Editing James Brown (section)

==Personal life==
In 1962, [[Tammi Terrell]] joined the James Brown Revue. Brown became sexually involved with Terrell—even though she was only 17—in a relationship that continued until she escaped his physical abuse.<ref>{{cite web |title=Did You Know: Tammi Terrell's Affair with James Brown Ended Violently |website=The Reel Network |url=http://thereelnetwork.net/her-affair-with-james-brown-ended-in-abuse-did-you-know-tammi-terrell/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107010852/http://thereelnetwork.net/her-affair-with-james-brown-ended-in-abuse-did-you-know-tammi-terrell/|archive-date=November 7, 2017|url-status=dead |access-date=November 2, 2017}}</ref> [[Bobby Bennett (The Famous Flames)|Bobby Bennett]], former member of the [[The Famous Flames|Famous Flames]], told ''Rolling Stone'' about the abuse he witnessed: "He beat Tammi Terrell terrible", said Bennett. "She was bleeding, shedding blood." Terrell, who died in 1970, was Brown's girlfriend before she became famous as [[Marvin Gaye]]'s singing partner in the mid-1960s. "Tammi left him because she didn't want her butt whipped", said Bennett, who also claimed he saw Brown kick one pregnant girlfriend down a flight of stairs.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=James Brown: Wrestling With the Devil|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/wrestling-with-the-devil-the-struggle-for-the-soul-of-james-brown-19890406|access-date=May 9, 2018|archive-date=January 4, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180104192602/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/wrestling-with-the-devil-the-struggle-for-the-soul-of-james-brown-19890406|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Marriages and children===
Brown was married three times. His first marriage was to Velma Warren in 1953. They had one son together.<ref>{{Cite book|title=James Brown (African-American Biographies)|last=Fandel|first=Jennifer|year=2003 |publisher=Raintree |isbn=9780739870273|pages=[https://archive.org/details/jamesbrown0000fand/page/26 26] |url=https://archive.org/details/jamesbrown0000fand}}</ref> Over a decade later, the couple had separated. They divorced in 1969. They maintained a close friendship that lasted until Brown's death. Brown's second marriage was to Deidre "Deedee" Jenkins, on October 22, 1970. They had two daughters together. In 1974, they separated after what his daughter describes as years of domestic abuse.<ref>{{cite book |title=Cold Sweat: My Father James Brown and Me |publisher=Chicago Review Press |isbn=978-1883052850 |author1=Yamma Brown |author2=Robin Gaby Fisher |date=September 2014 |url=http://www.vulture.com/2014/09/james-brown-beat-wife-yamma-brown-memoir-cold-sweat.html |access-date=June 19, 2018 |archive-date=June 19, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180619114549/http://www.vulture.com/2014/09/james-brown-beat-wife-yamma-brown-memoir-cold-sweat.html |url-status=live }}</ref> They divorced on January 10, 1981.{{sfn|Rhodes|2008|p=253}} 

His third marriage was to Adrienne Lois Rodriguez (March 9, 1950 – January 6, 1996) in 1984. It was a contentious marriage that made headlines due to [[Domestic violence|domestic abuse]] complaints.<ref>{{Cite magazine|date=November 20, 1995 |title=Godfather of Soul James Brown Denies Wife's Domestic Abuse Charges |magazine=Jet|page=59 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UjsDAAAAMBAJ&q=james+brown+adrienne+october+1995}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=This is the Real James Brown |last=Hurst |first=Candice |publisher=Rosedog Pr |year=2017 |isbn=9781480975934 |pages=139}}</ref> Rodriguez filed for divorce in 1988, "citing years of cruelty treatment", but they reconciled.<ref name="reader">{{Cite book|last1=George|first1=Nelson|last2=Leeds|first2=Alan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ehSBVZUQpSIC&q=james+brown+adrienne+1988&pg=PA207|title=The James Brown Reader: Fifty Years of Writing About the Godfather of Soul|publisher=Penguin|year=2008|isbn=978-1-4406-3734-6|pages=205–207|access-date=October 26, 2020|archive-date=August 13, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230813221904/https://books.google.com/books?id=ehSBVZUQpSIC&q=james+brown+adrienne+1988&pg=PA207|url-status=live}}</ref> Rodriguez died in 1996. Less than a year later, Brown hired [[Tomi Rae Hynie]] to be a background singer for his band. She later claimed that she was his fourth wife.<ref name="Rohter" />

