Wow...I didn't hear this news yet. On Christmas day....may he rest in peace.

Wow...I didn't hear this news yet. On Christmas day....may he rest in peace

He passed at 0143 EST this morning, so it's still 'new' news. 

I was shocked too. 

The man was a drug abuser and a wife abuser whatever his musical talents it doesn't make up for his personal failings.

The man was a drug abuser and a wife abuser whatever his musical talents it doesn't make up for his personal failings.

And he was....well...flamboyant about it too.

The man was a drug abuser and a wife abuser whatever his musical talents it doesn't make up for his personal failings

Yes, he was both of those things and more.  He wasn't a saint, and nobody ever said that he was.  However, to say that his shortcomings and failures as a human being don't make up for his contribution to modern music is......well, it's like cutting off your nose to spite your face.  It's as if everyone should ignore what he did musically because he spent some time in jail and had a drug problem.  Johnny Cash had a drug problem and he admitted hitting his wife - should we ignore his contributions to music as well?  How about Ike Turner?  George Jones?  Axel Rose?  Tommy Lee?  All of them have made their mark on the music scene, all have either confessed to or been convicted of domestic violence, and all of them have histories of alcohol and or/drug abuse - and those are just the ones I've been able to think of in the past 3 minutes.  If I really thought about it and did some research I'd be able to come up with a LOT more. 

And he was....well...flamboyant about it too.

Yeah, he was pretty OTT, wasn't he?  With that bouffant hairdo and those high heels - he certainly influenced musicians like Prince - or whatever he's calling himself these days. 

 

wonder if the call to 911 started with: whaaooaah...i don't FEEL good.

wonder if the call to 911 started with: whaaooaah...i don't FEEL good.

Hahaha! Well there's an interview on YouTube where he certainly was feelin' no pain!



WWW Link

The man was a drug abuser and a wife abuser whatever his musical talents it doesn't make up for his personal failings

A few others I can recall who were, at the very least, substance abusers. They have all made contributions to our culture.

Sigmund Freud
Judy Garland
Stephen King
Charlie Parker
Robert Louis Stevenson
Sting

That's just those I can think of off the top of my head. There are hundreds more.

It's good to know we can now disregard their contributions to our culture because of the way they conducted themselves in their personal lives.

The man was a drug abuser and a wife abuser whatever his musical talents it doesn't make up for his personal failings.

Yes he was those things, and we should not forget it.  However he was an artist par excellance, and we should not forget that either.  I am getting really tired of trying to discredit people who have achieved, because of the bad in their life.  If you want a saint, go to heaven.  If you want the contributors to mankind, revile the bad, but acknowledge the accomplishments.  I dare say that there would be no heros today if we had our present day muck raking press in existance 2000 years ago.

Instead of hearing about a savior for the world, we would be subject to lurid tails of some rabbi consorting with harlots and whores.

There are a lot of people with substance abuse problems who only hurt themselves. He hurt other people too. Not just his wives but also endangered innocent people's lives during a police chase. He was also convicted of assaulting a police officer. I wonder if you opinion would change if your husband had been the police officer or your daughter the victim of his assault. Would you be that willing to give him a pass if you knew the people he hurt.

Okay so he still was a talented musician but not someone to be honored, IMHO.

And you may not have said he was a saint but you already have him with wings and a halo teaching the angels in heaven to sing.

Okay so he still was a talented musician but not someone to be honored, IMHO.

IN that we will disagree.  I dont like Pete Rose (I am a Mets fan but that is probably lost on 99% of the people).  In point of fact, I think he is an arsewipe and jerk.  BUT, he is also the all time leader in base hits.  Should we erase that from our memory?

By the same token, James Brown was a great singer, and created a genre that is revered to this day.  Should we now outlaw it because he was a jerk and an arsewipe as well?  By your statement, it appears so.

Perhaps we should now dethrone all the founding fathers as virtually all of them were slave owners.  So since they were slave owners, nothing good could have come from them, and hence we need to turn this country back over to Britian. But alas they were slave owners as well.  So lets just send this country to hell in a handbasket because the founders were not saints.

So let it be written, so let it be done.

It's sad that people can't seem to separate the art from the artist's personal life. Everyone has failings. We're all human. The guy's work is to be valued and honored even if his personal life may have been a disaster. Nobody said anything about giving the guy a "pass", some can separate the art from the artist.

The guy had some good qualities too. When people were rioting after MLK was murdered he got in his car and drove around telling people to stop the rioting and go back home. He was a human being, and none of us are perfect.

As to cause of death, I heard late today that it was congestive heart failure.

Perhaps we should now dethrone all the founding fathers as virtually all of them were slave owners. So since they were slave owners, nothing good could have come from them, and hence we need to turn this country back over to Britian. But alas they were slave owners as well. So lets just send this country to hell in a handbasket because the founders were not saints.

Now we can say that owning slaves is wrong. At that time, it was legal and common. It's something that is even condoned in the bible. They did something that we now find immoral but at that time it wasn't. It's just not the same. I can say that James Brown was a talented singer and a unique voice but I cannot say that he is singing with the angels now. He hurt people. That is the difference. It is also a different story if he saw what he did was wrong and made an attempt to change his ways but since this was an ongoing problem it seems he didnt'.

What Pete Rose did was morally wrong but did he hurt people, no, not in my opinion.

Mason, I have no problem separating the art from their personal lives but I do have a problem with people giving a criminal a pass because they are famous. Not because they were good, decent people. Not because they turned their life around. Just because they were famous. If he were a bus driver and a wife and drug abuser no one would be making excuses for him.

If he were a bus driver and a wife and drug abuser no one would be making excuses for him.

Please point out where anyone is "giving him a pass" or "making excuses for him"? You're beating a nonexistent horse.

but I do have a problem with people giving a criminal a pass because they are famous.

Loca, only God can give him that pass into heaven. Who knows, James Brown might have made his peace before he died. But it's really not for us to judge that is it? And he did make some great contribution to the world of music and also in his personal life with the charities that he had. Yes, he was a drug abuser, wife beater, but only the Father above will be the judge of where he goes now.