(The Atlanta Journal-Constitution) - R&B legend James Brown’s estate has been sold for an estimated $90 million, enabling him to fulfill his dying wish to fund scholarships for children in need for perpetuity.
The scholarship trust will help kids in South Carolina, where Brown was born, and Georgia, where he grew up, estate executor Russell L. Bauknight told the New York Times.
Primary Wave, which manages estates and song catalogs, purchased Brown’s musical assets.
“James Brown was one of the greatest musical entertainers of all time, and one of the greatest legends of the music business,” Larry Mestel, the company’s founder, said to the Times. “That fits what we do like a glove.”
Brown died at age 73 on Christmas Day 15 years ago of congestive heart failure and a huge funeral was held at a packed 8,100-seat capacity James Brown Arena in Augusta, drawing the likes of Michael Jackson, Rev. Al Sharpton and Rev. Jesse Jackson.
Unfortunately, over the past 15 years, more than a dozen lawsuits were filed for a variety of reasons such as questioning the value of his estate and how his assets would be split. Tomi Rae Hynie, for one, claimed to have been married to him and wanted a part of the estate, as did five of Brown’s children. Last year, a South Carolina Supreme Court judge ruled that since Hynie had not dissolved a previous marriage, she and Brown were not legally married and she had no right to any part of his estate.
Brown was dubbed the Godfather of Soul and “The Hardest Working Man in Show Business” and became a legendary figure in music with classic hits like “I Got You (I Feel Good),” “It’s a Man’s Man’s World” and “Living in America.”
Primary Wave is one of several companies in recent years who have been buying out the rights to major musical acts’ works. Bruce Springsteen last week, for instance, sold his music to Sony Music Entertainment for a whopping $550 million.
By Rodney Ho
Rodney Ho writes about entertainment for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution including TV, radio, film, comedy and all things in between. A native New Yorker, he has covered education at The Virginian-Pilot, small business for The Wall Street Journal and a host of beats at the AJC over 20-plus years. He loves tennis, pop culture & seeing live events.
