By Daniel Larios
Staff Writer

September 11, 2014 – Legendary funk-soul singer Charles Bradley will headline the final Twilight Concert of the season Thursday at the Santa Monica Pier.

Known for his against-all-odds rise from obscurity, Bradley has taken a long journey from the Brooklyn Housing Projects to critical success.

Raised by his grandmother in Gainesville, Florida after being abandoned by his mother at 8 months, became interested in music after watching James Brown perform at the legendary Apollo Theater.

The Godfather of Soul played a huge part in Bradley’s life, who eventually made a living as a James Brown impersonator in local clubs in 1996 under the name “Black Velvet.”

While performing as "Black Velvet," he was discovered by Gabriel Roth, co-founder of Daptone Records, who introduce Bradley to Daptone artist and producer Tom Brenneck.

After Daptone released some of his songs on vinyl, Brenneck and Bradley compiled a debut album No Time For Dreaming in 2011, gaining critical success after placing at number 48 on Rolling Stone magazine’s 50 Best Albums of 2011.

“From 63-year-old Bradley comes a period-perfect soul revival,” reads the Rolling Stone article.  “Every brass blast and chicken scratch could have come straight off a 1968 Stax Records release, but it's Bradley's ragged, resilient powerhouse singing that makes this soul, not ‘soul.’”
 
In the spring of 2012, a documentary exploring his life titled Soul of America debuted at the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas.

Bradley has a remarkable rappoire with his fans, enjoying a love from them that is unrivaled in the music industry, critics say. He once showed up in Utopia, Texas to play an outdoor show in the middle of a thunderstorm.

"It was just raining, raining, raining," Bradley recalls in his official website. "I walked out onstage, and there were about 800 people there – maybe more – all of them just standing out there in the rain and the mud."

About halfway through the show, the power went out, leaving both the band and the drenched fans in total darkness.

"I could hear them screaming, 'Charles Bradley! Charles Bradley we love you,'" Bradley smiles. "And so when the lights came back on, I said, 'If all of you can stand out there in the rain and get soaking wet because you want to see me perform – to see me do something that I love to do – then you know what? I'm gonna get wet, too.'" And with that, Bradley jumped off the stage and into the crowd.

Bradley's songs have frequently been sampled by hip hop artists, includeig Jay-Z and Asher Roth.

Opening for Bradley is New Orleans-based Blues, R&B/Soul group King James & The Special Men. The show starts at 7 p.m.