In a career that spanned six decades, Brown influenced the development of several music genres James Brown is considered one of the founding fathers of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century popular music and dance, often referred to as "The Godfather of Soul".

Brown recorded 16 number-one singles on the Billboard R&B charts. Brown also holds the record as the artist to have charted the most singles on the Billboard Hot 100 which did not reach number one on that chart. Brown was honoured by many institutions including inductions into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Songwriters Hall of Fame. He is also ranked as number one in The Top 500 Artists. Brown is ranked seventh on the music magazine Rolling Stone's list of its 100 greatest artists of all time.