Bobby Brown

At 55 years old, Bobby Brown has this physical status:

Robert Barisford Brown (born February 5, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, dancer, and actor.

Brown spent his time in the R&B and pop group New Edition, from its inception in 1981 to its resignation in 1985.

Don't Be Cruel, his second album, which resulted in a number of hit singles, including the self-penned "My Prerogative" and the Grammy Award-winning "Every Little Step." He began his solo career in 1988.

Brown had a string of top ten hits on various Billboard charts between 1986 and 1993.

Brown, as well as frequent collaborator Teddy Riley, has been praised as a jack swing pioneer; a blend of hip-hop and R&B. He has appeared in films including 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 then returned with all six members for another stint in 2005. Brown married Whitney Houston, with whom he had a daughter named Bobbi Kristina Brown in 1992.

The couple's drug use and domestic violence made them tabloid fodder.

They appeared on Being Bobby Brown, a 2005 reality show, before being divorced two years later in 2007.

Early life

Brown was born in Boston, Massachusetts, as one of eight children. Carole Elizabeth (born Williams) was a substitute teacher, and Herbert James Brown, a building laborer, was a builder. Brown grew up in Roxbury's Orchard Park Projects. Brown's first glimpse of being onstage came when he was three years old, and James Brown, one of his childhood heroes, appeared in Boston. This performance sparked the desire to be a singer. Brown enrolled in the church choir, where he discovered and developed his singing abilities. Rick James, Michael Jackson, Marvin Gaye, and Prince were all among Brown's musical influences.

Personal life

Brown was with Steven Sealy when Sealy was assaulted in a drive-by shooting in 1995. Brown's sister's boyfriend, Sealy, was killed, and Brown was unharmed. In 2001, John Tibbs, the gunman, entered a plea deal.

Carole and Herbert Brown Brown, Brown's parents, died within a year of each other. Carole and Herbert "Pops" in January 2012, a month before Bobby's ex wife Whitney Houston's death.

In comparison to sleeping with "thousands of women," Brown said to have dated Madonna and Janet Jackson.

In 1989, Brown first met Whitney Houston at the Soul Train Music Awards. Since Brown was invited to her birthday party in Houston, they formed a close friendship. Their friendship blossomed into a passion. Brown proposed marriage to Houston in 1991, and the couple married at Houston's estate on July 18, 1992. Bobbi Kristina Brown, their daughter, was born in 1993. Houston and Brown later collaborated on the hit single "Something in Common," which featured their daughter at the end of the music video.

Brown's involvement, opioid use, and one instance where Brown was reported to have hit Houston were all rumors of infidelity during their marriage. Their personal lives became fodder for talk shows and sketch comedy performances. Brown was depicted as a has-been who is jealous of his wife's celebrity, according to some sketch comedy sketches. Brown was charged with battery after an altercation with Houston in 2003.

In 2005, the couple appeared on Being Bobby Brown, a reality show that gave a glimpse of their everyday lives behind the scenes. Houston filed for legal separation and divorce in September 2006. The Houston couple's divorce was finalized on April 24, 2007, with Houston taking custody of their 14-year-old daughter. Houston confessed to occasionally using drugs with Brown in an Oprah Winfrey interview in September 2009, claiming that Brown had "laced marijuana with cocaine." Brown had been sexual during their marriage, and even spat with her on occasion while inebriated, according to Winfrey.

Brown struggled to perform at a New Edition show on February 11, 2012, six days after his 43rd birthday, screaming "I love you, Whitney" in tears. Brown later excused himself from the stage, while New Edition concluded the show. Brown attended Houston's memorial service in New Jersey, but was asked to leave by the family's security. Brown said that safety was the reason he and his family left the service, and that he and his family departed Houston; Brown told Matt Lauer that he spent "14 wonderful years" with Houston as his wife, in an interview with The Today Show in May 2012. Brown has been accused, along with Clive Davis, Ray J, and others, of contributing to the singer's death, which he denies.

Brown had Cassius and his partner of two years, Alicia Etheredge. Brown and Etheredge became engaged in May 2010, when Brown introduced them during a performance at the Funk Fest in Jacksonville, Florida. The couple married in Hawaii on June 18, 2012, and have since had two children.

Brown has seven children. Landon, his eldest, was born to Melika Williams on June 22, 1986. Kim Ward, his brother, La'Princia (born 1989), and his son Bobby Brown, Jr. (1991–2020). In 1991, He and Ward's on-and-off 11-year marriage came to an end. Ward found out Brown had proposed to Whitney Houston two months pregnant. In 1992, 1995, and 1996, Houston suffered with miscarriages. Bobbi Kristina Brown, Houston's only child, was born on March 4, 1993. Brown and Alicia Etheredge have three children: a son born in 2009 and two daughters born in 2015 and 2016.

Bobbi Kristina, Brown's daughter, was discovered unconscious in her bathtub at her Roswell, Georgia, in January 2015. The 21-year-old girl was rushed to North Fulton Hospital, where she was placed on a ventilator in a medically induced coma to prevent her brain's swelling. Later, it was discovered that her brain activity was "low." Brown rushed to his daughter's side and released a note to the public urging them to respect their privacy. She was later transferred to Emory University Hospital. After doctors' decision that significant brain function was unlikely to occur, Bobbi Kristina was taken from the ventilator and put into Hospice in Duluth, Georgia. She died on July 26, 2015 at the age of 22.

