He also holds the record for the most singles listed on the Billboard Hot 100 chart that did not reach No. Brown continued to perform and record until his death from pneumonia in 2006.īrown recorded and released 17 singles that reached No. He also became noted for songs of social commentary, including the 1968 hit ' Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud'.

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'. 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'.ĭuring the late 1960s, Brown moved from a continuum of blues and gospel-based forms and styles to a profoundly ' Africanized' approach to music-making, emphasizing stripped-down interlocking rhythms that influenced the development of funk music. 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. 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. Brown was one of the first 10 inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at its inaugural induction in New York on January 23, 1986.īrown began his career as a gospel singer in Toccoa, Georgia. In a career that lasted more than 50 years, he influenced the development of several music genres. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is referred to by various honorific nicknames, some of which include 'the Hardest Working Man in Show Business', 'Godfather of Soul', 'Mr. James Joseph Brown (– December 25, 2006) was an American musician.

From Suits to Sweats by Paige Jackson