PLANET FOOTBALL, SPORT & MUSIC

Throb · Mon Dec 25, 2006 10:16 pm GODFATHER OF SOUL JAMES BROWN HAS DIED

ATLANTA (Reuters) - James Brown, the "Godfather of Soul" whose frenetic singing style and bold rhythms brought funk into the mainstream and influenced a new generation of black music, died on Christmas morning at age 73.

Brown died at 1:45 a.m. (6:45 a.m British time) on Monday at Emory Crawford Long Hospital in Atlanta after being admitted on Saturday for severe pneumonia, his manager, Frank Copsidas.

The singer had been in good health but went to a dentist late last week who recommended he immediately see a doctor. The decision was then taken to cancel two shows, Copsidas told Reuters.

"But he was all geared up to get back to work and play New Year's Eve in (New York's) Times Square," he said of the singer who styled himself "the hardest working man in show business". "He's been doing his best shows in the last 30 years."

One of America's great showmen and band leaders, Brown created a revolutionary sound that mixed funky rhythms and staccato horns behind his own often explosive vocals.

Hip hop and rap artists revered him and extensively used his beats as the backdrop to their own music.

Peter Parka · Tue Dec 26, 2006 5:27 pm

RIP, was a great musician even if he was a perv!

dayoff · Fri Dec 29, 2006 5:08 pm

r.i.p. there goes a real true legend. will be missed im sure.

Public Enemy · Sat Dec 30, 2006 2:12 pm

RIP JB, Hip Hop owes that man so much.