JAMES BROWN FINALLY LAID TO REST

Seventy-six days after his death on Christmas Day, James Brown was finally laid to rest yesterday in a crypt emblazoned with the words "Godfather of Soul," the Rev. Al Sharpton said.

"It was very emotional," Sharpton told the Daily News after presiding over the ceremony in South Carolina. "It was just the closest family and his children."

The service at the Beech Island home of one of the singer's daughters was also attended by Brown's partner, Tomi Rae Hynie, and her 5-year-old son James Brown 2nd.

The backup singer's claims that Brown married her and fathered her child led to the estate dispute that delayed his burial for so long after his death on Dec. 25. A DNA sample was taken from Brown last month for a possible paternity challenge.

But Sharpton said the ceremony at the home of Deanna Brown Thomas "united" everybody who attended, and Hynie agreed.