Bobby Brown
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- For other uses, see Bobby Brown (disambiguation)}}}.
Robert Beresford "Bobby" Brown (born February 5, 1969) is an American Grammy-winning R&B singer and dancer. Brown began his career with the popular boy band New Edition in 1980 and was later ousted from the group due to behavioral problems. He embarked on a solo career in the late 1980s and had a string of Top 10 Billboard hits. Brown is the husband of R&B singer Whitney Houston and the star of his own reality show, Being Bobby Brown.
Contents
Biography and career
Brown was born in Boston, Massachusetts and began singing with schoolmates Michael Bivins and Ricky Bell in 1980. Childhood friends Ronnie DeVoe and Ralph Tresvant joined the group, which came to be called New Edition. After a few talent show wins, New Edition was discovered by producer Maurice Starr. Starr signed the group to his label and co-authored its debut hit, "Candy Girl," which helped get New Edition a deal with MCA Records. After a few years of teen stardom, Brown longed to move on to an adult solo career. Brown's disruptive behavior led to him being kicked out of New Edition in 1986. He released his debut solo album, King of Stage, in 1987, and while it didn't make a name for Brown as a pop star, it did spawn a major R&B hit in the ballad "Girlfriend." Overall though, King of Stage gave little indication that Brown was about to become a breakout star on the cutting edge of modern R&B.For his follow-up, Brown sought a more distinctive musical identity in the budding new jack swing movement. He enlisted the emerging production/songwriting team of L.A. Reid and Babyface to handle the majority of the record, with new jack pioneer Teddy Riley coming onboard in a limited capacity as well. The result, Don't Be Cruel, was a state-of-the-art, star-making affair. Released in the summer of 1988, the record produced Brown's first pop Top Ten hit in the title track, but really started to take off when the driving statement of purpose "My Prerogative" went all the way to number one toward the end of the year (and managed to work the word "prerogative" into a catchy hook). From there, Don't Be Cruel just kept spinning off hits: the ballad "Roni," the dance tune "Every Little Step" (which showed off Brown's rapping skills and earned him a Grammy in 1989 for Best Rhythm and Blues Vocal Performance-Male), and another ballad "Rock Wit'cha" all hit the Top 10 in 1989, with the former two both making it all the way to number three. Don't Be Cruel topped the album charts and sold a whopping seven million copies, making Brown a superstar. That same year, he was tapped to provide the theme song for Ghostbusters II and responded with the number two smash "On Our Own," another rap/R&B mixture; he also contributed a rap to friend Glenn Medeiros' number one pop hit "She Ain't Worth It." Brown was so popular at this point that even his 1990 remix album Dance!...Ya Know It! went platinum.
And then, somehow, the momentum began to slow. Countless other artists expanded on the new jack swing blueprint, with Brown's former New Edition colleagues Tresvant, Bell Biv Devoe, and Johnny Gill at the forefront. Moreover, Don't Be Cruel made L.A. Reid and Babyface into hot commodities, and their sound was all over the airwaves. Just before his new album, Bobby, was released in the summer of 1992, Brown married superstar diva Whitney Houston, who sang the duet "Something in Common" on the new record. Bobby's lead single, "Humpin' Around," was a smash on both the pop and R&B charts, reaching the Top 5 on the former; however, Bobby didn't sustain the momentum of Don't Be Cruel. Whatever the reason, sales of Bobby topped out at around two million copies, despite several more R&B hits in "Good Enough," "Get Away," and "That's the Way Love Is." In 1993, Georgia police arrested Brown for an overly suggestive stage performance, an incident that would prove to be the first of many legal difficulties for Brown over the next few years.
