James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American entertainer, record producer, and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honorific nicknames "the Hardest Working Man in Show Business", "Godfather of Soul", "Mr. Dynamite", and "Soul Brother No. 1". In a career that lasted more than 50 years, he influenced the development of several music genres. 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. Brown began his career as a gospel singer in Toccoa, Georgia. He first came to national public attention in the mid-1950s as the lead singer of the Famous Flames, a rhythm and blues vocal group founded by Bobby Byrd. 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. 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". During 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. 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". He also became noted for songs of social commentary, including the 1968 hit "Say It Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud". Brown continued to perform and record until his death from pneumonia in 2006. Brown recorded 17 singles that reached No. 1 on the Billboard R&B charts. He also holds the record for the most singles listed on the Billboard Hot 100 chart that did not reach No. 1. Brown was posthumously inducted into the first class of the Rhythm & Blues Music Hall of Fame in 2013 as an artist and then in 2017 as a songwriter. He also received honors from several other institutions, including inductions into the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame, and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In Joel Whitburn's analysis of the Billboard R&B charts from 1942 to 2010, Brown is ranked No. 1 in The Top 500 Artists. He is ranked seventh on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Brown Studio albums Please Please Please (1958) Try Me! (1959) Think! (1960) The Amazing James Brown (1961) James Brown and His Famous Flames Tour the U.S.A. (1962) Prisoner of Love (1963) Grits & Soul (1964) Showtime (1964) Out of Sight (1964) James Brown Plays James Brown Today & Yesterday (1965) Mighty Instrumentals (1966) James Brown Plays New Breed (The Boo-Ga-Loo) (1966) James Brown Sings Christmas Songs (1966) Handful of Soul (1966) James Brown Sings Raw Soul (1967) James Brown Plays the Real Thing (1967) Cold Sweat (1967) I Can't Stand Myself When You Touch Me (1968) I Got the Feelin' (1968) James Brown Plays Nothing But Soul (1968) Thinking About Little Willie John and a Few Nice Things (1968) A Soulful Christmas (1968) Say It Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud (1969) Gettin' Down to It (1969) The Popcorn (1969) It's a Mother (1969) Ain't It Funky (1970) Soul on Top (1970) It's a New Day - Let a Man Come In (1970) Hey America (1970) Sho Is Funky Down Here (1971) Hot Pants (1971) There It Is (1972) Get on the Good Foot (1972) Black Caesar (1973) Slaughter's Big Rip-Off (1973) The Payback (1973) Hell (1974) Reality (1974) Sex Machine Today (1975) Everybody's Doin' the Hustle & Dead on the Double Bump (1975) Hot (1976) Get Up Offa That Thing (1976) Bodyheat (1976) Mutha's Nature (1977) Jam 1980's (1978) Take a Look at Those Cakes (1978) The Original Disco Man (1979) People (1980) Soul Syndrome (1980) Nonstop! (1981) Bring It On! (1983) Gravity (1986) I'm Real (1988) Love Over-Due (1991) Universal James (1993) I'm Back (1998) The Merry Christmas Album (1999) The Next Step (2002) . User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.