James Brown 1933 - 2006

Leslie Cheung over 18 years ago

Soul legend James Brown has died today (December 25) suffering with severe pneumonia.

He was admitted to the Emory Crawford Long Hospital in Atlanta, USA and passed away at 01:45 local time (14:45 Hong Kong time), according to his agent Frank Copsidas. "On Friday (December 22) he had his toy giveaway, which is his annual toy giveaway in Augusta, Georgia," he told the BBC World Service. "On Saturday, he went to his dentist up in Atlanta, and his dentist told him something was wrong, and he sent him to a doctor immediately."

The singer died with his long term friend Charles Bobbit at his bedside.

The 73-year-old singer and song-writer is famously dubbed as "The Godfather Of Soul". His music gave birth to both R&B and funk. His songs were often sampled by dance or rap artists, including "I Got You (I Feel Good)", "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag", "Make It Funky" and so on. His album Live At The Apollo is considered as one of the greatest live albums ever.