Christopher Maurice "Chris" Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, dancer, actor, and convicted felon. Born in Tappahannock, Virginia, Brown taught himself to sing and dance at a young age and was involved in his church choir and several local talent shows. In 2004, he signed with Jive Records, and released his self-titled debut album the following year. The album peaked at number two on the US Billboard 200 chart, and featured the hit single "Run It!", which topped the Billboard Hot 100, making Brown the first male artist as a lead to have his debut single top the chart since Diddy in 1997. Chris Brown was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

 

Brown's second studio album, Exclusive, was released in 2007. It spawned three successful singles; his second Hot 100 number one, "Kiss Kiss" featuring T-Pain, "With You" and "Forever". Exclusive was also certified double platinum by the RIAA. Brown's third studio album Graffiti (2009), included the top-twenty single "I Can Transform Ya", featuring Lil Wayne and Swizz Beatz. In 2011, Brown released his fourth studio album F.A.M.E., which became his first number one album on the Billboard 200. It spawned the hit singles "Yeah 3x", "Look at Me Now" featuring Lil Wayne and Busta Rhymes, and "Beautiful People" featuring Benny Benassi. F.A.M.E. earned Brown his first Grammy Award for Best R&B Album at the 54th Grammy Awards.His fifth studio album, Fortune, was released in July 2012. However, apart from Exclusive, Brown's albums were not well received by music critics.

 

Apart from recording music, Brown has also pursued an acting career. In 2007, he made his on-screen feature film debut in Stomp the Yard, and appeared as a guest on the television series The O.C. Other films Brown has appeared in, include This Christmas (2007), Takers (2010) and Think Like a Man (2012). Throughout his career, Brown has won numerous awards, including two NAACP Image Awards, three American Music Awards and nine BET Awards. In 2009, he pled guilty to felony assault of singer and then-girlfriend Rihanna. He was sentenced to five years probation and six months of community service. The case received extensive media attention and negatively affected his career.

 

Business ventures

In 2007, Brown founded the record label CBE (Chris Brown Entertainment), on Interscope Records.Brown has since signed Kevin McCall, rock diva Sabrina Antoinette, former RichGirl member Sevyn, rock group U.G.L.Y. (Mijo, Braxton and Stormi Henley), and singer Joelle James. Brown has also released his passed albums under the label.

 

Image and personal life

Success and comparison to other artists

In addition to his solo commercial success, Brown has been featured on several hits such as "No Air", a duet with singer Jordin Sparks, "Shortie like Mine" with the rapper Bow Wow and "Shawty Get Loose" alongside Lil Mama and T-Pain. The songs have peaked on number three, number nine and number ten on the Billboard Hot 100 respectively.Due to his dance routines, Brown has been compared to R&B artists Usher and Michael Jackson and has cited them as a large influence on his music.

 

Tattoo

He has various tattoos and his favorite one is a Jūbei Kibagami on left shoulder.

 

In September 2012, Brown received criticism for a new neck tattoo that appeared to be the face of a battered woman, prompting allegations that the tattoo was a depiction of Rihanna.Brown's publicist stated that the tattoo does not depict a battered woman and is instead a design derived from a Day of the Dead sugar skull.

 

Domestic violence case

At around 12:30am on February 8, 2009, Brown and then-girlfriend, recording artist Rihanna had an argument which escalated into physical violence, leaving Rihanna with visible facial injuries which required hospitalization. Brown turned himself in to the Los Angeles Police Department's Wilshire station at 6:30pm and was booked under suspicion of making criminal threats.The police report did not name the female in the incident as is policy,but media sources soon revealed that the victim was Rihanna.Following Brown's arrest, several commercial ads featuring him were suspended, his music was withdrawn from multiple radio stations, and he withdrew from public appearances, including one at the 2009 Grammy Awards, where he was replaced by Justin Timberlake and Al Green.Brown hired a crisis management team and released a statement saying, "Words cannot begin to express how sorry and saddened I am over what transpired."

 

On March 5, 2009, Brown was charged with felony assault and making criminal threats.He was arraigned on April 6, 2009, and pleaded not guilty to one count of assault and one count of making criminal threats.On June 22, 2009, Brown pleaded guilty to a felony and accepted a plea deal of community labor, five years' formal probation and domestic violence counseling.Several organizations against domestic violence criticized the plea deal, advocating the punishment was not severe enough for the crime; the level of Brown's influence over youth also came under scrutiny. On July 20, 2009, Brown released a two-minute video on his official YouTube page apologizing to fans and Rihanna for the assault, expressing the incident as his "deepest regret" and saying that he has repeatedly apologized to Rihanna and "accepts full responsibility".In the video, Brown said he wanted to speak out earlier about the case but was advised by his attorney not to until the legal ramifications were settled.The video was removed, but is still available online. On August 25, Brown was sentenced to five years of probation, one year of domestic violence counseling, and six months of community service; the judge retained a five-year restraining order on Brown, which requires him to remain 50 yards away from Rihanna, 10 yards at public events.According to Andy Kellman of Allmusic, "A fairly substantial backlash resulted in Brown’s songs being pulled from rotation on several radio stations. Ultimately, however, it had little bearing on the progress of his music and acting careers."

