Brown\'s major musical influence
When James Brown styled himself Soul Brother Number One, for once, this was no idle showbusiness exaggeration. He was one of the major musical influences on popular music of the past five decades.

Brown was to rhythm and dance music what Dylan was to lyrics: the unchallenged popular innovator. His rapid-footed dancing, his rhythms and vocal style inspired Mick Jagger, Michael Jackson, George Clinton, Sly and the Family Stone and Prince among others.

The vocalist had his first R&B hit, Please, Please, Please in 1956. He enjoyed a succession of worldwide hits like Papa\'s Got a Brand New Bag (which earned him a Grammy in 1965), I Got You (I Feel Good) and Get Up (I Feel Like Being a Sex Machine).

James Brown won a Grammy for Living In America in 1987 (best R&B male vocal performance) and a Gammy award for lifetime achievement in 1992. He was one of the initial artists inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986, along with Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry and other founding fathers. On November 14, 2006, Brown was inducted to the UK Music Hall of Fame.

Brown\'s personal tragedies
James Brown triumphed musically despite an often unhappy personal life. Born James Joe Brown Junior in 1933 in a one-room shack in the backwoods of South Carolina, the artist started his life in poverty. He was abandoned as a 4-year-old to the care of relatives and friends and grew up on the streets in an \"ill-repute area\" of Augusta, Georgia. By the eighth grade in 1949, he spent several years in a South Carolina prison for breaking into cars.

In September 1988, Brown, high on PCP and carrying a shotgun, was chased by police for a half-hour from Augusta into South Carolina and back to Georgia. The chase ended when police shot out the tires of his truck.

Brown received a six-year prison sentence. He spent 15 months in a South Carolina prison and 10 months in a work release program before being paroled in February 1991.

Even with his faults, James Brown was an important role model to sseveral generations. Triumphing over poverty and racism, Brown\'s outlook is best summed up by the title of one of his greatest hits - Say it Loud, I\'m Black and I\'m Proud.