Godfather of Soul Dead at 73

LAST WORDS PROBABLY WEREN’T “I FEEL GOOD,” BUT THAT’S HOW WE’LL ALWAYS REMEMBER LEGENDARY SOUTH CAROLINA NATIVE

FITSNews - December 25, 2006 - You know, if we were to have come up with a list of uncool things to happen on Christmas, this would have been right up there along with Starbucks discontinuing Venti Moccha Fraps or the world ending.

James Brown, the Barnwell, South Carolina native who helped define 20th Century Music as the “Godfather of Soul” died this morning in an Atlanta hospital.

A Rock-N-Roll Hall-of-Famer, Grammy Award winner and owner of dozens of Top Ten Singles including “Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag,” “I Got You (I Feel Good),” “Get Up (Sex Machine)” and his famous Rocky IV hit, “Living in America,” Brown has impacted literally thousands of musicians in dozens of genres, including rock, jazz, gospel, R&B, funk, rap, hip-hop, reggae and disco.

Of course, Brown also led authorities on a high speed, two-state chase while he was high on Angel Dust in 1988, a jaunt which landed him in the slammer for three years.

Brown’s legal troubles once prompted comedian Arsenio Hall to joke that he should be nominated to the Supreme Court because “he’s black, he’s liberal and he’s familiar with the court system.”

According to his agent, Brown died of a heart attack associated with pneumonia. He was 73 years old.

Rest in Peace, Godfather.