 

On September 2, 2009, Brown spoke about the domestic violence case in a pre-recorded Larry King Live interview, his first public interview about the matter.He was accompanied to the interview by his mother, Joyce Hawkins, and attorney Mark Geragos, as he discussed growing up in a household with his mother being repeatedly assaulted by his stepfather. Brown said of hearing details of his assault of Rihanna, "I'm in shock, because, first of all, that's not who I am as a person, and that's not who I promise I want to be."Brown's mother said Brown "has never, ever been a violent person, ever" and that she does not believe in the cycle of violence. Brown said that it is "tough" for him to look at the famous photograph released of Rihanna's battered face, which may be the one image to haunt and define him forever, and that he still loved her. "I'm pretty sure we can always be friends," said Brown, "and I don't know about our relationship, but I just know definitely that we ended as friends." He stated he did not feel that his career was over, and described his relationship with Rihanna as having been like Romeo and Juliet, blaming the media attention in the aftermath of the assault for driving them apart. When asked if he had any memory of assaulting Rihanna, he said that he did not, but realized that it occurred, and was sorry for his actions. However, following criticism of saying he did not remember, he later said in a statement, "Of course I remember what happened. Several times during the interview, my mother said that I came to her right afterwards and told her everything." Brown said despite this, "[that night] was and still is a blur".

 

In June 2010, Brown's application for a visa to enter the UK was refused on the grounds of him "being guilty of a serious criminal offence" due to his assault on Rihanna.Brown had been planning to do a tour of British cities as part of a European tour but Sony stated that due to "issues surrounding his work visa" the tour was to be postponed. In February 2011, at the request of Brown's lawyer, Judge Patricia Schnegg modified with Rihanna's agreement the restraining order to a "level one order," allowing both singers to appear at awards shows together in the future.

 

On March 22, 2011, after his first performance of "Yeah 3x" and a contentious interview with Robin Roberts on Good Morning America at the Times Square Studios where he was asked about the Rihanna situation and restraining order, Brown allegedly became violent in his dressing room during a commercial break before his second performance ending that day's program, and threw an object at a window overlooking Times Square, causing damage to the window.Brown then took off his shirt and after several angry confrontations with the segment producer, other show staff and building security, left the building shirtless.Following the incident, Brown left a message on Twitter saying, "I'm so over people bring this past s**t up!! Yet we praise Charlie Sheen and other celebs for there bullshit [sic]." The comment was deleted moments later.

 

On July 11, 2012, Brown's community service was evaluated and he was ordered to meet a judge. The evaluation was ordered by Superior Court Judge Patricia Schnegg on July 10, 2012. He was scheduled to appear in court with regard to the evaluation on August 21, 2012.

 

Relationships

Though they became friends in 2005, Brown's romantic relationship with Rihanna began in 2008, and ended with the aforementioned domestic violence case in 2009.In 2011, he began dating aspiring model Karrueche Tran. However, throughout 2012 there was persistent media speculation that Brown was rekindling his relationship with Rihanna, though he remained involved with Tran and under probation in the Rihanna domestic violence case.In October 2012, Brown announced that he had ended his relationship with Tran because he didn't "want to see her hurt over my friendship with Rihanna."The day after the announcement, Brown released a video entitled "The Real Chris Brown", which features images of himself, Tran, and Rihanna, as Brown wonders, "Is there such thing as loving two people? I don't know if it's possible, but I feel like that."

 

Nude photo, altercation with Drake

On March 4, 2011, WorldStarHipHop.com leaked a nude photo of Chris Brown on their website. Two weeks later, Brown spoke out on WorldStarHipHop.com and said that the photo was supposed to be sent to a girl, as the photo shows him getting out of the shower while he stood in the mirror with a phone in his hand and his "goods" were being seen.He said he found out about the picture as he checked his Twitter while playing a video game. He also said he wasn't really bothered, stating that he was "comfortable with his body".

 

On June 14, 2012, Drake and his entourage allegedly threw glass bottles towards Brown at a nightclub called WIP in the SoHo neighborhood of New York City.About eight people were injured during the brawl,including San Antonio Spurs star Tony Parker, who had to have surgery to remove a piece of glass from his eye,and a tourist from Australia who suffered injuries to her face and head and received sixteen stitches for her head as a result.Drake wasn't arrested. Brown later made a diss record to Drake a few weeks later. He also posted a picture of himself with a gashed chin on Instagram.Brown's attorney claimed Drake was the instigator.

 

Discography

• Chris Brown (2005)

• Exclusive (2007)

• Graffiti (2009)

• F.A.M.E. (2011)

• Fortune (2012)

• Carpe Diem (2013)

Filmography

Film
Year	Title	Role	Notes
2007	Stomp the Yard	Duron	Supporting role
2007	This Christmas	Michael "Baby" Whitfield	Lead role
2008	Into the Woods	Will
2009	Blood Rogues	Christopher
2010	Takers	Jesse Attica	Supporting role, executive producer
2012	Think like a Man	Alex	Supporting role
2013	Battle of the Year: The Dream Team	Unknown
2014	Phenom	Dre Lakes

 

Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
2006	Christmas in Washington	Himself	Christmas television special
2007	Chris Brown: Journey to South Africa	Himself	A documentary of Brown's first trip to Africa.
2007	The O.C.	Will Tutt	"The My Two Dads" (season 4, episode 9) "The French Connection" (season 4, episode 10) "The Dream Lover" (season 4, episode 11)
2008	The Suite Life of Zack & Cody	Himself	"Doin' Time in Suite 2330" (season 3, episode 20)
2011	Tosh.0	Himself	Teaches writers how to dance