It turns out James Brown was more prolific than we knew. DNA tests have confirmed that Brown had at least two more children than he publicly acknowledged. Brown’s lawyers had at least a dozen people who claimed to be his children DNA tested, and at least two of the tests have come back as positive. Several tests were negative and several are still pending, so the number could rise. Brown’s lawyers did not identify the children, but one came forward to the Augusta Chronicle.

“LaRhonda Petitt, a 45-year-old retired flight attendant and teacher in Houston, showed the newspaper a report that says there is a 99.99 percent probability she is Brown’s daughter.

“She would be the oldest of Brown’s children.

“Brown picked out Petitt’s mother from the crowd at a show in Los Angeles in the early 1960s, and she became the singer’s girlfriend, sometimes ironing his shirts before his shows, Petitt said.

“But when her mother became pregnant, she split with Brown and moved back to Houston. She would point to the television when Brown was performing and tell her daughter the singer was her father, Petitt told the newspaper.

“Petitt said that she met Brown at concerts and spoke to him over the phone, but that he never acknowledged being her father.

“’I was angry that he was out there making all this money, and he wasn’t doing anything for my mother and me,’ Petitt told the newspaper. ‘I could have had a better life.’”

[From the Associated Press]

James Brown died this past Christmas at age 73. His will listed his six acknowledged adult children. It did not mention his six-year-old son James Brown II with sort-of wife Tomi Rae Hynie. The two were married; however the marriage wasn’t legal because Hynie wasn’t divorced from her previous husband at the time. She did finalize her divorce proceedings, but she and Brown never legally formalized their marriage after that. Apparently Brown had serious doubts as to the paternity of James Brown II, and that may have been the reason he was not provided for in his will.

“One possible child of Brown’s who hasn’t undergone a DNA test is 6-year-old James Brown II, the son of Tomi Rae Hynie. Hynie was one of Brown’s backup singers and said she is the singer’s fourth wife. But Brown’s attorneys continue to dispute that claim, and the boy and his mother are not in the singer’s will.

“In court papers filed in recent weeks, [Buddy] Dallas [Brown’s attorney] said Brown told him that James II was not his child and that instead of calling him ‘son,’ he referred to him as ‘little man.’”

[From the Washington Post]

A lot of drama is still going on regarding James Brown’s will. The six adult children filed a lawsuit against his estate’s representatives asking the court to remove them and appoint a special administrator. They accused them of “impropriety and alleged mismanagement of Brown’s assets.” Tomi Rae Hynie also filed a lawsuit to identify her as Brown’s widow, and reiterating the adult children’s request that the court assign a special administrator for the estate. Brown is not even in his final resting place yet; he’s been temporarily buried at one of his children’s estates. It’s amazing how many lawyers this man employed; he had wills for his children and grandchildren which dealt with his personal belongings, and separate trusts to deal with his business holdings and licenses for his songs. He had an army of professionals working for him, yet it appears that he left a lot of loose ends. Hopefully this mess will get resolved and the man can finally be put to rest.

Images thanks to PRPhotos.