auction (1 post)

James Brown's Estate Cashes In on His Stuff

James Brown Passing John Stanton Wireimage

Papa has fetched a brand new bag—of money.

The medical bracelet James Brown was wearing before he died on Christmas Day in 2006 sold for a whopping $32,500 Thursday at a Christie's auction of Brown memorabilia.

The winning bidder: The Late Show With David Letterman sidekick and band leader Paul Shaffer.

But although the bracelet way surpassed Christie's $200 to $300 estimate, the day's overall take of $857,688 fell short of expectations.

Also among the 317 personal items on the block at the behest of the Godfather of Soul's estate, which maintained that the auction was necessary to pay bills and taxes: a full-length, black satin cape that went for $47,500; a red leather furniture set that sold for $40,000; and a denim jumpsuit studded with the acronym GFOS that fetched $25,000.

Keep Reading

THE BIG PIC

Bird of Paradise Rihanna pushes the style envelope as she soars onstage at Fashion Rocks in NYC

More Photos

Shop

Get Your E! News Now

Text ENEWS to 4INFO (44636) for daily celeb news alerts

Standard messaging rates apply.

Did you know you can grab smokin' hot E! Online news, review and gossip through our RSS service?

New to RSS feeds? Learn more >>

Birthdate:

Enter your full birthdate:

has been subscribed to the E! News Now Newsletter.

To change your settings, go to your preferences.