Full Name
- James Joseph Brown
Known Affiliates
- Mick Jagger[2]
- David Bowie[2]
- Michael Jackson[2]
- Prince[2]
- Public Enemy[2]
- Bobby Byrd[9]
- Maceo Parker[7]
- St. Clair Pinckney[7]
- Pee Wee Ellis[7]
- Jimmy Nolen[7]
- The Collins brothers[7]
- Charles Sherrell[7]
- Clyde Stubblefield[7]
Date of Birth and Death
- Born: May 3, 1933
- Died: December 25, 2006 (aged 73)[1]
Place of Birth
- Barnwell, South Carolina, U.S.
Spouse’s Names
- Velma Warren (m. 1953; div. 1969)
- Deidre Jenkins (m. 1970; div. 1981)
- Adrienne Rodriguez (m. 1984; died 1996)
- Tomi Rae Hynie (partner from 1997 to 2006, claimed to be his wife)[10]
Children’s Names
- James Brown had 9 to 13 children, but the exact names are not listed in the provided search results.
Artistic Achievements
James Brown, often referred to as ‘The Godfather of Soul’, has left an indelible mark on the music industry with his numerous artistic achievements. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986, a testament to his significant contributions to the genre[5]. His lifetime of work in music was recognized with a Grammy Award for lifetime achievement in 1992[5]. 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. In 2003, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the BET Awards, further solidifying his status as a music legend. His influence extends beyond his own discography, as he is recognized as the most sampled artist in Hip Hop history[3].
Social Justice Contributions
James Brown was not only a music icon but also a significant figure in social justice. He was an outspoken supporter of the Civil Rights Movement throughout the 1960s, performing at charity concerts for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and headlining a rally at Tougaloo College in Mississippi during the “March Against Fear” initiated by James Meredith[2]. His song “Say It Loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud” became an anthem for the Black Power and civil rights movements during the 1960s, asserting Black people’s rights, pride, and beauty[8]. Brown’s main social activism was in preserving the need for education among youths, influenced by his own troubled childhood and his being forced to drop out of the seventh grade. Due to heavy dropout rates in the 1960s, Brown released the pro-education song, “Don’t Be a Drop Out”. Royalties of the song were donated to dropout-prevention charity programs[6].
Citations: [2] https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/james-brown-politics-feature/ [3] https://wers.org/the-vault-of-soul-james-brown/ [4] https://slate.com/culture/2014/08/james-browns-social-activism-a-brief-history-of-the-singers-politics-not-found-in-get-on-up.html [5] https://www.britannica.com/biography/James-Brown-American-singer [6] https://blacklivesmatter.uk/historical-contemporary-profiles/james-brown [7] https://www.songhall.org/profile/James_Brown [8] https://www.bet.com/photo-gallery/kk3hp4/civil-rights-era-protest-songs/hs7v9z [9] https://www.si.edu/spotlight/james-brown [10] https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/james-brown-soul-survivor/532/ [11] https://www.udiscovermusic.com/artist/james-brown/ [12] https://www.huffpost.com/entry/james-brown-american-culture_n_5632154 [13] https://producelikeapro.com/blog/james-brown/ [14] https://jacobin.com/2015/10/adolph-reed-black-liberation-django-lincoln-selma-glory [15] https://aaep1600.osu.edu/book/09_Brown.php [16] https://www.azcentral.com/story/entertainment/music/2021/01/12/best-civil-rights-protest-songs/6602985002/
Citations: [2] https://www.shmoop.com/study-guides/say-it-loud/influences.html [3] https://nationaltoday.com/birthday/james-brown/ [4] https://people.uncw.edu/rohlerl/rohler/james%20brown.htm [5] https://www.smoothradio.com/news/music/james-brown-facts-death-wife-children-songs/ [6] https://www.britannica.com/biography/James-Brown-American-singer [7] https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/james-brown-politics-feature/ [8] https://www.biography.com/musicians/james-brown-death-mystery-investigation [9] https://www.augustamuseum.org/JamesBrown [10] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomi_Rae_Hynie [11] https://www.biography.com/musicians/james-brown [12] https://pitchfork.com/features/article/6513-james-brown-1933-2006/ [13] https://discoversouthcarolina.com/articles/james-brown [14] https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/how-many-times-was-james-brown-married.html/ [15] https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/arts-culture/james-brown-ca-1933-2006/ [16] https://top40weekly.com/james-brown/ [17] https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2019/02/us/james-brown-death-questions/ [18] https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2020/06/18/james-brown-partner-not-wife-court-rules-oks-dying-wish/3216240001/ [19] https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/James_Brown [20] https://jazz.fandom.com/wiki/James_Brown [21] https://www.kaveshlaw.com/blog/james-browns-companion-challenges-estate-claims-to-be-browns-wife-the-law-firm-of-kavesh-minor-a.cfm [22] https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0113768/bio/ [23] https://futurerocklegends.com/Artist/James_Brown/ [24] https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/culture/article/james-brown-facts [25] https://www.notablebiographies.com/Br-Ca/Brown-James.html