Bobby Brown | |
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 Brown in 2018 | |
| Born | Robert Barisford Brown (1969-02-05)February 5, 1969 (age 56) Boston,Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1978–present[1][2] |
| Television | Being Bobby Brown |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 7, includingBobbi Kristina |
| Awards | Full list |
| Musical career | |
| Genres | |
| Labels | |
| Member of | |
Musical artist | |
Bobby Barisford Brown Sr. (born February 5, 1969)[4] is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, and dancer. Alongside frequent collaboratorTeddy Riley, he is recognized as a pioneer ofnew jack swing: a fusion ofhip hop andR&B.[5] Brown rose to fame as a founding member of the R&B/pop vocal groupNew Edition,[2] contributing to hits like "Candy Girl", "Cool It Now", and "Mr. Telephone Man". He left the group in 1985 to pursue a solo career but later reunited with them for theirBillboard 200 number-one albumHome Again (1996).[6]
Brown's debut album,King of Stage (1985), featured thenumber-one R&B single "Girlfriend". However, it was his second album,Don't Be Cruel (1988), that brought him commercial and critical success, producing fiveBillboard Hot 100 top 10 singles, including the number-one hit "My Prerogative" and theGrammy Award–winning "Every Little Step".[7] In 1989, Brown contributed two songs to theGhostbusters II soundtrack. His next album,Bobby (1992), was certified 3× Platinum by theRIAA and featured the singles "Humpin' Around", "Get Away", and "Good Enough". Brown has also appeared in films, includingA Thin Line Between Love and Hate (1996) andTwo Can Play That Game (2001).
In 1992, Brown marriedWhitney Houston, with whom he had a daughter,Bobbi Kristina Brown. Their widely publicized relationship was marked by drug issues and domestic disputes, attracting significant media attention.[8] Brown and Houston starred in the 2005 reality television seriesBeing Bobby Brown. Houston filed for divorce in 2006, and it was finalized the next year.
Brown was born inBoston,Massachusetts,[4] as one of eight children. His mother Carole Elizabeth (born Williams) was a substitute teacher, and his father Herbert James Brown was a construction worker.[9][10] Brown grew up inRoxbury'sOrchard Park Projects.[11][12][13] Brown's first taste of performing on stage occurred when he was age three, and one of his childhood idolsJames Brown performed in Boston. This performance sparked his dream of becoming a professional singer. Brown joined the church choir, where he recognized and developed his singing abilities. Brown's musical influences also include singer-songwritersRick James,Michael Jackson,Marvin Gaye, andPrince.[14]
New Edition was founded in 1980 under the name "The Bricks" by 12-year-old Brown and childhood friendsMichael Bivins andRicky Bell.[15]Ralph Tresvant joined the group at the suggestion of Bell who sang with Tresvant as a duo. Brown was also familiar with Tresvant since they were children. In 1982, they became a quintet when their manager Brooke Payne insisted on bringing in his nephewRonnie DeVoe, to complete the group. After performing in several talent shows in the Boston area, they signed a deal with fellow BostonianArthur Baker's Streetwise Records, who released their debut albumCandy Girl. The title track, on which Brown sang co-lead alongside Bell and Tresvant, was the group's first number-one hit on Billboard's R&B Singles Chart in 1983 and also became an international hit reaching number one in the UK and New Zealand. Brown's first full lead vocal performance was on the New Edition ballad "Jealous Girl", which was a minor hit when it also charted in 1983. The group became crossover pop sensations with theirself-titled second release in 1984. The album included the pop hits "Cool It Now" and "Mr. Telephone Man", the latter in which Brown also co-led, often singing the now-memorable chorus.
