Man who wrote 'the most famous drum sample of all time' finally gets paid for it

It may only be six to seven seconds long, but a drum solo from a little-known track called "Amen, Brother" could very well be one of the most famous beats in the world. However, the beat's creators — a funk group known as The Winstons, fronted by Richard Spencer — never saw "a single penny for its use in the countless music that contains it," according to a GoFundMe campaign that was set up to right that wrong.

Believed to have been used in around 1,862 tracks, "Amen, Brother" itself might not ring any bells. But Amy Winehouse, Oasis, N.W.A., and hundreds of others have used "the most famous breakbeat and sample of all time" in some of their best known music:

Now, 46 years after "Amen, Brother" was written, around $36,400 has finally been raised for Spencer in a campaign set up by British DJs Martyn Webster and Steve Theobald, The Independent reports. Webster and Theobald had considered what was being done to Spencer an injustice — Spencer had been unaware of his song's heavy sampling until around 1996, when the statute of limitation had run out and he could no longer get the money he was owed through legal means.

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Finally having been paid for his work, Spencer thanked contributors for the money on Facebook. "Thank you so much for this great contribution to my life," he said in a video. "Thank you very, very much. A-men!" Gregory Coleman, the drummer who actually played the Amen Break, "died a broke and homeless man" in 2006, never having seen royalties for his work, according to the GoFundMe campaign.

You can learn more about the history of the Amen Break in this BBC documentary below. Jeva Lange