James Brown Wanted to Help Kids—But 18 Years Later, His Family Is Still Fighting for His $90M
Inside the shocking legal drama that continues years after the singer's death
18 years after James Brown’s death, his family is still asking one heartbreaking question: Where is the $90 million? The Godfather of Soul had beautiful intentions—he wanted his fortune to help kids get an education. But what happened next is a legal nightmare that shows how even the best intentions can go terribly wrong.
James Brown was known for being a larger-than-life figure, and since his death from congestive heart failure at age 73 on Christmas Day 2006, no one has come close to replicating his signature swagger. Brown’s story is one of grit and self-determination, as he was born into poverty in South Carolina and worked his way up from a rough background to develop the foundations of funk in the ’60s and become a self-made musical icon.
Over the course of his career, Brown amassed a fortune, and given that he had a large family, with four ex-wives and six recognized children, one might think that upon his passing, his money was divided among them, but this was decidedly not the case. Read on to learn about the ongoing James Brown estate drama.
What was in James Brown’s will?
Brown wrote his will in 2000 with a clear mission: the bulk of his estate should fund the “I Feel Good” trust for children’s education. He wanted to help kids in South Carolina, where he was born, and Georgia, where he grew up and lived until his death.
The cause was deeply personal to Brown, as he was forced to drop out of school in seventh grade because his tattered clothes were deemed unacceptable. Throughout his career, he was a passionate advocate for education, and even released a song called “Don’t Be a Drop-Out” in 1966 and met with political leaders to discuss the importance of staying in school.
Brown’s will, which was just seven pages long, can be read in full at The State, a South Carolina newspaper owned by Woman’s World’s parent company, McClatchy Media.
Why James Brown’s estate sparked a legal battle
It sounds straightforward enough—a famous musician wanting to help kids get an education. So what could go wrong?
Brown spoke openly about his intentions to fund scholarships for children who wouldn’t otherwise have access to them, so it wasn’t totally surprising that his will prioritized this cause, but as The State reports, the conflict rose primarily from the will’s execution, as it “effectively disinherited” his family and accountant David Cannon, lawyer Albert “Buddy” Dallas and former judge Al Bradley, Brown’s three personal representatives named in his will, were not trusted by those closest to him, leading to ongoing lawsuits and what The State calls “a legal stalemate.”
Brown’s will left his six acknowledged children (he’s been said to have up to 13 children from his various affairs) with only the contents of his home and his insurance policies, while completely excluding his widow, Tomi Rae Hynie, and their son, and stating that anyone who contested the document would get nothing.
In theory, funding education is a great thing, and having Brown’s wishes in writing should’ve made it easy, but it turned out to be anything but. The will had a clause claiming that half of his trust income would go to mysterious “management fees,” and in the year following his death, his wife and children filed lawsuits in an attempt to have the will dismissed. On top of all that, H. Dewain Herring, the estate attorney who prepared Brown’s will, was convicted of murder in 2007.
In 2008, lawyers brokered a settlement restoring much of Brown’s estate to his family, but this deal was overturned by the South Carolina Supreme Court in 2013, with the court stating that Brown “had a reputation as a strong-willed individual who did not take orders from others, and he made his desires abundantly clear during his lifetime,” so therefore overturning his will would work “to the detriment of the charitable entity that Brown so fervently desired.”
While Brown earned millions as a popular performer, The State reports that by the time of his death, “His estate had virtually no cash and a mountain of debt. Brown had pledged his fortune to educate the children of his home states of South Carolina and Georgia. But it seemed that there was no fortune left.”
David Cannon, Brown’s accountant, pleaded guilty to embezzling over $8 million from the singer, and Brown’s family claimed that he pressured and manipulated him. Court-appointed overseers also ran into disagreements with Brown’s family.
What happened to the $90M James Brown estate sale
The numbers surrounding James Brown’s estate saga boggle the mind. As The State reports, the battle has lasted 18 years and involved 110 lawyers. In 2020, Primary Wave, a company that owns music rights, bought the estate for a reported $90 million, but to this day, Brown’s dying wish has not been fulfilled, as no scholarships have been funded.
Currently, accountant Russell Bauknight is in charge of Brown’s estate, and he claims that Adele Pope, who was previously appointed as the estate’s special administrator by the court, is the one obstacle to using Brown’s assets for their intended purpose. Dozens of legal cases have further delayed any potential scholarships, and as The State reports, “Both sides believe they have the best interests of Brown’s charity at heart and neither will back down.”
The State says that if Brown’s educational fund were to finally come to fruition, it would be one of the largest charitable gifts in South Carolina’s history. The convoluted case has expanded far past Brown’s family, and today, as one of his daughters, Dr. Deanna Brown Thomas, sadly told The State, “I just know that my father’s turning over in his grave. Where’s the money?”
The sheer volume and complexity of James Brown’s estate drama could fill a book, and it just goes to show us that even if a powerful person has prepared a will, it’s no guarantee that there won’t be legal and financial chaos. After more legal battles than we can count, Dr. Brown Thomas told The State, “We still have no indication of where the $90 million is going or being used for.”
This year, the family foundation run by Brown’s children, which is separate from his estate, gave five children in Georgia $1,000 scholarships—a small but meaningful step that shows Brown’s spirit of generosity lives on through his children. While the legal battles continue, there’s still hope that James Brown’s beautiful dream of helping kids get an education will finally come true. Sometimes the most important fights take the longest, but they’re worth it when children’s futures are at stake.
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