Despite the group's success, however, Brown felt the group was never rightfully paid the money they felt they had earned, later saying, "The most I saw from all the tours and all of the records we sold was $500 and a VCR." Brown also allegedly grew jealous of the attention given to fellow New Edition member Ralph Tresvant, and during some of their tour performances would often step out of his position and perform out of turn, singing and performing seductively, which caused concern within the group's management team. Brown was featured on two more New Edition albums before leaving the group in early 1986.[16] Brown later said he felt that the group's management treated them "like little slaves by people who were only interested in money and power, and not in the welfare of New Edition". Some controversy arose over the way Brown was removed from the group. Some say Brown asked to be let out of New Edition, but aVH-1Behind the Music documentary on the group claimed Brown was voted out by the group via their management team, with the members—most prominently Tresvant—against the decision.
Following his exit from New Edition, Brown signed a contract with his former group's label,MCA (which had earlier promised Brown a solo deal if he had decided to leave New Edition), and also signed with manager Steven Machat, who had also worked with New Edition. The label released his debut albumKing of Stage in 1986. Brown had a number-one R&B hit with the ballad "Girlfriend", but the album otherwise failed to perform well.
Brown laid low for more than a year while working on his follow-up album. With the help of Machat and MCA representative Louil Silas, Brown began working with some of the top R&B producers and songwriters of the time, includingBabyface,Antonio "L.A." Reid andTeddy Riley. The producers helped to compose what became Brown's most successful solo album of his career,Don't Be Cruel. Released in 1988, the album became Brown's first number one album on theBillboard 200 on January 21, 1989, replacing fellowR&B singerAnita Baker'sGiving You the Best That I Got off the top spot.[17] 19 years old at the time of this accomplishment, Brown became the youngest male artist to top theBillboard 200 sinceStevie Wonder's 1963 live album,Recorded Live: The 12 Year Old Genius, reached the top spot when Wonder was thirteen. At the time, Brown became the youngest male artist in history to top the album charts with astudio album. SingerJustin Bieber later broke that record in 2010.
The album launched five top-ten hits on theBillboardHot 100,[7][18] including the number-one single, the self-penned "My Prerogative",[19] which became, along with "Every Little Step" and the title track, signature hits for the performer. Album sales would eventually reach twelve million copies worldwide, including 7 million alone in the US, making it thebest-selling album of 1989. In February 1990, he won theGrammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for the album's fourth single "Every Little Step".[20]Don't Be Cruel also garnered Brown twoAmerican Music Awards, aSoul Train Music Award and aPeople's Choice Award.
In 1989, Brown contributed two songs to the soundtrack ofGhostbusters II, and he also had a cameo role in the film. The first track on that album, "On Our Own"[21] became another top-ten single for the singer, peaking at number two. The same year, a remix compilation,Dance!...Ya Know It!, was released, and found fans in the United Kingdom. Brown embarked on a 120-day world tour to promoteDon't Be Cruel in 1988, with Al B. Sure! opening for him, and New Edition also opening for him on some dates. The tour lasted into the spring of 1991, but not without Brown gaining notoriety for simulating sexual acts onstage, which got him into trouble with local law enforcement.[22] In 1990, Brown performed "Tap into My Heart" at the 1990MTV Awards, and was set to release the albumMystical Magic, but it was eventually shelved for reasons unknown and wasn't released. In 1990, Brown was featured on the number-one hit "She Ain't Worth It" byGlenn Medeiros,[23] making it his second number 1 hit on the pop chart, and also collaborated with Babyface for the remix of the latter's single "Tender Lover" that same year. In 1991, Brown collaborated with New Edition memberRalph Tresvant on the latter's single "Stone Cold Gentleman", which was a top-five R&B hit.
Brown's next albumBobby was released in 1992. Despite its release during the final days of the New Jack Swing era it was a success, selling more than 3 million copies, and spawning several hit singles including "Humpin' Around",[24] "Get Away", and "Good Enough". He received his secondGrammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance nomination for "Humpin' Around".[20] He received his thirdAmerican Music Award in January 1993. However, sales ofBobby did not match its predecessor. The song, "Something in Common", a duet between Brown and then-newlywed wifeWhitney Houston, in which they shared songwriting credit while Houston was credited with vocal arrangement, became a hit in the UK, peaking at No. 16. Despite the fact that the song didn't receive a commercial single in the United States, the song became a hit on theBillboard pop and R&B radio airplay charts.