On December 23, 2002, Brown, 69, and Hynie, 33, held a wedding ceremony that was officiated by the Rev. Larry Flyer. Following Brown's death, controversy surrounded the circumstances of the marriage. Brown's attorney, Albert "Buddy" Dallas, reported that the marriage was not valid. Hynie was still married to Javed Ahmed, a man from Bangladesh. Hynie claimed Ahmed married her to obtain residency through a [[United States Permanent Resident Card|Green Card]], and that the marriage was annulled, but the annulment did not occur until April 2004.<ref>{{cite web |last=Martin |first=J. |date=January 4, 2007 |title=Tomi Rae defends her relationship with James Brown |work=WRDW-TV News |place=Augusta, Georgia |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130105120952/http://www.wrdw.com/news/headlines/5091311.html |archive-date=January 5, 2013 |url=http://www.wrdw.com/news/headlines/5091311.html |access-date=January 9, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Gardner |first=L. |date=December 26, 2006 |title=Tomi Rae Hynie: 'It's a blatant lie' |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120919071135/http://www.wrdw.com/news/headlines/5018766.html |archive-date=September 19, 2012 |url-status=dead |work=WRDW-TV News |place=Augusta, Georgia |url=http://www.wrdw.com/news/headlines/5018766.html |access-date=January 8, 2007}}</ref> In an attempt to prove her marriage to Brown was valid, she provided a [[Marriage license#Marriage licenses in the Americas|marriage certificate]] as proof of her marriage to Brown during an interview on [[CNN]] with [[Larry King]], but she did not provide King with court records pointing to an annulment of her marriage to Brown or to Ahmed.<ref name=annulment>{{cite news |last=Anderson |first=V. |date=January 5, 2007 |title=Probate hearing may determine whether Hynie is James Brown's widow |url=http://www.ajc.com/living/content/living/stories/2007/01/04/0105hynie.html |work=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution |access-date= January 8, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120127183015/http://www.ajc.com/living/content/living/stories/2007/01/04/0105hynie.html |archive-date=January 27, 2012}}</ref> 

According to Dallas, Brown was angry and hurt that Hynie had concealed her prior marriage from him, and Brown moved to file for annulment from Hynie.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Singer James Brown files for annulment |magazine=Jet |volume=105 |issue=8 |page=18}}</ref> Dallas added that though Hynie's marriage to Ahmed was annulled after she married Brown, the Brown–Hynie marriage was not valid under South Carolina law because Brown and Hynie did not remarry after the annulment.<ref name=annulment/><ref>{{cite web |title=Brown widow: I've been locked out |url=http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/Music/12/26/james.brown.widow.ap/index.html |date=2006 |work=CNN Entertainment News |access-date=January 8, 2007 |url-status= dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070122130618/http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/Music/12/26/james.brown.widow.ap/index.html |archive-date=January 22, 2007}}</ref> In August 2003, Brown took out a full-page public notice in ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' featuring Hynie, James II and himself on vacation at [[Disney World]] to announce that he and Hynie were going their separate ways.<ref>{{cite web |title=Public announcement of annulment in ''Variety Magazine'' |url=http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/jabrown1.html |date=July 22, 2003 |work=The Smoking Gun |access-date=January 8, 2007 |archive-date=December 30, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061230094754/http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/jabrown1.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Stritof |first=Sheri & Bob |url=http://marriage.about.com/od/entertainmen1/a/jamesbrown_3.htm |title=James Brown and Tomi Rae Hynie timeline: The puzzle of a complicated marriage relationship |website=About.com: Marriage |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070316074820/http://marriage.about.com/od/entertainmen1/a/jamesbrown_3.htm |archive-date=March 16, 2007 |access-date=January 14, 2007 }}</ref> 

