James Brown

Born in Pulaski, Tennessee on May 3, 1928, James Brown was brought up in Augusta, Georgia, where he became increasingly influenced by gospel music. In the early 50s he formed his own group, The Famous Flames, who had a hit in 1956 with Please Please Please. They repeated the success two years later with Try Me. It was the start of a fabulous career.

Brown broke every box office record at every single black venue in America while his records - such as Out Of Sight, Papa's Got A Brand New Bag, I Got You and It's A Man's Man's World - sold in millions. Not only did Brown refine the soul style to its most basic and gripping, he also contributed a dazzling stage style that was often imitated but very rarely equaled.

A supreme showman, Brown was also a leading light in America's black movement. Indeed, he helped dispel some of the tension during the riots of the late 60s by putting on a marathon TV show in order to keep people off the streets and out of trouble.  For many years, Brown's touring show was one of the most extravagant productions in American popular music and his performances were famous for their intensity and length.

Brown was always in control. he wrote, produced and arranged his own material, hired his own bands (50-piece no less!), and supervised almost every aspect of his career. Ultimately he would head up a multi-million dollar enterprise that moved into film production. He also made enemies deliberately. Not just early in his life when he picked fights over girls, but later too when he was on his way to becoming Soul Brother No. 1. He would sabotage gigs by Otis Redding and Ben E King, gatecrash their shows and Pied Piper-like entice the audience down the road to where he'd be performing.

In September 1988, Brown led police on a car chase back and forth across the Georgia/South Carolina border. He had become enraged when he discovered someone had been using his private bathroom. He picked up his gun and stormed into a nearby insurance seminar, demanding to know who had used his toilet. On hearing the police sirens, Brown took off in his truck. The chase ground to a halt when police shot out his front tires and he ran from his vehicle - now peppered with bullet holes - into a ditch. Brown was found to be driving under the influence of PCP, and charged with fleeing the police, carrying a pistol and aggravated assault. Speaking at the time of the charge, Brown conceded this: "I aggravated them and they assaulted me".

The 'godfather of soul' died in an Atlanta hospital on Christmas Day in 2006 from congestive heart failure resulting from complications of pneumonia.