Arctic Monkeys Pay Tribute To James Brown At Christmas

Arctic Monkeys have paid tribute to the late James Brown this Christmas, a year on from his death.

Brown died on December 25, 2006, aged 73.

The band explained how they had paid tribute to Brown when he was alive, taking the stage to the sound of one of his songs.

“We were big fans of James Brown,” bassist Nick O’Malley.

Frontman Alex Turner added: “The first ever gig we did, we walked onstage to ‘The Payback’. And at college I had a pair of jeans I’d written on in red marker, ‘I’ve got soul and I’m super bad’.”

“It was one of those things [Brown’s death] when you heard, you didn’t want to believe it,” O’Malley continued. “A bit like Steve Irwin.”

For the full interview with Arctic Monkeys, get the bumper Christmas issue of NME, on newsstands now.

Thanks for the info to NME.com.

Comments

[jamstation]

this is PR for NME, isn't it?

[speedkills]

Nice to pay tribute to such a musical legend. I saw his last show (in Kansas City, the Voodoo Lounge at a casino)and it was simply terrific; the show, while short, was a soulful (pardon the awful pun) romp through the hits that made Brown's career. The show was easily the best show I've been to; hell, I'm even a metal guitarist/fan, and this singular performance of blues and soul trumped all others, in my mind.