James Brown, the self-styled “Godfather of Soul”, whose frenetic stage performances and revolutionary rhythms influenced generations of musicians from rock to rap, died yesterday after being diagnosed with severe pneumonia. He was 73.
“He was dramatic to the end — dying on Christmas Day,” said the Rev Jesse Jackson, a friend of Brown since 1955. “Disco is James Brown, hip-hop is James Brown, rap is James Brown; you know what I’m saying? You hear all the rappers, 90 per cent of their music is me,” Brown said in an interview in 2003.
I’m not going to sit here and glamourize his life. He had serious drug issues and women beating tendencies. His professional contributions do not outweigh his arrogant violent personal lifestyle. It’s Christmas, RIP James Brown.
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Comment by Celebrity Gossip on 27 December 2006:
Here’s an update: Even death hasn’t ended James Brown’s legendary woman problems. The Godfather of Soul’s legal team yesterday declared his fourth marriage illegal. They have barred the mother of Brown’s 5-year-old son from his South Carolina estate.
Lawyer Buddy Dallas told The Associated Press that Tomi Rae Hynie, the singer’s partner of more than five years, had been no more than a “guest” of Brown’s at times.
“I suppose it would mean she was, from time to time, a guest in Mr. Brown’s home,” he said.
Hynie, 36, was still married to another man when she exchanged vows with Brown in 2001, making them invalid, Dallas said. Although that marriage later ended in divorce, Hynie never repeated the nuptials with Brown, he said.
But Hynie said she had documentation to prove she and the soul sensation were legally wed.
“I just want this resolved,” she told The AP.
“He was a difficult man to live with, but he was a great man. I was the only one who could handle James.”
Hynie arrived at the Beech Island home shortly after Brown’s Christmas Day death to find the gates padlocked. Security guards had orders to keep her out.
“This is my home,” she told a reporter. “I don’t have any money. I don’t have anywhere to go.”
But Dallas said Brown had left the property in trust for his children.
He said of the lockout yesterday, “It’s not intended and, I hope, not interpreted to be an act of unkindness or an act of a lack of sympathy. It’s not a reflection on her as an individual.”
Dallas said Hynie had another home in Beech Island. He said she hadn’t seen Brown for several weeks.
The Rev. Al Sharpton, who calls Brown the father he never had and who is in Georgia to organize funeral details, said yesterday he did not want to get involved in the dispute.
“I have enormous respect for all of the Brown family,” he said.
“But this is between attorneys and nothing to do with his kids or with me. For us, it is a time to mourn and to celebrate his life.”
The singer and Hynie’s tumultuous relationship included a 2004 arrest after Brown pushed her to the floor and threatened to kill her.
Comment by Celebrity Gossip on 31 December 2006:
Civil rights leaders, entertainers and fans turned out in force at a funky funeral for James Brown, whose music and message embodied a generation of revolutionary change for black Americans.
Brown’s body lay in an open-topped golden coffin in front of the stage at the James Brown Arena, which was renamed in honour of Augusta’s most famous native son in August. He died of congestive heart failure on Christmas Day at the age of 73.
The legendary showman, known as the “Godfather of Soul,” was dressed in a black suit and gloves with a ruby red shirt. Jewels sparkled on his lapels and the tips of his shoes.
It was his third costume change in three days, CNN reported, following a private funeral on Friday and a viewing of his body at the Apollo Theatre in New York the day before.
Some fans said they had waited since 9pm local time on Friday for the start of the public viewing of the body. Many more disappointed people crowded the outside of the arena but were unable to get in.
Comment by Star News on 1 January 2007:
Michael Jackson at James Brown funeral:
Comment by Star News on 8 January 2007:
James Brown Wishes For DNA Test:
Soul legend James Brown instructed lawyers before he died to carry out DNA tests to show if he was the father of his wife’s son.
His family lawyer said the singer never wanted five-year-old James Joseph Brown II tested when he was alive, but wanted it done for the family’s sake once he was gone.
The boy is the son of Tomi Rae Hynie, 36, who said that, following the singer’s death, she was locked out of his South Carolina home after another lawyer alleged they had not been legally married.
Ms Hynie insists they were and she has proof, and that Brown was her son’s father.
The lawyer said: “James Brown intentionally did not do any DNA testing of that child during his life. And there was a reason for it.”
Ms Hynie said the boy was “absolutely without a doubt” Brown’s son and she would welcome a test.
Comment by Jasmeena on 7 March 2007:
hey .. how r ya’ll doin’ .. anyweyz i was doin’ a research about James Brown and how he was a revolutionary .. and i came throw to check this site for more information .. ANd it kind of helped so i decided to drop sum luv and say thnz na’mean!