# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/james-brown
# Generated: 2026-09-01T11:12:22.846Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/james-brown"
name: "James Brown"
slug: "james-brown"
description: "He built funk from the ground up — stripped rhythm and blues down to interlocking drums and bass, then rode that groove harder than anyone before or since. The blueprint every hip-hop producer samples, the stage move every performer steals, the reason \"Soul Brother No. 1\" still means something fifty years later."
tagline: "American musician (1933–2006)"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/James_Brown_Live_Hamburg_1973_1702730029.jpg?width=1200"
gender: "male"
country:
  name: "United States"
  isoCode: "US"
category:
  name: "Musicians"
  slug: "musicians"
profileType:
  name: "Singer / Musician"
  slug: "singer"
  entityType: "https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q177220"
birthDate: "1933-05-03"
deathDate: "2006-12-25"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           82.75
  momentum:             6.850321099091883
  historical:           29.339448
  currentAttention:     30.93712454945934
  sourceConfidence:     85
  profileCompleteness:  90
  trendDirection:       "RISING"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  139
  category: 113
totalFollowers: 1270000
tags:
  - name: "Musicians"
    slug: "musicians"
  - name: "Singer / Musician"
    slug: "singer-musician"
  - name: "Singer-Songwriter"
    slug: "singer-songwriter"
  - name: "Classical"
    slug: "classical"
  - name: "Comedy"
    slug: "comedy"
  - name: "Music Production"
    slug: "music-production"
  - name: "Politics"
    slug: "politics"
  - name: "Music"
    slug: "music"
platforms:
  - platform:  "FACEBOOK"
    url:       "https://www.facebook.com/JamesBrown"
    handle:    "JamesBrown"
  - platform:  "IMDB"
    url:       "https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0113768/"
    handle:    "nm0113768"
  - platform:  "SPOTIFY"
    url:       "https://open.spotify.com/artist/7GaxyUddsPok8BuhxN6OUW"
    handle:    "7GaxyUddsPok8BuhxN6OUW"
  - platform:  "WEBSITE"
    url:       "http://www.godfatherofsoul.com"
  - platform:  "YOUTUBE"
    url:       "https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOCZxe0gNRA7c3PGWPGoiGg"
    handle:    "@jamesbrownofficial"
    followers: 1270000
sources:
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Brown"
    title: "Wikipedia"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5950"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"
  - url: "https://pantheon.world/profile/person/James%20Brown"
    title: "Pantheon 2.0"
    type:  "DATABASE"
  - url: "https://als.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Brown"
    title: "James Brown"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://am.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E1%8C%84%E1%88%9D%E1%88%B5_%E1%89%A5%E1%88%AB%E1%8B%8D%E1%8A%95"
    title: "ጄምስ ብራውን"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://an.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Brown"
    title: "James Brown"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%AC%D9%8A%D9%85%D8%B3_%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%86"
    title: "جيمس براون"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://arz.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%AC%D9%8A%D9%85%D8%B3_%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%86"
    title: "جيمس براون"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ast.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Brown"
    title: "James Brown"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://azb.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%AC%DB%8C%D9%85%D8%B2_%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%86"
    title: "جیمز براون"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://be.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%94%D0%B6%D1%8D%D0%B9%D0%BC%D1%81_%D0%91%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%9E%D0%BD"
    title: "Джэймс Браўн"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%94%D0%B6%D0%B5%D0%B9%D0%BC%D1%81_%D0%91%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%83%D0%BD"
    title: "Джеймс Браун"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Brown"
    title: "James Brown"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ckb.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%AC%DB%95%DB%8C%D9%85%D8%B2_%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%86"
    title: "جەیمز براون"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Brown"
    title: "James Brown"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cy.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Brown"
    title: "James Brown"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Brown"
    title: "James Brown"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Brown"
    title: "James Brown"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%A4%CE%B6%CE%AD%CE%B9%CE%BC%CF%82_%CE%9C%CF%80%CF%81%CE%AC%CE%BF%CF%85%CE%BD"
    title: "Τζέιμς Μπράουν"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Brown"
    title: "James Brown"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Brown"
    title: "James Brown"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Brown"
    title: "James Brown"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Brown"
    title: "James Brown"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%AC%DB%8C%D9%85%D8%B2_%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%86"
    title: "جیمز براون"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cs.wikiquote.org/wiki/James_Brown"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://de.wikiquote.org/wiki/James_Brown"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/James_Brown"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://es.wikiquote.org/wiki/James_Brown"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://fr.wikiquote.org/wiki/James_Brown"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://musicbrainz.org/artist/20ff3303-4fe2-4a47-a1b6-291e26aa3438"
    title: "MusicBrainz"
    type:  "DATABASE"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Brown started as a gospel singer in Toccoa, Georgia, then rose in the mid-1950s fronting the Famous Flames with the hit "Please, Please, Please". By the 1960s he'd become a dynamic live force — Live at the Apollo, "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag", "I Got You (I Feel Good)" — building a reputation that earned him the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986 as one of its first ten inductees. In the late 1960s he abandoned blues forms entirely and began emphasizing stripped-down interlocking rhythms, fully establishing funk by the early 1970s with the J.B.s on tracks like "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine" and "The Payback". He also stepped into social commentary with 1968's "Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud". Seventeen No. 1 singles on the Billboard R&B charts, more Hot 100 entries without a No. 1 than anyone else, and by Joel Whitburn's count the top R&B artist from 1942 to 2010. He kept performing and recording until pneumonia killed him on Christmas Day 2006.