3. James Brown
The appropriately dubbed, Godfather of Soul. Nearly six years have passed since the little rocket took the train to the other side, and he is still sorely missed. Born James Joseph Brown, Jr. in Barnwell, South Carolina, on May 3, 1933, the diminutive Brown was able to fight his way out of poverty to international fame. Brown first began performing at the tender age of twelve, forming the vocal group, The Cremona Trio in 1945. Music would be the field the young man chose to pursue after his enthusiasm for boxing and baseball waned, and the world is, to this day, very grateful for that choice. Brown had an abundance of swagger and confidence at his disposal, fuelled by testosterone and an unwavering mental toughness, and boy did he have a set of pipes on him. His name was carved in the sixties, where he and his band The Famous Flames brought forth a sexually charged pastiche of Jazz, Blues, Funk, and African-style beats that put the fire in the bones of audiences and listeners everywhere. By the seventies, Brown was considered to be one of, if not
the foremost soul singer on the circuit, and in spite of a career dip in the eighties he managed to recover and reassert himself as musical royalty. A real character and a bonafide prodigy, James Brown will never be forgotten.