On January 27, 2015, a judge ruled Hynie as Brown's legal widow and that she was now Brown's widow for the purpose of determining the distribution of Brown's estate.<ref name="Rohter"/><ref name="wrdw.com"/> The decision was based on the grounds that Hynie's previous marriage was invalid, and that James Brown had abandoned his efforts to annul his own marriage to Hynie.<ref name="wrdw.com">[http://www.wrdw.com/home/headlines/Judge-orders-release-of-emails-in-James-Brown-estate-lawsuit-289227041.html Court order states Tommie Rae Brown as James Brown's wife and legal surviving spouse] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402135146/http://www.wrdw.com/home/headlines/Judge-orders-release-of-emails-in-James-Brown-estate-lawsuit-289227041.html |date=April 2, 2015 }}", ''[[WRDW-TV]]'' (January 26, 2015).</ref> On June 17, 2020, a South Carolina Supreme Court ruled that Hynie was not legally married to Brown due to her failure to annul her previous marriage.<ref name="0:"/><ref name="USAToday"/><ref name="NYTimes"/> The court ruled that she had no right to any part of his estate.<ref name="0:">{{cite web |url=https://www.augustachronicle.com/story/news/2020/06/18/sc-supreme-court-tommie-rae-not-james-brownrsquos-wife/43093983/ |title=SC Supreme Court: Tommie Rae not James Brown's wife |date=June 18, 2020 |access-date=November 16, 2022 |archive-date=November 16, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221116162312/https://www.augustachronicle.com/story/news/2020/06/18/sc-supreme-court-tommie-rae-not-james-brownrsquos-wife/43093983/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.wjbf.com/news/sc-supreme-court-rules-tomi-rae-hynie-is-not-james-browns-wife/amp/ |title=SC Supreme Court rules Tomi Rae Hynie is not James Brown's wife |date=June 18, 2020 |access-date=November 16, 2022 |archive-date=November 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221117005525/https://www.wjbf.com/news/sc-supreme-court-rules-tomi-rae-hynie-is-not-james-browns-wife/amp/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="USAToday">{{cite web |last=Kinnard |first=Meg |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2020/06/18/james-brown-partner-not-wife-court-rules-oks-dying-wish/3216240001/ |work=USA Today |title=South Carolina high court rules 'Godfather of Soul' James Brown's last partner not his wife, OKs his dying wish |date=June 18, 2020 |access-date=November 16, 2022 |archive-date=November 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221117012919/https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2020/06/18/james-brown-partner-not-wife-court-rules-oks-dying-wish/3216240001/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Kinnard |first=Meg |url=https://abcnews4.com/news/local/family-of-james-brown-settles-15-year-battle-over-his-estate-07-24-2021 |work=ABC News 4 |title=Family of James Brown settles 15-year battle over his estate |date=July 24, 2021 |access-date=November 17, 2022 |archive-date=November 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221117192823/https://abcnews4.com/amp/news/local/family-of-james-brown-settles-15-year-battle-over-his-estate-07-24-2021 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="NYTimes">{{cite web |last=Knopper |first=Steve |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/25/arts/music/james-brown-will.html |work=The New York Times |title=James Brown's Will: Is It Inching Toward Closure After 14 Years |date=July 15, 2021 |access-date=November 17, 2022 |archive-date=November 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221117213122/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/25/arts/music/james-brown-will.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Brown had numerous children. He acknowledged 11 of them, including 5 sons—Teddy (1954–1973), Terry, Larry, Micheal Brown and James Joseph Brown Jr.—and 6 daughters: LaRhonda Petitt, Dr. Yamma Noyola Brown Lumar, Deanna Brown Thomas, Cinnamon Brown, Jeanette Bellinger and Venisha Brown (1964–2018).<ref>{{cite news |last=Goodman |first=Brenda |date=November 8, 2007 |url=http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/11/08/keeping-track-of-james-brown-and-the-big-payback/ |title=Keeping Track of James Brown and The Big Payback |work=The New York Times |access-date=July 31, 2009 |archive-date=October 7, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081007192038/http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/11/08/keeping-track-of-james-brown-and-the-big-payback/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Brown had eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Brown's eldest son, Teddy, died in a car crash on June 14, 1973.<ref>{{cite web |last=Stritof |first=Sheri & Bob |url=http://marriage.about.com/od/entertainmen1/a/jamesbrown.htm |title=The marriages of James Brown |website=About.com: Marriage |access-date=January 8, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070101185005/http://marriage.about.com/od/entertainmen1/a/jamesbrown.htm |archive-date=January 1, 2007 }}</ref> 

