a Man's Man's Man's World 1966

James Brown Sings Christmas Songs 1966

Handful of Soul 1966

Sings Raw Soul 1967

James Brown Plays the Real Thing 1967

Cold Sweat 1968

I Can't Stand Myself 1968

I Got the Feelin' 1968

James Brown Sings Out of Sight 1968

Thinking About Little Willie John and a Few Nice Things 1968

A Soulful Christmas 1968

Say It Loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud 1969

Gettin’ Down to It 1969

The Popcorn 1969

It’s a Mother 1969

Ain’t It Funky 1970

Soul on Top 1970

It’s a New Day - Let a Man Come In 1970

Hey America 1970

Super Bad (contains studio tracks with overdubbed audience) 1971

Sho’ Is Funky Down Here 1971

Polydor releases

Hot Pants 1971

There It Is 1972

Get on the Good Foot 1972

Black Caesar 1973

Slaughter’s Big Rip-Off 1973

The Payback 1974

Hell 1974

Reality 1975

Sex Machine Today 1975

Everybody's Doin’ the Hustle and Dead on the Double Bump 1976

Hot 1976

Get Up Offa That Thing 1976

Bodyheat 1976

Mutha's Nature 1977

Jam 1980's 1978

Take a Look at Those Cakes 1979

The Original Disco Man 1979

People 1980

Nonstop! 1981

Other releases

Soul Syndrome 1980

Bring It On 1983

Gravity 1986

I'm Real 1988

Love Overdue 1991

Universal James 1993

I’m Back 1998

The Merry Christmas Album 1999

The Next Step 2002

Actor

2000 The Artist's Journey

1998 Blues Brothers 2000

1997 Duckman: Private Dick/Family Man (TV series)(voice)

1987 Miami Vice (TV series)

1985 Rocky IV

1983 Doctor Detroit

1980 The Blues Brothers

Producer
1976 Future Shock (TV series) (producer)

Appearances

2010 Sid Bernstein Presents... (documentary)

2009 Life on the Road with Mr. and Mrs. Brown (documentary)

2008 James Brown: The Man, the Music, & the Message (video documentary)

2006 Glastonbury (documentary)

2005 Usher's Project Restart (TV movie)

2005 Hollywood's Master Storytellers: The Blues Brothers (TV movie)

2005 Friday Night with Jonathan Ross (TV series)

2005 Out of Africa: Heroes and Icons (TV documentary)

2005 The 47th Annual Grammy Awards (TV special)

1998-2005 Howard Stern (TV series)

2005 (Inside) Out: James Brown's Last Chance (TV movie)

2005 The View (TV series)

2004 The Olympic Torch Concert Live (TV documentary)

2003 The Kennedy Center Honors: A Celebration of the Performing Arts (TV special)

2003 Pulse (TV series documentary)

2003 The CBS Morning News (TV series)

2003 TV total (TV series)

2003 Soul Man: Isaac Hayes (TV documentary)

2003 American Masters (TV series documentary)

2003 Jimmy Kimmel Live! (TV series)

2003 3rd Annual BET Awards (TV special documentary)

2003 Paper Chasers (documentary)

2002 Beat the Devil (short)

2002 HBO First Look (TV series documentary)

2002 The Tuxedo

2002 MTV Video Music Awards 2002 (TV special)

2002 Undercover Brother

2002 Pavarotti & Friends 2002 for Angola (TV special documentary)

2000 CNN World Beat (TV series)

2000 VH-1 Where Are They Now? (TV series documentary)

2000 WCW SuperBrawl 2000 (TV movie)

2000 James Brown: Live from the House of Blues (video documentary)

2000 It's Only Rock 'n' Roll (video documentary)

1999 The Howard Stern Radio Show (TV series)

1999 30th NAACP Image Awards (TV special)

1998 Holy Man

1998 Behind the Music (TV series documentary)

1997 Soulmates

1997 Super Bowl XXXI (TV special)

1996 The Caleb Crump Show (TV series)

1996 When We Were Kings (documentary)

1995 Rock & Roll (TV mini-series documentary)

1995 The Concert for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (TV special documentary)

1995 New York Undercover (TV series)

1995 The History of Rock 'N' Roll, Vol. 5 (TV documentary)

1994 Michael Ball (TV series)

1994 The Arsenio Hall Show (TV series)

1993 The Simpsons (TV series)

1993 The 35th Annual Grammy Awards (TV special)

1993 The Howard Stern Interview (TV series)

1993 In Living Color (TV series)

1992 The 34th Annual Grammy Awards (TV special)

1992 The 19th Annual American Music Awards (TV movie)

1991 A Party for Richard Pryor (TV special)

1983-1991 Ebony/Jet Showcase (TV series)

1991 Amen (TV series)

1991 Golden Age of Rock'n'Roll (TV series documentary)

1988 James Brown & Friends: Set Fire to the Soul (video documentary)

1987 The 8th Annual Black Achievement Awards (TV movie)

1986 Throb (TV series)

1986 The 28th Annual Grammy Awards (TV special)

1985 American Bandstand's 33 1/3 Celebration (TV movie)

1982-1985 Late Night with David Letterman (TV series)

