Bobby Brown

Bobby Barisford Brown Sr. (born February 5, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, and dancer. Brown, alongside frequent collaborator Teddy Riley, is noted as one of the pioneers of new jack swing: a fusion of hip hop and R&B. Brown started his career in the R&B and pop group New Edition, from its inception in 1978 until his exit from the group in December 1985.

Once he started a solo career, Brown enjoyed commercial and critical success with his second album Don't Be Cruel (1988) which spawned five Billboard Hot 100 top 10 singles, including the number one hit "My Prerogative", and the Grammy Award–winning "Every Little Step". In 1989, Brown contributed two songs to the soundtrack of Ghostbusters II. Brown's next album Bobby (1992) spawned several singles including "Humpin' Around", "Get Away", and "Good Enough". However, despite going 3× Platinum, sales of Bobby did not reach the level of its predecessor. In 1992, Brown married Whitney Houston, with whom he later had a daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown. The couple's drug problems and domestic disputes made them tabloid fodder.

Brown also appeared in the films A Thin Line Between Love and Hate and Two Can Play That Game. He returned to New Edition for a reunion album and tour from 1996 to 1997, and returned with all six members for another stint in 2005. Brown and Houston starred in the 2005 reality show Being Bobby Brown. Houston, who filed for divorce in 2007, died in 2012. Their daughter died in 2015.

Early life

Brown was born in Boston, Massachusetts, 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. Brown grew up in Roxbury's Orchard Park Projects. Brown's first taste of performing on stage occurred when he was age three, and one of his childhood idols James 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-songwriters Rick James, Michael Jackson, Marvin Gaye, and Prince.

Music career

New Edition

New Edition was founded in 1980 by 12-year-old Brown and childhood friends Michael Bivins and Ricky Bell. 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 nephew Ronnie DeVoe, to complete the group. After performing in several talent shows in the Boston area in 1979, they signed a deal with fellow Bostonian Arthur Baker's Streetwise Records, who released their debut album Candy Girl. The title track, on which Brown sang co-lead alongside Bell and Tresvant, was a top-20 hit on Billboard's R&B Singles Chart in 1983. 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 pop sensations with their self-titled second release. The album included the crossover hits "Cool It Now" and "Mr. Telephone Man", which Brown also co-led.

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. 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 a VH-1 Behind 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.

Solo career

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 album King 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, including Babyface, Antonio "L.A." Reid and Teddy 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 launched five top-ten hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including the number-one single, the self-penned "My Prerogative", which became, along with "Every Little Step" and the title track, signature hits for the performer. After topping both the pop and R&B charts, album sales would eventually reach twelve million copies worldwide, making it the bestselling album of 1989. In February 1990, he won the Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for the album's fourth single "Every Little Step". Don't Be Cruel also garnered Brown two American Music Awards, a Soul Train Music Award and a People's Choice Award.

In 1989, Brown contributed two songs to the soundtrack of Ghostbusters II, and he also had a cameo role in the film. The first track on that album, "On Our Own" 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 promote Don'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. In 1990, Brown performed "Tap into My Heart" at the 1990 MTV Awards, and was set to release the album Mystical 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" by Glenn Medeiros, 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 member Ralph Tresvant on the latter's single "Stone Cold Gentleman", which was a top-five R&B hit.

Brown's next album Bobby 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", "Get Away", and "Good Enough". He received his second Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance nomination for "Humpin' Around". He received his third American Music Award in January 1993. However, sales of Bobby did not match its predecessor. Whitney Houston and Brown had recorded a song together, "Something in Common", which was released as a single from the Bobby album.

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 album Forever, in 1997. The album's only single, "Feeling Inside", was not successful.

Prior to the release of Forever, Brown had been in negotiations with rapper Tupac Shakur to sign with Shakur's new label Makaveli Records, or with the proposed label Death Row East. However, Shakur died before that could take place. Leaving MCA following Forever, Brown laid low for several years, appearing as a featured artist in 2001 on two tracks from The Benzino Project, and in 2002 he was featured in a duet with rapper Ja Rule on the song "Thug Lovin'". Brown was signed to Murder Inc. Records, but that label had already begun to dissolve, so Brown's tenure with them was brief. In 2006, Brown appeared adding vocals to Damian Marley's song "Beautiful" on Marley's album, Welcome to Jamrock.

In 2008, Brown planned to release a book titled Bobby Brown: The Truth, the Whole Truth and Nothing But, written by author Derrick Handspike. When controversial comments that Brown made about his ex-wife, Whitney Houston, were leaked to the media, he backed out of the project. Handspike released the book after Houston's death in 2012.

In 2010, Brown was featured in a duet with singer Macy Gray on the song "Real Love" on Gray's album The Sellout. About this project, Gray explained to Essence, "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. His fiancée 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."

On June 5, 2012, Brown released his fifth album, The Masterpiece, which debuted at number 41 on the Billboard R&B album chart.

On February 14, 2017, Brown performed at the Valentine's Day Music Festival with Keith Sweat, Avant and El DeBarge.

New Edition reunions

Brown made his first reunited appearance with New Edition at the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards. Their performance later sparked the recording of Bell Biv DeVoe's "Word to the Mutha!" in 1991 (on which Brown, Ralph Tresvant and later NE member Johnny Gill were included). A fully-fledged reunion occurred with the 1996 release of the album, Home Again. 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 drug addiction and alcoholism during the tour.

In 2005, at the BET 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 with Bell Biv DeVoe. At the 2009 BET Awards, following the death of the group's idol Michael Jackson, all six of the New Edition members again reunited to perform a medley of Jackson 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.