According to an August 2007, article in the British newspaper ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'', DNA tests indicate that Brown also fathered at least three extramarital children. The first one of them to be identified is LaRhonda Pettit (born 1962), a retired flight attendant and teacher who lives in Houston.<ref>{{cite news |last=Elsworth |first=C. |date=August 22, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071014224327/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2007%2F08%2F22%2Fwbrown122.xml |archive-date=October 14, 2007 |url-status=dead |title=James Brown's secret children emerge |work=The Daily Telegraph |url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2007%2F08%2F22%2Fwbrown122.xml |access-date=July 5, 2009}}</ref> Another alleged son, Michael Deon Brown, was born in September 1968 to Mary Florence Brown. Despite pleading no contest to a paternity suit brought against him in 1983, Brown never officially acknowledged Michael as his son.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Being the son of the "Godfather of Soul": Michael Brown, son of the late James Brown, begins to set the record straight |url=http://michaeldeonbrown.blogspot.com/2007/03/michael-brown-son-of-late-james-brown.html |access-date=November 16, 2022 |language=en |archive-date=November 16, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221116021424/http://michaeldeonbrown.blogspot.com/2007/03/michael-brown-son-of-late-james-brown.html |url-status=live }}</ref> During contesting of Brown's will, another of the Brown family attorneys, [[Debra Opri]], revealed to Larry King that James Brown wanted a DNA test performed after his death to confirm the paternity of James Brown Jr. (born 2001)—not for Brown Jr.'s sake but for the sake of the other family members.<ref>{{cite news |title=Brown wanted paternity test |url=http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,21026466-5006024,00.html |date=January 8, 2007 |work=The Herald Sun (Australia) |access-date=January 8, 2007 |archive-date=March 11, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080311045740/http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,21026466-5006024,00.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> In April 2007, Hynie selected a [[guardian ad litem]] whom she wanted the court to appoint to represent her son, James Brown Jr., in the paternity proceedings.<ref>{{cite news |title=James Brown's partner selects guardian |date=April 4, 2007 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040400490.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=April 11, 2007 |archive-date=April 24, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110424131424/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040400490.html |url-status=live }}</ref> James Brown Jr. was confirmed to be his biological son.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/legalentertainment/2018/10/15/james-brown-estate-twelve-years-after-his-death-controversy-remains/#168c647375d7 |first=Andrew |last=Smith |title=James Brown's Estate Is Still In Turmoil 12 Years After His Death |work=Forbes |date=October 15, 2018 |access-date=December 16, 2018 |archive-date=December 16, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181216120744/https://www.forbes.com/sites/legalentertainment/2018/10/15/james-brown-estate-twelve-years-after-his-death-controversy-remains/#168c647375d7 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Drug abuse===
For most of his career, Brown had a strict drug- and alcohol-free policy for any member in his entourage, including band members. He would fire people who disobeyed orders, particularly those who used or abused drugs. Although early members of the Famous Flames were fired for using [[Alcohol (drug)|alcohol]], Brown often served a [[highball]] consisting of [[Delaware Punch]] and [[moonshine]] at his [[St. Albans, Queens]], house in the mid-1960s.{{sfn|Smith|2012|p={{page needed|date=October 2020}}}} Some of the original members of Brown's 1970s band, [[the J.B.'s]], including [[Catfish Collins|Catfish]] and [[Bootsy Collins]], intentionally took [[Lysergic acid diethylamide|LSD]] during a performance in 1971, causing Brown to fire them after the show because he had suspected them of being on drugs all along.<ref>''[[Unsung (TV series)|Unsung]]'': "Bootsy Collins", [[TV One (US TV network)|TV One]], 2011</ref>

