Pitchfork

Bobby Byrd-- singer, songwriter, and celebrated foil for the Hardest Working Man in Show Business-- died yesterday of complications from cancer in his Loganville, Georgia home, RollingStone.com reports. He was 73.

Byrd worked with James Brown from 1953-1973, first in the Famous Flames and then the JBs. He is perhaps best known as a co-vocalist on some of Brown's most famous songs: You'll recognize him immediately as the source of all the "get on up!"s on "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine".

A solo artist in his own right as well, Byrd recorded several albums and numerous singles, most famously the oft-sampled "I Know You Got Soul".

Brown and Byrd reunited in the years before their deaths, and Byrd performed at Brown's memorial service in Augusta, Georgia in December 2006.