James Brown Arrested

James Brown was arrested yesterday and charged with criminal domestic violence after he allegedly shoved his wife to the bedroom floor at their home in Beech Island, South Carolina.

The singer, 70, posted bond and was released on his own recognizance today. Thirty-four-year-old Tomi Rae Brown, Brown's fourth wife, was taken to the hospital and treated for scratches and bruises on her arm and an injury to her hip.

"I would never hurt my wife," Brown said in a statement. "I love her very much."

Brown and his wife, also one of his backup singers, were married three years ago and have one son, James Joseph Brown II. Last summer, Brown bought a full-page advertisement in the weekly Variety with a picture of the family at Disney World and the bizarre notice: "Due to Mr. James Brown and Mrs. Tomi Rae Brown's heavy, demanding tour schedule, they have decided to go their separate ways."

The arrest isn't Brown's first. He spent more than two years in jail for a 1988 drug and assault arrest. He was convicted on drug charges again a decade later. Last May he was granted a state pardon.

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Song Stories

“Let My Love Open the Door”

Pete Townshend | 1980

A peppy, hopeful love song, "Let My Love Open the Door" became a U. S. Top Ten hit for Pete Townshend in 1980, anchored by the kind of repeating synthesizer figures that he'd used in some of the Who's recordings in the previous decade. Although Townshend brushed the song off as "just a ditty" in Rolling Stone shortly after its release, in 1996 he revealed it was about love of the holiest sort. "It's supposed to be about the power of God's love," he remarked. "That when you're in difficulty, whether it's major or minor, God's love is always there for you."

More Song Stories entries »

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