They’ve Come A LONG Way: 9 Celebs And The Criminal Records Or Shady Pasts We Forgot About (Or Never Knew About)

James Brown Gets Violent With Tammi Terrell

Where would funk and R&B music in general be without James Brown? While Brown is beloved for his music, and social activism through said music, James Brown was known behind the scenes for his temper too, among other things. In his later years he was arrested multiple times for domestic violence against his third wife, and a girlfriend, but not too many people know that he had issues with domestic violence early in his career, specifically while dating singer Tammi Terrell.  They were together for two years, a time in which she signed to sing with him and travel with Brown and his band. Sadly, there were different incidents of abuse, and the last one, according to her sister Ludie, was why they split. Singer Gene Chandler was on tour with both of them and after their last scuffle, he contacted her family to come get her. (“I witnessed the situation and she came to me for help, then I called her parents.”) Sadly, Terrell would again have to deal with domestic violence when she began dating Temptations singer David Ruffin. And back then, while it may have been frowned upon, people weren’t really calling the police and pressing charges for domestic violence like that in the early ’60s.