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`Godfather of Soul' James Brown dies at the age of 73

James Brown, the legendary singer known as the "Godfather of Soul," has died in Atlanta, his agent said yesterday.

He was 73.

Brown was hospitalized on Sunday at Emory Crawford Long Hospital with pneumonia and died around 1:45am yesterday, said his agent, Frank Copsidas, of Intrigue Music.

Longtime friend Charles Bobbit was by Brown's side, Copsidas said.

Brown's family was being notified of his death and that the cause was still uncertain, Copsidas said.

"We really don't know at this point what he died of," he said.

Major influence

Along with Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan and a handful of others, Brown was one of the biggest musical influences of the past 50 years.

At least one generation idolized him, and sometimes openly copied him.

His rapid-footed dancing inspired Mick Jagger and Michael Jackson among others.

Songs such as David Bowie's Fame, Prince's Kiss, George Clinton's Atomic Dog and Sly and the Family Stone's Sing a Simple Song were clearly based on Brown's rhythms and vocal style.

If Brown's claim to the invention of soul can be challenged by fans of Ray Charles and Sam Cooke, then his rights to the genres of rap, disco and funk are beyond question.

He was to rhythm and dance music what Bob Dylan was to lyrics: the unchallenged popular innovator.

"James presented obviously the best grooves," rapper Chuck D of Public Enemy said.

"To this day, there has been no one near as funky. No one's coming even close," he said.

Hit singles

His hit singles include such classics as Out of Sight, (Get Up I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine, I Got You (I Feel Good) and Say It Out Loud -- I'm Black and I'm Proud, a landmark 1968 statement of racial pride.

"I clearly remember we were calling ourselves colored, and after the song, we were calling ourselves black," Brown said in a 2003 interview.

"The song showed even people to that day that lyrics and music and a song can change society," he said.

He won a Grammy award for lifetime achievement in 1992, as well as Grammys in 1965 for Papa's Got a Brand New Bag (best R&B recording) and for Living In America in 1987 (best R&B vocal performance, male).

He was one of the initial artists inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986, along with Presley, Chuck Berry and other founding fathers.

Triumph

He triumphed despite an often unhappy personal life.

Brown spent more than two years in a South Carolina prison for aggravated assault and failing to stop for a police officer.

After his release in 1991, Brown said he wanted to "try to straighten out" rock music.

From the 1950s, when he had his first R&B hit, Please, Please, Please in 1956, through the mid-1970s, Brown went on a frenzy of cross-country tours, concerts and new songs.

He earned the nickname "The Hardest Working Man in Show Business."

Setting the stage

With his tight pants, shimmering feet, eye makeup and outrageous hair, Brown set the stage for younger stars such as Michael Jackson and Prince.

Rap stars of recent years overwhelmingly have borrowed his lyrics with a digital technique called sampling.

Brown's work has been replayed by the Fat Boys, Ice-T, Public Enemy and a host of other rappers.

"The music out there is only as good as my last record," Brown joked in a 1989 interview with Rolling Stone magazine.

"Disco is James Brown, hip-hop is James Brown, rap is James Brown; you know what I'm saying? You hear all the rappers, 90 percent of their music is me," he said in 2003.
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