Brown's son Bobby Jr., age 28, was discovered dead in his house on November 18, 2020.

In Massachusetts, La'Princia's daughter La'Princia married media personality Eddie Ray on August 15, 2021.

Brown was diagnosed with ADD and bipolar disorder as an infant and then as a child. Brown said that marijuana was his drug of choice and that he had begun drinking alcohol at an early age. Brown said he was introduced to cocaine in Houston right before their wedding in 1992. "I never used cocaine before meeting Whitney." "I had tried other medications before, but marijuana was my drug of choice," he said. His heroin use in the 1990s soared, and at one point he was smoking cocaine and utilizing heroin.

Brown was kidnapped by the Preacher Crew of New York for a $25,000 drug debt in 1993, according to former gang member David Collins. The gang behind Brown's assassination attempt sacked him for $400,000 ransom. The incident was never reported to authorities.

Brown has been arrested multiple times for various crimes since 1989:

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Music career

In 1981, 12-year-old Brown and childhood friends, Michael Bivins and Ricky Bell, launched the new Edition. Ralph Tresvant came to the group at the suggestion of Bell, who performed with Tresvant as a duo. Brown and his brother were also familiar with Tresvant back when they were children. They became a quintet in 1982 when their boss Brooke Payne insisted on taking in Ronnie DeVoe to complete the team. They signed Streetwise Records, a Bostonian Arthur Baker's company, who released their debut album Candy Girl after appearing in multiple talent shows in the Boston area in 1979. On Billboard's R&B Singles Chart in 1983, Brown sang co-lead alongside Bell and Tresvant. Brown's first complete lead vocal appearance on the New Edition ballad "Jealous Girl," which was also a minor hit when it first appeared in 1983. With its self-titled second release, the corporation became a pop sensation. Brown co-led the album "Cool It Now" and "Mr. Telephone Man."

Despite the company's success, Brown claimed that the company never correctly paid the money they earned, later explaining, "The most I saw from all of the tours and all of the albums we sold was $500 and a VCR." Brown also became jealous of the attention paid to fellow New Edition member Ralph Tresvant, and during some of their tour dates, the group's leadership team would often step out of place and perform seductively, which caused fear within the company's management team. Brown appeared on two other New Edition albums before leaving the company in early 1986. Brown later said that the group's leadership treated them "like little slaves by people who were only interested in money and prestige, not in the New Edition's welfare." Brown's way of being booted from the organisation caused some controversies. Brown requested to be voted out of New Edition, according to others, but a VH-1 Behind the Music documentary on the organization claimed Brown was voted out by the company through their administration team, with the members, most notablely Tresvant—against the decision.

Brown signed a deal with MCA (which had earlier promised Brown a solo deal if he had left New Edition) and also signed with manager Steven Machat, who had previously worked with New Edition, following his release from New Edition. In 1986, the label released King of Stage, the label's first album. Brown's ballad "Girlfriend" had a number one R&B hit, but the album otherwise didn't do well.

Brown was low for more than a year when recording his follow-up album. Brown began working with some of the best R&B musicians and songwriters of the time, including Babyface, Antonio "L.A. Reid," and Teddy Riley, with the support of Machat and MCA rep Louil Silas. Don't Be Cruel, the producers' most commercial solo album of Brown's career, was produced by the producers. The album, which was released in 1988, had 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, the performer's staple hits. Album sales would eventually reach twelve million copies around the world, making it the bestselling album of 1989, after topping both the pop and R&B charts. He received the Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for the album's fourth album "Every Little Step" in February 1990. Don't Be Cruel won Brown two American Music Awards, a Soul Train Music Award, and a People's Choice Award.

Brown contributed two songs to Ghostbusters II's soundtrack in 1989, as well as a cameo appearance in the film. "On Our Own," the singer's debut on the record, became his second top-ten single, peaking at number two. Dance!...Ya Know It! was released last year and found followers in the United Kingdom. In 1988, Brown and Al B. embarked on a 120-day world tour to promote Don't Be Cruel.

Sure!

On certain dates, the new Edition will debut for him, while the New Edition will debut for him. Brown became known for simulating sexual acts onstage, but not before he was banned from serving in local police. Brown performed "Tap into My Heart" at the 1990 MTV Awards in 1990, and the album Mystical Magic was supposed to be unveiled, but it was later postponed due to reasons unknown and not revealed. Brown appeared on Glenn Medeiros' number one hit "She Ain't Worth It" in 1990, his second top-one hit on the pop charts, and he also collaborated with Babyface on the remix of the latter's "Mender Lover" in the same year. Brown co-authored the 1991 masterpiece "Stone Cold Gentleman," which was a top-five R&B hit.