In 1994, dance producers K-Klass remixed "Two Can Play That Game" from the Bobby album, it would become Brown's biggest single in the UK peaking at No.3 in 1995.
Four years later, he would release his fourth solo albumForever, in 1997. The album's only single, "Feeling Inside", was not successful. Brown would contribute to wife Whitney Houston's 2002 album,Just Whitney, co-producing the moderately successful hit, "Whatchulookinat", while contributing vocals to their duet, "My Love", off the same album. The latter duet reached the top 40 of theBillboardAdult R&B Songs chart.Just Whitney was a hit, going platinum in the United States and selling over 2.5 million units worldwide.
Prior to the release ofForever, Brown had been in negotiations with rapperTupac Shakur to sign with Shakur's new label Makaveli Records, or with the proposed labelDeath Row East. However, Shakur died before that could take place. Leaving MCA followingForever, Brown laid low for several years, appearing as a featured artist in 2001 on two tracks fromThe Benzino Project, and in 2002 he was featured in a duet with rapperJa Rule on the song "Thug Lovin'". Brown was signed toMurder Inc. Records, but that label had already begun to dissolve, so Brown's tenure with them was brief. In 2006, Brown appeared adding vocals toDamian Marley's song "Beautiful" on Marley's album,Welcome to Jamrock.
In 2008, Brown planned to release a book titledBobby Brown: The Truth, the Whole Truth and Nothing But, written by author Derrick Handspike.[25] When controversial comments that Brown made about his ex-wife, Whitney Houston, were leaked to the media, he backed out of the project.[26][25] Handspike released the book after Houston's death in 2012.[27]
In 2010, Brown was featured in a duet with singerMacy Gray on the song "Real Love" on Gray's albumThe Sellout. About this project, Gray explained toEssence,[28] "Actually, he came to the studio, since he doesn't live far, and knocked out his recording in two hours. We're friends, and his one-year-old son is my godson. Hisfiancée is one of my best friends in the whole world. I met Bobby a long time ago, but we really got to know each other through her."[29]
On June 5, 2012, Brown released his fifth album,The Masterpiece, which debuted at number 41 on theBillboard R&B album chart.[7]
On February 14, 2017, Brown performed at the Valentine's Day Music Festival withKeith Sweat,Avant andEl DeBarge.[30]
Brown made his first reunited appearance withNew Edition at the1990 MTV Video Music Awards. Their performance later sparked the recording ofBell Biv DeVoe's "Word to the Mutha!" in 1991 (on which Brown,Ralph Tresvant and later NE memberJohnny Gill were included). A fully-fledged reunion occurred with the 1996 release of the album,Home Again.[31] Brown contributed lead vocals on two hit singles, "Hit Me Off" and "You Don't Have to Worry". However, a subsequent 1997 tour to support the album led to problems between Brown and the other New Edition members. Brown later admitted that he was struggling with drugaddiction andalcoholism during the tour.
In 2005, at theBET 25th Anniversary Special, Brown again reunited with New Edition. In 2008, Brown, Ralph Tresvant, and Johnny Gill then formed a splinter group, Heads of State, to compete withBell Biv DeVoe. At the 2009 BET Awards, following thedeath of the group's idol Michael Jackson, all six of the New Edition members again reunited to perform a medley ofJackson 5 hits in honor of Jackson. This sparked rumors of another full-fledged New Edition reunion, which was confirmed the following year.
Brown and New Edition continue to perform together, including The Culture Tour, which began in early 2022.[32][33]
Brown's work with New Edition has since been honored, with the group receiving the BET Lifetime Achievement Award at the2017 ceremony. In 2022, the group was inducted into theBlack Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame. In 2023, they were inducted into theNational Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame and in 2024, they were inducted into theNAACP Hall of Fame.