1985 Motown Returns to the Apollo (TV special)

1984 Super Night of Rock 'n' Roll (TV movie)

1961-1983 American Bandstand (TV series)

1982 When the Music's Over (TV documentary)

1982 The John Davidson Show (TV series)

1982 The 24th Annual Grammy Awards (TV special)

1981 Musikladen (TV series)

1980 Saturday Night Live (TV series)

1979 James Brown: Body Heat (video documentary)

1974-1977 The Midnight Special (TV series)

1976 Future Shock (TV series)

1973-1974 Soul Train (TV series documentary)

1970-1973 The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (TV series)

1969-1970 The David Frost Show (TV series)

1969-1970 The Mike Douglas Show (TV series)

1970 The Phynx

1969-1970 Playboy After Dark (TV series)

1969 Music Scene (TV series)

1969 Allen Ludden's Gallery (TV series)

1968-1969 The Hollywood Palace (TV series)

1968 Beat-Club (TV series)

1968 The Merv Griffin Show (TV series)

1968 James Brown: Live at the Boston Garden, 1968 (TV movie)

1965-1967 Where the Action Is (TV series)

1966 The Ed Sullivan Show (TV series)

1966 Ready, Steady, Go! (TV series)

1965 Shindig! (TV series)

1965 Ski Party

1964 The T.A.M.I. Show (video documentary)

Inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2000.

Walk Of Fame

He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording at 1501 Vine Street in Hollywood, California.

Charter member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986.

BET Awards

2003 Won BET Award Lifetime Achievement Award

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Like many early soul stars James Brown (born in South Carolina on 3 May 1933) came to music through the singing of his local church. He had his first success as frontman of The Famous Flames with the gospel R&B hit 'Please Please Please' in 1956. When 1958's 'Try Me' hit the R&B No. 1 spot the floodgates opened for the man with more entries on the R&B charts than anyone else, and more on the US pop charts than anyone but Elvis.

Try Me

The Flames became part of the James Brown Revue: an all-singing, all-dancing spectacle which played to capacity in black venues throughout America.

The Revue had its own backing band, the JBs, and with them Brown began to make the transition from doo-wop pop to a tougher R&B sound. It was with the Revue that he earned and adopted the title 'hardest working man in show business', reportedly losing 7lbs a night in perspiration through his energized performances. At the same time the JBs built a name as the tightest rhythm section around, a formidable live act captured on Live At The Apollo, recorded in 1962 in Harlem at Brown's own expense; his label did not believe live albums sold. The album went to No. 2 in the US charts, an unprecedented crossover for an R&B act, selling over a million copies. It remains the first stop for anyone wanting an insight into the sheer passion and energetic professionalism through which James Brown established himself.

Brown was refining a vocal technique of chants and shouts as much as melody, and a musical form using more and more complex rhythms and riffs. The 1964 LP Out Of Sight, whose title track, a jazz-organ and brass groove with choppy guitar, was another R&B No. 1. With it, James Brown invented funk.

Reinvigorated by a new recording contract in 1965 and a revised JBs line-up (led by saxophonist Pee Wee Ellis), his next single 'Papa's Got A Brand New Bag' was a worldwide hit, earning Brown his first Grammy. The follow-up 'I Got You (I Feel Good)' cemented the deal, reaching No. 3 and laying the foundation for frequent US pop listings and almost uninterrupted presence in the R&B charts to 1970.

Say It Loud

Brown's success as black businessman and superstar made him a role model for the African-American community. Hits from this time such as 'Say It Loud (I'm Black and I'm Proud)' address the social and racial concerns of young black youth. In April 1969, when race riots broke out in 30 US cities following the assassination of Martin Luther King, James Brown made a national TV address to appeal for calm, which received a ceremonial letter of gratitude from a grateful White House.

In 1971, Brown once again revised the JBs. The new line-up led by trombonist Fred Wesley played a deeper funk than ever, Brown's vocal output becoming ever more abstract and stylized. He sold millions of records, although with less crossover success. The JBs themselves had a successful parallel recording career with funk jams like 'Doing It To Death'. Many former JBs (including bassist Bootsy Collins) graduated to George Clinton's Parliament-Funkadelic stable. There they would define funk in the 1970s just as they had invented it in the 1960s.

Funk Soul Brother

By 1975, both Brown and his band were running out of steam, and a new wave of funk was lapping at their heels led by Clinton, Kool and The Gang and others. Brown was also facing financial and personal difficulties, and attempts to update his sound were less than convincing. A cameo role in the 1980 film The Blues Brothers, however, returned him to mainstream attention, triggering a re-evaluation of his career and a revival of the epithet, 'the godfather of soul'. His comeback eventually saw 1986 single 'Living In America' make the UK and US Top 10s.

That year he was one of the inaugural inductees to The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. But just when his fortunes were being revived his personal life disintegrated again, and 1988 saw James Brown arrested five times on drug and assault charges, and eventually sentenced to six years in prison. When he emerged on parole two years later, it was to a hip-hop world in which his back catalogue was the primary source for a new generation of funk-hungry DJs looking for a good groove to sample. No longer an innovator himself, he continued to inspire others with his energetic performances up until his death on 25th December 2006.

He served 26 months in prison for leading police on a high speed chase in Georgia in 1988.