Fred Thomas: “I got a chance to see him live as James Brown & the Famous Flames when I was in high school in Georgia.” Bootsy Collins: “I met him when I was 15. My brother and I were in the ...

S.C., James Brown got his start as a gospel singer at his church when his family moved to Toccoa, Ga. He rose to prominence in the mid-1950s as lead singer of R&B group, The Famous Flames ...

If there’s one James Brown song that has shaped modern music, it’s “Funky Drummer.” Released in 1970, this track is most ...

Brown and his wife, Freddie, were retired and living in sleepy Lake Arrowhead, Calif., before developing opiate addictions that James Brown, Author, Marc Eliot, Author, with an intro. by Marc Eliot.