The Alleged Murder of Godfather of Soul James Brown
When digging into our last episode which featured James Brown’s 1985 Grammy-winning comeback hit “Living in America,” we found a curious bit of information that we hadn’t known before: Some people allege that “Godfather of Soul” James Brown did not die of heart failure, but was murdered. Once you go down this rabbit hole, you have to go all the way to the bottom. We summarize the story for you in this episode and delve into the murder of James Brown.
“The Circus Singer and the Godfather of Soul”
When Brown passed on Christmas Day 2006, his cause of death was listed as heart failure. But intrepid reporting from CNN’s Thomas Lake has surfaced dozens of unanswered questions about Brown’s life and final hours, most importantly to allegations that Brown was murdered. The story starts with one courageous woman named Jacquelyn Hollander who captivated Lake with her outrageous claims and her many, many receipts.
The story is all captured in Thomas Lake’s lengthy piece in CNN, “The Circus Singer and the Godfather of Soul,” meticulously reported and published in 2019.
The Murder of James Brown… And Adrienne Brown?
Hollander not only alleges that Brown raped her, but that powerful people who have tried to silence her also killed Brown’s third wife Adrienne. Adrienne Brown died while recovering from cosmetic surgery in 1996. Hollander (and others) allege that she was administered a fatal dose of drugs, meant to like an overdose. While investigators found no foul play at the time, the retired police detective who investigated her death showed reporter Thomas Lake the pages of a notebook that a confidential informant gave him in 2001. In the notebook, the informant (a sex worker) alleges that a doctor (her client) confessed to killing Adrienne Brown via drug overdose. Reporter Lake found and interviewed the doctor, who denied the allegations. This part of the story has been followed up on in recent years via additional coverage.
The informant’s notebook, via CNN
This story has more twists and turns than a Georgia backroad. Listen for the details but be sure to read Lake’s bonkers story on the murder of James Brown.