Brown made his acting debut with a cameo appearance in the 1989 film,Ghostbusters II, playing the Mayor's doorman. The following year, he appeared in the HBO kids show,Mother Goose Rock 'n' Rhyme playing all three characters of Three Blind Mice. In 1995, he made another guest appearance in the film,Panther, and had a major role in theMartin Lawrence film,A Thin Line Between Love and Hate. Brown made other guest appearances in the filmsTwo Can Play That Game,Gang of Roses,Nora's Hair Salon andGo for Broke.
In 2005, Brown was in negotiations with theBravo television network for a reality series entitledBeing Bobby Brown. Bravo, however, was not ready to commit to the deal unless Brown's superstar wife Whitney Houston agreed to be part of the cast, which she did. The show then received the greenlight from Bravo and was a massive success in the ratings, with Houston proving so popular on the series that she received as much screen time as the show's name-sake. The series showed Brown and Houston not always in their best moments.The Hollywood Reporter said that the show was "undoubtedly the most disgusting and execrable series ever to ooze its way onto television".[34] Despite the perceived train-wreck nature of the show, it continued Houston's unbroken string of hit motion pictures and television projects, and it gave Bravo its highest ratings ever of any of its ongoing series.[35] The show lasted one season and ended in 2006 after Houston stated she would not appear in season two and Bravo and Brown could not settle on a new deal.
In June 2007, Brown took part in the ITV television series24 Hours With..., a chat show format as celebrity and interviewer spend an intense 24 hours locked in a room together. The show's host,Jamie Campbell, asked Brown questions about his career and private life, and infamously joked about making "sexual moves" towards the singer. Brown was furious and threatened to beat Campbell up live on air.[36] Brown's later tenures in reality shows included appearances onReal Husbands of Hollywood,Celebrity Fit Club andGone Country.
In 2021, Brown competed inseason five ofThe Masked Singer as the wild card contestant "Crab". At one point after performingRick James's song "Give It to Me Baby", Brown had to be briefly taken to his dressing room when he became overheated and short of breath in his costume. He was later eliminated on Week 7 alongsideTamera Mowry as "Seashell".
In May 2022,Biography: Bobby Brown andBobby Brown: Every Little Step began airing onA&E.[37][38] Brown is an executive-producer of both thedocumentary-style andreality television series about his life.[39][40]
In 1995, Brown was with Steven Sealy when Sealy was targeted in a drive-by shooting. Sealy, Brown's sister's boyfriend, was killed and Brown was unharmed.[41][42] The shooter, John Tibbs, took a plea agreement in 2001.[43]
Brown's parents, Carole and Herbert Brown, died within a year of each other. Carole died in 2011 and Herbert "Pops" in January 2012, a month before Bobby's former wife Whitney Houston's death.[44][45]
Brown first metWhitney Houston at theSoul Train Music Awards in 1989 when he was 20. They began a close friendship after Houston invited Brown to her 26th birthday party that August. Their friendship developed into a romance. In 1991, Brown proposed to Houston and the couple married at Houston's estate on July 18, 1992. Their daughterBobbi Kristina Brown was born in 1993.[46] Houston and Brown later collaborated on the hit single "Something in Common", which included their daughter at the end of the music video. Due to their combined successes in pop and R&B music, the couple earned aGuinness World Record around 1999 as the "most successful star couple".[47]
Throughout their marriage, there were rumors of infidelity on Brown's part,alcohol anddrug abuse, and domestic violence.[48] Their personal issues became fodder for talk shows and sketch comedy shows. Some sketch comedy shows portrayed Brown as a has-been who was jealous of his wife's celebrity status. In 2003, Brown was charged with battery after an altercation with Houston.[48]
