Brown’s Got A Brand New Wife

Although yet another wife recently came out of the woodwork in the ongoing battle over the late James Brown’s estate, it appears her claims to the cash were invalidated almost as soon as they’d been made.

Velma Warren Brown claimed the singer married her more than 50 years ago and fathered her three children, and that they never filed for divorce, according to an affidavit obtained by Georgia’s Augusta Chronicle.

Attorney David Bell, representing Warren Brown, told the paper the two had a lasting relationship and that the singer provided his client with financial assistance throughout his life.

"I just learned about this Thursday of last week," Bell said. "It hadn’t been made known. James and Velma were married June 27, 1953. If they didn’t go through a divorce decree, that means they were still married until his death."

And if that proved true, Brown’s three subsequent marriages would have been nullified, including his 2001 nuptials to Tomi Rae Hynie, who maintains she is the singer’s sole surviving wife.

However, Warren Brown’s claims to the estate were quickly challenged by Richmond County Superior Court records that show a decree of divorce signed by a judge in 1969, according to the Chronicle.