Biography
James Brown was an American singer, bandleader, and songwriter widely known as the Godfather of Soul. He was born in Barnwell, South Carolina, on or around May 3, 1933, and raised largely in Augusta, Georgia, where he lived with relatives after his parents separated.[1][2]
He joined Bobby Byrd's group, which became the Famous Flames, in the mid-1950s, and King Records released their first single in 1956.[2] Over the following decade he built a band and a stage show of unmatched discipline, and by the late 1960s he was pioneering funk, a style that put rhythm at the center of the music.
In 1968 he recorded "Say It Loud (I'm Black and I'm Proud)," which became an unofficial anthem of the Black Power movement.[3] That summer he also spoke publicly about his rise from shining shoes to owning a radio station, presenting economic independence as a form of Black power.[4] He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Georgia Music Hall of Fame.[1] He died in Atlanta on December 25, 2006.[1]
References
- James Brown, Georgia Encyclopedia — Birth, early life, and Hall of Fame inductions.
- James Brown, Biography.com — Early life in Augusta and the Famous Flames.
- Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud (song), Wikipedia — Song as Black Power anthem.
- James Brown, Say It Loud (I'm Black and I'm Proud), Ultimate Classic Rock — Boston concert and Brown's account of economic independence.