"James Brown Is Dead" is a song by Dutch electronic dance music duo L.A. Style. It was released in August 1991 as the lead single from their debut album, L.A. Style. The song was a major hit across Europe, reaching number-one in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Spain. The song also reached the top 10 in Australia, Germany, Italy, Sweden, and Switzerland. It also peaked at number 59 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. The song inspired multiple answer songs. The song is considered a "rave classic" with artists like DJ Irene mixing it into their sets. In 2001, Wessel van Diepen and Arista Records released "James Brown Is Dead 2001", a new version of the L.A. Style original.

In the wake of "James Brown Is Dead" the song "James Brown Is Still Alive" was released that same year by Holy Noise, a techno group also from the Netherlands. Although the first song's lyrics do actually assert that James Brown (1933–2006), "the hardest working man in show biz is alive," the Holy Noise song is regarded as an answer to the L.A. Style song.

After Holy Noise many other artists jumped on the bandwagon with songs in which James Brown got often replaced with the name of other celebrities.

The song is featured in the 2012 film Here Comes The Boom.

List of songs inspired by this song:

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