12-25-2006, 10:14 AM
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#1 (permalink)
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| The Champ Is Here!
Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: London, England
Posts: 5,116
vBookie Cash: 500
Rep Power: 13 | Soul legend James Brown dies
Quote: GODFATHER of Soul James Brown has today died in hospital.
The 73-year-old was suffering from pneumonia.
The news was broken by Brown's agent Frank Copsidas, who said the larger than life singer - who had hits with Sex Machine and Papa's Got A Brand New Bag - died in hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, at around 6.45am.
Internationally acclaimed for his passionate stage performances and groundbreaking musical style, he turned professional as a musician in 1953 and achieved mainstream success in the late 1950s.
He dominated the 1960s and 1970s musical scene with his innovative new style of rhythm and blues and was known by a host of nicknames, often self-bestowed, including Soul Brother Number One, Mr Dynamite, the Hardest-Working Man in Showbusiness and Mr Please Please Please.
His fast-footed dancing, unique vocal style and creativity in combining musical genres earned him a place in rock history.
In 1992 he won a Grammy award for lifetime achievement to add to earlier gongs in 1965 for Papa's Got A Brand New Bag (best R&B recording) and for Living In America in 1987 (best R&B vocal performance, male).
A popular live performer, Brown's tight trousers and outrageous hair, were a winner with fans.
Renowned for his shouting vocals, feverish dancing and unique rhythmic style, he was born on May 3 1933 in South Carolina.
Raised in poverty in Georgia where he helped support his family by picking cotton in the nearby fields and shining shoes downtown, he had a brief stint as a boxer, before turning his energy towards music - using the tricks he learnt in the ring in his stage shows and live performances.
The mid-1960s saw him achieve his greatest successes with hits 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 1970s his star began to wane, although one highlight was in 1974 when he performed in Zaire as part of the build-up to the Rumble in the Jungle fight between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman.
But by the late 1980s, Brown met with a series of legal and financial setbacks, and during the 1990s and 2000s, he was repeatedly arrested for drug possession and domestic abuse.
In the UK though Brown had a huge following and often toured and appeared live - with a memorable performance at the final Live 8 concert last year, where he did a duet with Will Young.
This year the singer was inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame and holds the accolade of being one of the major musical influences of the past 50 years, alongside greats like Elvis Presley and Bob Dylan.
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