Bobby Brown's next album was released in 1992. Despite its debut during the New Jack Swing period, the book was a hit, selling more than 3 million copies and spawning several hit singles, including "Humpin' Around," "Get Away," and "Good Enough." For "Humpin' Around," he received his second Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance. In January 1993, he received his third American Music Award. However, Bobby's revenues did not match those of his predecessor. Whitney Houston and Brown performed "Something in Common" as a single from the Bobby album.

Dance producers K-Klass remixed "Today I Can Play That Game" from the Bobby album in 1994, the first single in the United Kingdom to reach No. 3 in 1995.

Four years later, he'll debut his fourth solo album Forever in 1997. "Feeling Inside," the album's only single, was not well-received.

Brown had been in talks with rapper Tupac Shakur to sign Shakur's latest brand Makaveli Records or with the newly launched term Death Row East prior to Forever's release. However, Shakur died before that could have happened. Following Forever, Brown laid low for many years, appearing on two tracks from The Benzino Project in 2001, and in 2002, he appeared in a duet with rapper Ja Rule on the album "Thug Lovin'." Brown was signed to Murder Inc. Records, but the brand had already begun to dissolve, so Brown's tenure with them was brief. Brown appeared on Marley's album "Beautiful" in 2006.

Brown intended to publish Bobby Brown: The Truth, the Whole Truth, and Nothing But This is the book that was written by author Derrick Handspike in 2008. When Brown's inflammatory remarks about his ex-wife, Whitney Houston, were leaked to the public, he dropped out of the initiative. The book was published after Houston's 2012 suicide.

Brown appeared on Brown's album "Real Love" in 2010. "Actually, he came to the studio, since he doesn't live far." Gray spelled out his recording in two hours, according to Essence, "He didn't live far" before he's been able to live far away. We're colleagues, and his one-year-old son is my godson. His fiancée is one of my closest friends in the world. I met Bobby a long time ago, but we really needed to know each other through her."

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

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

Brown appeared at the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards for the first time. Bell Biv DeVoe's "Word to the Mutha" was later released on tape. Brown, Ralph Tresvant, and later NE member Johnny Gill were among those who were included in 1991 (on which Brown, Ralph Tresvant, and later NE member Johnny Gill were included). Home Again, a fully fledged reunion, occurred on the 1996 release of the album Home Again. "Hit Me Off" and "You Don't Have to Worry" were two hit singles for Brown. However, Brown and the other New Edition members had trouble in 1997 after a subsequent tour to support the album. During the tour, Brown confessed to struggling with heroin use and alcoholism.

Brown reunited with New Edition in 2005, at the BET 25th Anniversary Special. Brown, Ralph Tresvant, and Johnny Gill then formed Heads of State, a splinter group formed to compete with Bell Biv DeVoe in 2008. Following Michael Jackson's death, all six of the New Edition members reunited to perform a medley of Jackson 5 hits in honor of Jackson at the 2009 BET Awards. This led to rumors of another full-fledged New Edition reunion, which was announced the following year.

Brown and New Edition, as well as The Culture Tour, which began in early 2022, continue to perform together, including The Culture Tour.

Acting and television career

Brown made his acting debut in Ghostbusters II, a 1989 film starring the Mayor's doorman. He appeared in the HBO kids show Mother Goose Rock 'n' Rhyme, one of Three Blind Mice's three main characters. He appeared in the film Panther for the second time in 1995 and was a principal protagonist in A Thin Line Between Love and Hate, a Martin Lawrence film. Brown appeared in several films including Two Can Play That Game, Gang of Roses, Nora's Hair Salon, and Go for Broke.

Brown was negotiating with the Bravo television network in 2005 for a reality show titled Being Bobby Brown. Bravo, on the other hand, was not ready to commit to the deal until Brown's leading lady Whitney Houston promised to be in the cast, which she did not do. The show was then shown on Bravo and was a huge 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. Brown and Houston were not in their best moments during the series. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the show was "undoubtedly the most disgusting and execrable series to ooze its way onto television." Despite the apparent train wreck nature of the show, it maintained Houston's unbroken string of hit motion pictures and television shows, and the Bravo awards received the highest ratings of any of its continuing series ever. After Houston announced that she would not be back in season two and that Bravo and Brown were unable to agree on a new contract, the show concluded in 2006.

In June 2007, Brown appeared in the ITV television series 24 Hours With..., a talk show format, as celebrity and interviewer spend an extended 24 hours in a room together. Jamie Campbell, the show's host, teased Brown about his work and private life, and he mocked making "sexual moves" toward the singer. Brown was emetic and threatened to beat Campbell live on air. Brown's later appearances in reality television included appearances on Real Husbands of Hollywood, Celebrity Fit Club, and Gone Country.

Brown appeared in season five of The Masked Singer as the wild card contestant "Crab" in 2021. Brown had to be briefly led to his dressing room after performing Rick James' "Give It to Me Baby" when he became overheated and short of breath in his costume at one point. "Seashell" was later dismissed on Week 7 alongside Tamera Mowry.

Every Little Step, Biography, Bobby Brown and Bobby Brown: Every Little Step On A&E's May 2022, Biography: Every Little Step (A&E) has begun airing in May 2022. Brown is the executive producer of both the documentary-style and reality television series about his life.

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