It would be hard to name a single musician whose influence was so profound and whose personal contribution to music was so unchallengeable as James Brown. All around the world, his tight, funky music and inate showmanship electrified popular music.

A complex. troubled and driven individual, Brown’s life was as eventful as his music was popular. Drugs, politics, brushes with the law and guns contributed to the legend of someone whose personal life seemed out of control at times. In contrast, as a bandleader, Brown was meticulous and demanding of his musicians and the resulting recordings and performances he coaxed from them are the true and lasting stuff of legend.

James Brown towered over popular music in the 20th Century and his passing is a profound loss to us all.