James Brown, the Soul Brother Number One, the Hardest-Working Man in Show Business, and the Godfather of Soul, is dead.
Brown was hospitalized with pneumonia at Emory Crawford Long Hospital on Sunday and died of heart failure around 1:45 a.m. yesterday.
Brown hit the charts with a string of hits that inspired the world of hip-hop and electronica. Highlights of his frequently sampled career include:
- 1956: “Please, Please, Please”
- 1959: “Try Me”
- 1961: “Bewildered”
- 1962: “Night Train”
- 1965: “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag (Part I)”
- 1965: “I Got You (I Feel Good)”
- 1966: “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World”
- 1967: “Cold Sweat (Part I)”
- 1968: “Say it Loud – I’m Black and I’m Proud (Part 1)”
- 1970: “Get Up (I Feel Like Being Like A) Sex Machine” (Part 1)”
- 1971: “Make It Funky (Part 1)
- 1974: “Papa Don’t Take No Mess, (Part I)
- 1974: “The Payback (Part I)”
- 1976: “Get Up Offa That Thing”:
- 1985: “Living in America”.
- 1988: “Static, Pts. 1 & 2” (with Full Force)
Brown’s death was immortalized in LA Style’s dance hit James Brown is Dead in 1991:
