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A Godfather of Soul exits world stage The music world is in mourning after oneofits greatest showmen,the "Godfather of Soul" James Brown,died yesterday at78.The R&B pioneer,whose half-century career inspired funk,disco and rap,had been admitted to hospital in Atlanta with pneumonia.He grew up in a slum and started his first group be-hind bars,but went on to become a huge in-fluence on popular music in the 20th century.