Lyn Collins, 56; Was ‘Female Preacher’ in James Brown Show

Lyn Collins, 56, whose funky vocals landed her a spot early in James Brown’s stage show and the nickname “Female Preacher,” died of cardiac arrhythmia Sunday at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena, her son Bobby Jackson said.

Collins was visiting the Los Angeles area after a tour in Europe last month, Jackson said. She lived in Abilene, Texas.

Born in Dime Box, Texas, Collins took up singing as a teenager. At 14, she married a man who worked as the local promoter for the James Brown Revue. Brown heard Collins sing, and in 1970 she was invited to join his traveling show.

Her powerful voice led Brown to nickname her the “Female Preacher,” and two years later she cut her first solo album, “Think (About It).”

In 1975, Collins released “Check Me Out if You Don’t Know Me by Now.”

The hip-hop duo Rob Base & D.J. E-Z Rock exposed Collins’ work to a new generation when they sampled one of her songs for their 1988 hit “It Takes Two.” Since then, other contemporary R&B; and rap artists have mined Collins’ songs, including rapper Ludacris.