"GODFATHER OF SOUL" JAMES BROWN DIES CHRISTMAS DAY

James Brown, the legendary "Godfather of Soul" who died early Christmas morning, had been sick for months, according to a longtime friend. Brown had had a cough for several months, but it worsened Friday in Augusta, Georgia, where he held his annual Christmas toy giveaway outdoors in rainy weather, said his friend and personal manager, Charles Bobbit. Other associates said Brown had also found a cold hard to shake, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Brown died at 1:45 a.m. Monday at Atlanta's Emory Crawford Long Hospital. The cause of death was congestive heart failure related to pneumonia, according to Brown's professional manager, Frank Copsidas. He was 73.

I remember photographing him on the set of Rolonda Watts Talk show. He was crazy about Rolonda. Like all of us, he called her Ro. He asked her to marry him on the set. Published reports said he called her to ask her this. I remember different. I remember him singing and staring at Rolonda. He drove the audience crazy. He posed for pictures, did everything I asked. He told host ROLONDA WATTS, "you know I'm crazy about you. So how about tying the knot?" The stunned Watts, not accustomed to airing her own confrontations on camera, told Brown she'd talk to him later. Watts, 37, became buddies with the widowed singer, 68, after he appeared on her show in January, and before long he was sporting a Rolonda jacket. But all that good feeling--and the scads of red roses that he sent to her office--won't get Mr. Please Please Please to the altar any sooner. Says Watts: "I don't know if I'll marry him, but he's a special, special friend."