James Brown

The 20 greatest Christmas albums – ranked!

Whether you fancy a heartwarming carol with Elvis or the story of a yuletide drug dealer from OutKast, there’s a festive album for you in our rundown of the best ever

Alexis Petridis

15, Dec, 2022 @1:52 PM

Bootsy Collins: 'We're all funky, just not all of us know it'

The P-Funk bassist was a street kid in the 60s, got his break with James Brown, then spent much of the 70s taking LSD. He talks about drugs, racism, police brutality – and the healing power of music

Ammar Kalia

15, Jun, 2020 @1:39 PM

Record Store Day: 20 exclusive releases to look out for

Classic vinyl reissues, limited collectors’ editions and unreleased recordings from Fela Kuti, Prince and David Bowie join rare pressings by the Prodigy and the Notorious BIG this Saturday

Gregory Robinson

10, Apr, 2019 @2:00 PM

Call to investigate James Brown's death after murder claims

Doctor who signed soul legend’s death certificate airs doubts, while suspicions also raised over death of Brown’s third wife, Adrienne

Ben Beaumont-Thomas

06, Feb, 2019 @10:44 AM

Charles Bradley: 'He made it look easy because he was a natural'

The James Brown tribute act became one of the great classic soul voices. As Daptone release his posthumous album, Ozzy Osbourne, Margo Price and more remember his talent

Michael Hann

06, Nov, 2018 @3:00 PM

More synthetic bamboo! The greatest preset sounds in pop music

Christine and the Queens has been criticised for using prefabricated loops from software, rather than coming up with new sounds herself. But from Kate Bush to Kendrick Lamar, these presets are actually the foundation of modern pop

Dave Simpson

14, Aug, 2018 @3:49 PM

Behind the scenes with the biggest soul stars of the 70s

Marvin Gaye, James Brown, Stevie Wonder – Bruce W Talamon photographed them all. His images, collected in a new book, capture an era before publicists controlled their stars

Killian Fox

22, Jul, 2018 @9:00 AM

Bootsy Collins: ‘LSD was a big part of why I left James Brown’s band’

The musician, 66, tells Candice Pires about free love, Funkadelic, coming to earthly consciousness and getting away from being Bootsy

Candice Pires

28, Oct, 2017 @1:00 PM

Charles Bradley obituary

American soul singer and songwriter who found fame late in life

Adam Sweeting

24, Sep, 2017 @4:48 PM

Readers recommend playlist: songs about fads and crazes

Short-lived dances and fashion gimmicks run through your suggestions this week – James Brown, Roxy Music and Sonic Youth all making an appearance

Guardian music

06, Jul, 2017 @11:00 AM

Black dynamite: the best Blaxploitation soundtracks

As Melvin Van Peebles’ seminal score to Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song is re-released we look at the most important soundtracks from the Blaxploitation era

David Ma

26, May, 2017 @1:59 PM