James Joseph Brown is an American singer and composer with a net worth of $100 million.
“The Godfather of Soul,” “the Hardest Working Man in Show Business,” and “Mr. Dynamite” — are big names, but no one can deny that James Brown earned them more than any other artist. Other singers were more well-known, and others were as talented, but few other African-American artists had such an impact on mainstream music.
Brown’s performances were wonders of physical endurance and split-second timing, and no other artist, pop or otherwise, put on a more dynamic, spectacular stage show. Brown was a pivotal midwife in not one, but two revolutions in black American music, because of the gospel-inspired ferocity of his voice and the sophisticated polyrhythms of his beats.
He was one of the key protagonists in the transformation of R&B into the soul, and most would say that he was the key figure in the transformation of soul music into the funk of the late 1960s and early 1970s. He did nothing more than tread water creatively after the mid-’70s, and his financial and drug troubles finally led to a questionable jail term.
His voice and rhythms have been copied on many hip-hop records, and reviewers have belatedly lauded his inventions as among the most significant in all of rock and soul. Brown’s narrative of rags-to-riches-to-rags has mythological heroic and tragic elements.
Early Years:
James Brown was born in Barnwell, South Carolina, on May 3, 1933. Susie, his 16-year-old mother, gave birth to him in a cabin made of wood. Brown grew up in the small hamlet of Elko, South Carolina, with his parents. When James was five years old, they relocated to Augusta, Georgia, first to one of his aunt’s brothels and then to a home shared with another aunt. After a tumultuous and violent marriage with his father Joseph, Brown’s mother abandoned the family and went to New York without James.
Brown stayed in school until sixth grade, spending lengthy periods of time alone and working on the streets to make ends meet. Brown started doing buck dances and singing in talent events to amuse soldiers at Camp Gordon at the onset of World War II.
During this time, he learned to play the piano, harmonica, and guitar. Brown was convicted of robbery at the age of 16 and sentenced to a juvenile correctional camp. He established a gospel quartet with four of his cellmates there. In June 1952, he was released from prison and joined the Ever-Ready Gospel Singers, a gospel group.
Career:
His career started in earnest with a gospel ensemble named The Gospel Starlighters and spanned several years. The group later changed their name to The Flames and played several southern locations with Brown in tow.
R&B performers like Little Richard and Ray Charles had a big effect on the early recordings recorded during this period. The Flames’ first R&B hit, “Please Please Please,” was published in March 1956 and went on to sell a million copies.
James Brown ultimately matured as a solo artist from these early days, yet his music continued to expand and adapt. Brown’s debut No. 1 R&B song, “Try Me,” was released in October 1958, and it was the first of seventeen chart-topping R&B singles for Brown. Brown and his band had success with their rendition of “Night Train” in 1962 and recorded the ballads “Lost Someone” and “Baby You’re Right” the following year. Brown sponsored a live recording of a concert at the Apollo in October of that year and persuaded Syd Nathan to release the CD.
The next summer, “Live at the Apollo” was released and became an instant smash, peaking at No. 2 on the Top LPs list and remaining there for 14 months. Brown founded his own record company, Try Me Records, in 1963. Brown won his first Grammy Award in 1965 for “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag,” which is still one of his greatest successes today. Later the same year, he released “I Got You,” which was his second consecutive No. 1 song.
He followed it up with the ballad “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World,” his third top ten Pop success and his third No. 1 R&B smash. Brown effectively established himself in the funk movement in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Brown gained the moniker “Godfather of Soul” between 1970 and 1975. He experimented with a broad range of genres, from gospel and rhythm and blues in his early years to funk and traditional African music in his later years.
In the 1970s, James Brown experimented with a disco to adapt to shifting musical trends, but most of his disco attempts failed to equal the popularity of his earlier work, which is considerably more popular than disco is now. In 1974, he released “Papa Don’t Take No Mess,” which became his last No. 1 R&B song and his final Top 40 mainstream record of the decade.
For James Brown, the bulk of the 1980s was marked by a fall in both popularity and sales. When he signed with Scotti Brothers Records and released the modestly successful album “Gravity” in 1986, which included his last Top 10 pop song, “Living in America,” he made a tremendous return. His first Top 40 success since 1974, and his first Top 10 appearance since 1968, came with this single.
