44 Facts About James Brown

1. James Brown had originally been scheduled to receive the honorary doctorate from Paine College during its May 2007 commencement.

2. James Brown appeared on the BET Awards June 24, 2003, and received the Lifetime Achievement Award presented by Michael Jackson, and performed with him.

3. On November 14, 2006, James Brown was inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame, and he was one of several inductees to perform at the ceremony.

4. On June 15, 2000, James Brown was honored as an inductee to the New York Songwriters Hall of Fame.

5. On February 25, 1992, James Brown was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 34th annual Grammy Awards.

6. James Brown was one of the first inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at its inaugural induction dinner in New York on January 23, 1986.

7. At one point during the interview, James Brown began shouting out his song titles to one of Friedman's questions.

8. James Brown had diabetes that went undiagnosed for years, according to his longtime manager Charles Bobbit.

9. James Brown stated he was neither Democratic nor Republican despite his support of Republican presidents such as Nixon and Ronald Reagan.

10. James Brown began supporting Republican president Richard Nixon after being invited to perform at Nixon's inaugural ball in January 1969.

11. James Brown was made "freeman of the city" in Lagos, Nigeria, by Oba Adeyinka Oyekan, for his "influence on black people all over the world.

12. In 1969, James Brown recorded two more songs of social commentary, "World" and "I Don't Want Nobody to Give Me Nothing", the latter song pleading for equal opportunity and self-reliance rather than entitlement.

13. James Brown danced vigorously as he sang, working popular dance steps such as the Mashed Potato into his routine along with dramatic leaps, splits and slides.

14. Many years, James Brown's touring show was one of the most extravagant productions in American popular music.

15. James Brown went to the Emory Crawford Long Memorial Hospital the next day for medical evaluation and was admitted for observation and treatment.

16. On December 23, 2006, James Brown became very ill and arrived at his dentist's office in Atlanta, Georgia, several hours late.

17. James Brown played a full concert as part of the BBC's Electric Proms on October 27, 2006, at The Roundhouse, supported by The Zutons, with special appearances from Max Beasley and The Sugababes.

18. In 2006, James Brown continued his "Seven Decades of Funk World Tour", his last concert tour where he performed all over the world.

19. James Brown appeared at Edinburgh 50,000—The Final Push, the final Live 8 concert on July 6, 2005, where he performed a duet with British pop star Will Young on "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag".

20. In 2004, James Brown performed in Hyde Park, London as a support act for Red Hot Chili Peppers concerts.

21. James Brown made a cameo appearance in the 2002 Jackie Chan film The Tuxedo, in which Chan was required to finish Brown's act after having accidentally knocked out the singer.

22. James Brown celebrated his status as an icon by appearing in a variety of entertainment and sports events, including an appearance on the WCW pay-per-view event, SuperBrawl X, where he danced alongside wrestler Ernest "The Cat" Miller, who based his character on Brown, during his in-ring skit with The Maestro.

23. James Brown released the singles "How Long" and "Georgia-Lina", which failed to chart.

24. In 1988, James Brown worked with the production team Full Force on the new jack swing-influenced album I'm Real.

25. James Brown performed the song in the film at Apollo Creed's final fight, shot in the Ziegfeld Room at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, and was credited in the film as "The Godfather of Soul".

26. James Brown credited his then-wife and two of their children as writers of the song to avoid concurrent tax problems with the IRS.

27. James Brown recorded another soundtrack for the film, Slaughter's Big Rip-Off.

28. In 1973, James Brown provided the score for the blaxploitation film Black Caesar.

29. James Brown relied more on touring outside the United States where he continued to perform for sold-out crowds in cities such as London, Paris and Lausanne.

30. In 1971, James Brown began recording for Polydor Records which took over distribution of Brown's King Records catalog.

31. James Brown released three albums of Christmas music with his own band.

32. James Brown branched out to make several recordings with musicians outside his own band.

33. In November 1967, James Brown purchased radio station WGYW in Knoxville, Tennessee, for a reported $75,000, according to the January 20, 1968 Record World magazine.

34. James Brown bought radio stations during the late 1960s, including WRDW in his native Augusta, where he shined shoes as a boy.

35. In 1963, James Brown scored his first top 20 pop hit with his rendition of the standard "Prisoner of Love".

36. On October 24, 1962, James Brown financed a live recording of a performance at the Apollo and convinced Syd Nathan to release the album, despite Nathan's belief that no one would buy a live album due to the fact that Brown's singles had already been bought and that live albums were usually bad sellers.

37. James Brown met singer Bobby Byrd when the two played against each other in a baseball game outside the detention center.

38. James Brown became inspired to become an entertainer after hearing "Caldonia" by Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five.

39. James Brown began singing in talent shows as a young child, first appearing at Augusta's Lenox Theater in 1944, winning the show after singing the ballad "So Long".

40. James Brown learned to play the piano, guitar, and harmonica during this period.

41. James Brown managed to stay in school until the sixth grade.

42. James Brown is ranked seventh on the music magazine Rolling Stone list of its 100 greatest artists of all time.

43. James Brown holds the record for the most singles listed on the Billboard Hot 100 chart which did not reach number one.

44. James Brown began his career as a gospel singer in Toccoa, Georgia.