In 2005, the couple participated in the reality showBeing Bobby Brown, which gave a picture of their lives behind the scenes.[49] In September 2006, Houston filed forlegal separation and later divorce.[50] Their divorce was finalized on April 24, 2007, with Houston receiving custody of their 14-year-old daughter.[51][52] In a September 2009 interview withOprah Winfrey, Houston admitted to sometimes using drugs with Brown, stating that Brown had "laced marijuana withcocaine".[53] Houston also told Winfrey that Brown had been abusive during their marriage and even spat on her on one occasion while drunk.[54]
Following the death of Houston on February 11, 2012, six days after his 43rd birthday, Brown struggled to perform at a New Edition show, shouting "I love you, Whitney" in tears.[55] Brown then excused himself from the stage and New Edition finished the remainder of the show. Brown appeared at Houston's memorial service inNew Jersey but was asked to leave by the family's security. In an interview given toThe Today Show in May 2012, Brown said security was the reason he and his family left the service; Brown stated that he loved Houston's family and toldMatt Lauer that he had spent "14 beautiful years" with Houston as his wife.[56] Along withClive Davis,Ray J, and others, Brown has been accused of contributing to the singer's death, which he denies.[57]
In 2009, Brown had a son named Cassius with his partner of two years, manager Alicia Etheredge.[58] Brown and Etheredge became engaged in May 2010, when Brown proposed during a performance at the Funk Fest inJacksonville, Florida.[59] The couple married on June 18, 2012, inHawaii and have since had two daughters.[60]
Brown has fathered seven children. His eldest, Landon, was born on June 22, 1986, to Melika Williams.[60] He has two children with Kim Ward, whom he met around 1980; daughter La'Princia[61] (b. 1989) and son Bobby Brown Jr. (1991–2020). His and Ward's on-and-off 11-year relationship ended in 1991. At three months pregnant, Ward found out Brown was engaged to Whitney Houston.[62] Houston suffered miscarriages in 1992, 1994, and 1996. His only child with Houston wasBobbi Kristina Brown (1993–2015). Brown has three children with Alicia Etheredge: a son born in 2009, and daughters born in 2015 and 2016.[63][64]
In January 2015, Brown's daughter Bobbi Kristina was found unconscious in her bathtub at her residence inRoswell, Georgia. The 21-year-old was rushed to North Fulton Hospital where she was placed on a ventilator in a medically induced coma to stop the swelling of her brain. It was reported her brain activity was "low". Brown rushed to his daughter's side and released a statement to the press requesting them to respect the family's privacy. She was later transferred toEmory University Hospital.[65] After doctors concluded significant brain function was unlikely to occur, Bobbi Kristina was removed from the ventilator and put in the care of Hospice in Duluth, Georgia. She died there on July 26, 2015, at age 22.[66]
On November 18, 2020, Brown's son Bobby Jr., age 28, was found dead in his home.[67][68] His death was ruled an accidental overdose of cocaine, fentanyl, and alcohol.[69]
As a child, Brown was diagnosed withADD and later withbipolar disorder at age 32.[70] Brown said that his drug of choice wasmarijuana and that he had developedalcoholism at an early age. Brown was doing drugs all his life before he met Whitney Houston[71] Brown often contradicted himself on when he began using cocaine, claiming that he didn't begin using cocaine until after meeting Houston, though he later admitted on hisBehind the Music documentary in 2009 that he had been using cocaine prior to meeting Houston.[26]
Throughout the 1990s, his drug addiction worsened and at one point he was cooking cocaine and usingheroin.[26]
According to former gang member David Collins, Brown was kidnapped by New York street gang the Preacher Crew over a $25,000 drug debt in 1993. Houston paid a $400,000ransom to the gang who threatened to kill Brown. The incident was never reported to authorities.[72][73]
