James Brown had an immense impact on popular music and culture. Like many musicians of his time, Brown began his career performing Gospel music. However, Brown was not just a musician. He held a number of jobs during his life, including being a semi-professional boxer. Brown performed in a number of groups before starting his own band. Inspired by musicians like Ray Charles and Little Richard, he moved away from the Gospel and R & B music he made early in his career and toward making music that would lay the foundation for what would become known as “funk.” Many fans of Brown's music will tell you that he was the funkiest musician to ever live! Brown’s sound came to define contemporary African American music. It inspired jazz legend Miles Davis, funk/rock musician Prince, and hip-hop pioneer Afrika Bambaataa. Brown was so famous that his hometown of Augusta, Georgia, named an arena after him shortly before he died in 2006. Brown’s family might turn his former home into a tourist attraction, like Elvis’s Graceland.