Entirely synonymous with the funk genre he so successfully helped develop, James Brown was one of the biggest pop culture superstars of the 20th Century. Often referred to as the "Godfather or Soul" or "The Hardest-Working Man in Show Business," Brown was born in South Carolina in 1933. Much of his childhood was spent in poverty, forcing him to scrap and fend for himself. After brief stints exploring careers in baseball and boxing, Brown eventually turned to music, originally influenced by the blues and gospel music of his youth. By the late-1950s, he'd started to find success with songs such as "Try Me," which exemplified the more soulful and funk-based progression of his songwriting. The entirety of the 1960s found Brown at his career peak, as he released a seemingly endless string of all-time classic hits, such as "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag," "I Got You (I Feel Good)" and "Please, Please, Please." In addition to his musical success, he was an influential presence in the worlds of fashion and dance who was prone to over-the-top extravagance and hyper-sexual stage antics. Brown continued a career full of highs and lows punctuated with drug abuse, scandals and controversy, right up until his death in 2006.