Since 1989, Brown has been arrested multiple times for various offenses:
Brown popularized theRoger Rabbit dance (aka the "backwards"running man), as performed in themusic video for his song "Every Little Step" (1989),[98] along with theGumby-stylehi-top fade.[99] Brown has claimed that he taughtMichael Jackson how to do themoonwalk.[100]
Brown was spoofed byAries Spears onMADtv, with Whitney Houston portrayed byDebra Wilson.[49] He was also spoofed byTracy Morgan andFinesse Mitchell onSaturday Night Live. Brown was portrayed byArlen Escarpeta in the television filmWhitney, by Woody McClain in the 2017 miniseriesThe New Edition Story and in the 2018 miniseries about his life,The Bobby Brown Story. Brown is also portrayed byAshton Sanders in theWhitney Houston biopic,Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody, that was released Christmas 2022.[101]
In 2022, Brown also claimed he started wearing the "diaper pants" thatMC Hammer altered and made famous, on hisA&E showBobby Brown: Every Little Step.[102] However, Brown wore a less sagging variation during some concerts and in music videos, such as "My Prerogative" (1988) and "Every Little Step" (1989).[103]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Be Somebody... or Be Somebody's Fool! | Himself | Video |
| 1985 | Krush Groove | ||
| 1989 | Ghostbusters II | Mayor's Doorman | |
| 1990 | Mother Goose Rock 'n' Rhyme | Three Blind Mice | TV movie |
| 1995 | Panther | Rose | |
| 1996 | A Thin Line Between Love and Hate | Tee | |
| 2001 | Two Can Play That Game | Michael | |
| 2002 | Go for Broke | Jive | |
| 2003 | Gang of Roses | Left Eye Watkins | |
| 2004 | Nora's Hair Salon | Bennie | |
| 2008 | Nora's Hair Salon 2: A Cut Above | Old Man Butter | |
| 2017 | A Kindred Soul | Uncle | Short |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984–86 | American Bandstand | Himself | Recurring Guest |
| 1984–92 | Soul Train | ||
| 1985 | Solid Gold | Episode: "Episode #5.20" | |
| 1988–89 | America's Top 10 | Episode: "(1988-12)" & "Top 10 Songs of 1989" | |
| 1989 | 227 | Episode: "Video Activity" | |
| 1989–96 | Top of the Pops | Recurring Guest | |
| 1992 | Saturday Night Live | Episode: "Nicolas Cage/Bobby Brown" | |
| 1993 | American Music Awards | Himself/Co-Host | Main Co-Host |
| Out All Night | Himself | Episode: "A Date With a Diva" | |
| 1996 | Family Matters | Episode: "Home Again" | |
| 2000–02 | Where Are They Now? | Recurring Guest | |
| 2003 | Cedric the Entertainer Presents | Episode: "Episode #1.16" | |
| 2005 | Behind the Music | Episode: "New Edition" | |
| Dateline NBC | Episode: "Episode #13.51" | ||
| Being Bobby Brown | Main Cast | ||
| Cuts | Episode: "Blinging In The New Year" | ||
| 2007 | 24 Hours with... | Episode: "Bobby Brown" | |
| 2008 | Gone Country | Main Cast: Season 1 | |
| 2009 | Played by Fame | Episode: "Kickin' the Habit" | |
| 2010 | Celebrity Fit Club | Main Cast: Season 7 | |
| 2011 | Celebrity Close Calls | Episode: "Bobby Brown/Morgan Fairchild/Jewel/Elliott Yamin" | |
| 2013–14 | Unsung | Episode: "Johnny Gill" & "Troop" | |
| 2013–15 | Real Husbands of Hollywood | Guest: Season 1, Recurring Cast: Season 2–3 | |
| 2017 | Hollywood Medium | Episode: "Eva Longoria/Bobby Brown/Jwoww" | |
| Hip Hop Squares | Himself/Center Square | Recurring Guest | |
| Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood | Himself | Episode: "Boy Band" | |
| Lip Sync Battle | Episode: "Soul Train Special" | ||
| 2019 | American Soul | Rufus Thomas | Episode: "Lost and Found" |
| 2021 | The Masked Singer | Himself/Crab | Contestant:Season 5 |
| Crank Yankers | Bobby Brown's Uncle/Mike Tyson (voice) | Episode: "Episode #6.5" & "#6.9" | |
| 2022 | Bobby Brown: Every Little Step | Himself | Main Cast |
I just had a baby. Four days ago — my son Cassius.
| Studio albums | |
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| Soundtrack albums | |
| Live albums | |
| Compilation albums | |
| Other releases | |
| Tours | |
| Concerts and appearances | |
| Family | |
| Related articles | |