Legal issues
-->In 1995, Brown was arrested after a brawl in a Disney World nightclub, in which a patron who allegedly made a pass at a woman in Brown's party had his ear at least partially torn off. (Charges were later dropped when Brown settled out of court.) Several months later, Brown was charged with battery in Los Angeles after allegedly kicking a hotel security guard who tried to halt a party in Brown's room (he was sentenced to two years' probation). The same year, Brown checked himself into the Betty Ford Clinic to battle drug and alcohol problems. However, in August 1996, he wrecked Houston's leased Porsche while speeding in Florida; reportedly, his blood-alcohol level was twice the legal limit. In the midst of all this chaos, Brown found time to record with the fully reunited New Edition, whose comeback album, Home Again, entered the charts at number one that fall. Brown toured with the group, but departed for good when the tour was over. Meanwhile, the tabloids were having a field day over Brown and Houston's rumored marital problems; in 1997, Brown was accused of spousal abuse when Houston suffered a cut on her cheek during a yachting trip, although both Brown and Houston denied the reports.Also in 1997, Brown released his fourth solo album, Forever, a commercial disappointment which failed to even break the Top 50. In the summer of 1998, Brown was arrested for sexual battery stemming from an alleged incident in the Beverly Hills Hotel, although no charges were filed for lack of evidence. He served five days in a Florida jail stemming from his drunk-driving incident, and after spending time in rehab, he was arrested again for allegedly having shown up at the jail drunk. Brown reportedly violated his probation by testing positive for cocaine several times; while those charges were dropped, he was sentenced to 75 days in jail for refusing to take another drug test in the summer of 2000. Upon his release, Brown began working in earnest on a new album, which was derailed for a time when he suffered a seizure in the summer of 2001, reportedly from heat exhaustion and dehydration. It wasn't until 2002 that he really came back into the media spotlight; following a duet with rapper Ja Rule he was captured by the police for marijuana possession and driving without a license after a routine stop for speeding.
Being Bobby Brown
In June 2005, Brown launched his own reality series, Being Bobby Brown, on the Bravo television network. Being Bobby Brown follows Brown, his wife, and his extended family over the course of six months as they put their respective lives back together. The series also attempts to demystify Brown's relationships with Houston; their daughter, Bobbi Kristina; his children from previous relationships, La Princia and Bobby Jr.; and his brother Tommy, Bobby's personal manager. The series, shot documentary-style, also allows fans and critics alike to see the real Bobby Brown - as a family man and husband, apart from the headline scandals and allegations that have plagued, and at times overshadowed, his career. Being Bobby Brown is co-produced by B2 Entertainment and Brownhouze Entertainment (Brown's production company) for Bravo.
Discography
Albums
- 1987 King of Stage #88 US, #40 UK (1986 release); US Sales: Gold
- 1988 Don't Be Cruel #1 US, #3 UK (1988 release); US Sales: 10 million
- 1990 Dance!... Ya Know It! #9 US, #26 UK (1989 release); US Sales: Platinum
- 1992 Bobby #2 US, #11 UK; US Sales: 2 million
- 1993 Remixes N the Key of B
- 1997 Forever #61 US
- 2000 Greatest Hits
Singles
| Year | Title | Chart Positions | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Hot 100 | US R&B/Hip-Hop | UK Singles | |||
| 1986 | "Girlfriend" | #57 | #1 | - | King Of Stage |
| 1988 | "Don't Be Cruel" | #8 | #1 | #13 | Don't Be Cruel |
| 1988 | "My Prerogative" | #1 (4 weeks) | #1 | #6 | Don't Be Cruel |
| 1989 | "Every Little Step" | #3 | #1 | #6 | Don't Be Cruel |
| 1989 | "On Our Own" | #2 | #1 | #4 | Dance!...Ya Know It |
| 1989 | "Rock Wit Cha" | #7 | #3 | #33 | Don't Be Cruel |
| 1989 | "Roni" | #3 | #2 | #21 | Don't Be Cruel |
| 1992 | "Humpin' Around" | #3 | #1 | #19 | Bobby |
| 1992 | "Good Enough" | #7 | #5 | - | Bobby |
| 1993 | "Get Away" | #14 | #3 | - | Bobby |
| 1993 | That's The Way Love Is | #57 | #9 | - | Bobby |
| 1993 | "Something In Common" with Whitney Houston | - | - | #16 | |
| 1994 | "Two Can Play At That Game" | - | - | #3 | Bobby |
| 1997 | "Feelin' Inside | - | - | #40 | Forever |
| 2002 | "Thug Lovin" (Ja Rule feat. Bobby Brown) | #42 | #16 | #15 | |
| 2006 | "Beautiful" (Damian Marley with Bobby Brown) | - | - | #39 | Welcome To Jamrock |
| 2006 | "Born & Raised" (Jus Bus with Bobby Brown) | - | - | - | |
Videos
External links
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