Aide Bob Patton has asserted that he accidentally shared a [[Phencyclidine|PCP]]-laced [[cannabis]] joint with Brown in the mid-1970s and "hallucinated for hours", although Brown "talked about it as if it was only marijuana he was smoking".{{sfn|Smith|2012|p={{page needed|date=October 2020}}}} By the mid-1980s, it was widely alleged that Brown was using drugs, with Vicki Anderson confirming to journalist [[Barney Hoskyns]] that Brown's regular use of PCP, colloquially known as "angel dust", "began before 1982".{{sfn|Smith|2012|p={{page needed|date=October 2020}}}} After he met and later married Adrienne Rodriguez in 1984, she and Brown began using PCP together.<ref>{{Cite magazine|date=June 6, 1988|title=James Brown's Wife Arrested On Drug Charge Third Time|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pK4DAAAAMBAJ&q=james+brown+adrienne&pg=PA52|magazine=Jet|pages=52}}</ref> 

This drug usage often resulted in violent outbursts from him, and he was arrested several times for [[domestic violence]] against Rodriguez while [[Substance intoxication|high]] on the drug.<ref>{{Cite magazine|date=June 6, 1988|title=James Brown Arrested On Drug And Assault Charges|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pK4DAAAAMBAJ&q=james+brown+adrienne&pg=PA52|magazine=Jet|pages=52}}</ref>{{sfn|Smith|2012|pp=341–344}} By January 1988, Brown faced four criminal charges within a 12-month span relating to driving, PCP, and gun possession.<ref name="reader" /> After an April 1988 arrest for domestic abuse, Brown went on the [[CNN]] program ''Sonia Live in L.A.'' with host Sonia Friedman. The interview became notorious for Brown's irreverent demeanor, with some asserting that Brown was high.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQmqcaS5LIM |title=1988: Is this James Brown's strangest interview ever? |work=CNN |via=YouTube |date=May 29, 2013 |access-date=February 16, 2014 |archive-date=March 13, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140313203308/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQmqcaS5LIM |url-status=live }}</ref>

One of Brown's former mistresses recalled in a [[GQ (magazine)|''GQ'' magazine]] article about Brown, some years after his death, that Brown would smoke PCP, "until that got hard to find", and [[cocaine]], mixed with [[Tobacco smoking|tobacco]] in [[Kool (cigarette)|Kool]] cigarettes. He engaged in the [[off-label use]] of [[sildenafil]], maintaining that it gave him "extra energy".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.gq.com/entertainment/music/200903/james-brown-legacy-money-millions?currentPage=12 |title=Papa: Music: GQ |date=March 2009 |access-date=July 19, 2012 |archive-date=May 13, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130513120803/http://www.gq.com/entertainment/music/200903/james-brown-legacy-money-millions?currentPage=12 |url-status=live }}</ref> Once, while traveling in a car under the influence of PCP, which he continued to procure dependent on its availability, Brown alleged that passing trees contained [[Electronic harassment|psychotronic surveillance technology]].{{sfn|Smith|2012|p={{page needed|date=October 2020}}}}

In January 1998, he spent a week in rehab to deal with an addiction to unspecified prescription drugs. A week after his release, he was arrested for an unlawful use of a handgun and possession of cannabis.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://articles.philly.com/1998-01-29/living/25751368_1_weapons-charges-marijuana-soul-singer-james-brown |title=James Brown Facing Marijuana, Weapons Charges |work=Philadelphia Daily News |date=January 29, 1998 |access-date=July 19, 2012 |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304063838/http://articles.philly.com/1998-01-29/living/25751368_1_weapons-charges-marijuana-soul-singer-james-brown |url-status=dead }}</ref> Prior to his death in December 2006, traces of cocaine were found in the singer's urine, when Brown entered Emory University Hospital.<ref name="part3" /> His widow suggested Brown would "do [[Crack cocaine|crack]]" with a female acquaintance.<ref name="part3" />