The song was used significantly in the film and soundtrack for “Rocky IV.” At Apollo Creed’s last bout, Brown sang the song. Brown’s autobiography, “James Brown: The Godfather of Soul,” was co-written with Bruce Tucker and released in 1986. For “Living in America,” Brown received the Grammy for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance in 1987.
James Brown recorded 63 studio albums, 15 live albums, and 49 compilation albums over his long career. In 2003, Rolling Stone Magazine listed his 1963 album Live at the Apollo at #25 on their list of the 500 best albums of all time, and he also had success with albums like In the Jungle Groove in 1986 and Star Time in 1991.
“Say It Loud – I’m Black and Proud,” and “Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine” were among Brown’s other successful songs. Brown has featured in a number of films and television shows.
James Brown’s Net Worth
At the time of his death in 2006, James Brown was an American artist with a net worth of $100 million. “The Godfather of Soul,” as James Brown was known, was a legendary figure in the music industry. He enjoyed the respect and affection of millions of followers all around the globe when he died.
Private Life:
Brown married Velma Warren for the first time in 1953. They divorced in 1969 after having three boys together. From 1970 until 1981, he was married to Deidre Jenkins. They have two daughters as a couple. In this relationship, he was accused of domestic violence. His third marriage to Adrienne Lois Rodriguez was tumultuous, and domestic violence allegations made national news.
They divorced in 1988, but then reconciled and married again until Rodriguez’s death in 1996. Brown recruited Tomi Rae Hynie as a backing vocalist for his band less than a year after she died, and she became his fourth wife in 2002. Brown claimed paternity for a total of nine children, nine of which he admitted were his own.
Brown has insisted on a stringent drug and alcohol-free policy for any member of his band or entourage throughout most of his career. Brown was said to have started taking narcotics during the mid-eighties. He had violent outbursts as a consequence of his drug use, and he was jailed multiple times for domestic abuse. Brown was charged with four felony offenses in January 1988, including driving, PCP possession, and gun possession.
Rights/Royalties in the Music Catalogue:
James’ “termination rights” accounted for a large portion of the $100 million estimated worth. The rights to a work of art return to the creator after a set length of time — decades after it is made – according to Federal copyright regulations. Any copyrights sold to a music publisher or controlled by a publisher as a result of a recording contract might return to the artist/heirs, artist’s who can then profit from licensing and royalties.
To give you an idea of how valuable the Brown portfolio is, Tomi Rae Hynie sold her 1/3 share of termination rights to Warner Chappell Music for $1.9 million in 2015. James’ children now own the whole of their father’s termination rights.
Death:
Brown was admitted to Emory Crawford Long Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, on December 23, for observation and treatment of pneumonia. His health swiftly deteriorated the following day, and he died on Christmas Day 2006, at the age of 73, from congestive heart failure with Pneumonia complications.
James Brown’s Family Has Reached an Agreement to End a 15-year Legal Dispute Over His Assets
According to the Associated Press, a 15-year court struggle over James Brown’s inheritance has come to a conclusion, with the late singer’s family reaching a deal.
A deal was struck on July 9, according to David Black, an attorney representing Brown’s estate, but the terms of the settlement were not made public.
Since his death on Christmas Day 2006, more than a dozen lawsuits have been brought against the Godfather of Soul’s estate, which is believed to be valued anything from $5 million to more than $100 million. Brown’s former girlfriend Tomi Rae Hynie, who claims to be his fourth and last wife, was one of the prominent characters in the proceedings. Hynie, who is the mother of one of Brown’s children, was not listed in the singer’s will but has long contended that because of their marriage, she is entitled to a share of the inheritance.
However, this proved to be a tricky situation. Because her prior marriage had not been properly canceled, the South Carolina Supreme Court declared in June 2020 that Hynie was never lawfully wedded to Brown.
Hynie was married to another man at the time of her marriage to Brown in 2001, who, she subsequently learned, had three wives in his home in Pakistan. The South Carolina Supreme Court decided that the union had never been “declared void” by an order of a competent court, notwithstanding Hynie’s attorneys’ claims that her husband’s prior wives rendered their marriage unlawful.
The Supreme Court also ordered that a lower court “promptly proceed with the probate of Brown’s assets in conformity with his estate plan,” which included a charity trust to finance scholarships for needy students in South Carolina and Georgia.
Last year, Dylan Malagrin, a professor at the Charleston School of Law in South Carolina, told The New York Times, “His goal is finally going to be carried out, and it’s going to help the children of South Carolina and Georgia.” “The majority of people are going to think that’s a fantastic result.”
