went to bed with the news that james brown had been hospitalized with pnuemonia and awoke to the sad news that james brown died very early this december 25th 2006 at around 1:45am. james brown made such an awesome and overwhelming contribution to music. i was lucky enough to see him perform at the circle star theater over 12 years ago. safe to say that one of the best albums ever put together is james brown’s funky people. the hardest working man in show business. and easily the most sampled man in music (funky drummer). rest in peace, james brown. thank you for all that you gave. boingboing has a good memorial post, as does sfgate and the bbc.