Early Life & Career Beginnings

1989-2004:

Chris Brown (born as Christopher Maurice Brown) was born on May 5, 1989, in Tappahannock, Virginia. His mother, Joyce Hawkins is a former day care center director, and his father, Clinton Brown, is a corrections officer at a local prison. Chris has an older sister, Lytrell Bundy, who works in a bank.

Since he was young, music was something he always loved. He used to listen to his parents' soul albums, and eventually began to love hip-hop.

Chris taught himself to sing and dance at a young age, and looked up to Michael Jackson as his inspiration. He joined his church choir and performed in local talent shows. His mother knew how talented Chris was and decided to help him look for opportunities of a record deal.

During this time, Chris was going through many struggles. His parents were already divorced and his mother's boyfriend made him scared all the time due to the domestic violence his mother endured from him.

Chris attended Essex High School until early 2005, when he moved to New York to pursue his music career.

When Chris was 13-years-old, he was discovered by Hitmission Records, a local production team. He received voice coaching from them and they also helped to arrange a demo package for him and searched for a record deal.

While this was happening, Chris moved to New York. Tina Davis, then senior A&R executive at Def Jam Recordings, heard Chris and loved his music. She immediately brought him to the president, L.A. Reid, who offered to sign him that same day.

Davis became Chris' manager and started to promote him to labels such as Jive Records, J-Records, and Warner Bros. Records. Chris eventually chose Jive because of their success with younger artists in the pop market.

First Album, Tour, and Acting Debut

2005-2006

Chris was signed to Jive Records in 2004 and started recording in February 2005. By May 2005, Chris had already recorded 50 songs, 14 in which were picked for his final track listing. His whole first album took less than eight weeks to produce.

His first album self-titled "Chris Brown" was released on November 29, 2005, and debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 with first week sales of 154,000 copies. It wound up selling over two million copies in the United States alone, where it was certified two times platinum, as well as three million copies worldwide.

His first lead single, "Run It", made Chris the first male act to have his debut single reach the summit of the Billboard Hot 100 since Montell Jordan in 1995. THree of his other singles--"Excuse Me Miss", "Gimme That", and "Say Goodbye"--were also top twenty.

In June 2006, Chris put out a DVD called "Chris Brown's Journey", which showed footage of him traveling throughout England and Japan and getting ready for his first Grammy Awards. It also included behind the scenes of his music videos as well as bloopers.

In August 2006, Chris started his first major tour, The Up Close and Personal Tour. He donated $10,000 from his ticket proceeds to the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

Chris made appearances on UPN's "One on One" and The N's "Brandon T. Jackson Show". He also had a small role in the fourth season of Fox's "The O.C." In January 2007, Chris made his film debut in "Stomp the Yard". His next debut in a movie was in "This Christmas". Later that year, he was featured in an episode of MTV's "My Super Sweet 16". He also guest-starred in Disney's "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody" and has some roles in upcoming movies.

2nd & 3rd Albums: Exclusive & Graffiti

2007-2009:

After his tour, Chris began working on his second album, Exclusive, which was released in November 2007. This album debuted at number four on the Billboard 200, and sold 294,000 copies in its first week. It sold 1.9 million copies in the United States.

This album's first single, "Wall to Wall", debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 96. "Kiss Kiss" featuring T-Pain was his second single of this album and reached number one on the U.S. Billboard hot 100 to become Chris' second number one single.

In December, 2007, Chris released his third single, "With You", which reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100. It is his most successful single to date, as it entered the top ten in New Zealand, Singapore, Canada, the United States, Cyprus, Ireland, France, the United Kingdom, Malaysia, and Australia.

He re-released Exclusive in June 2008 as a deluxe edition with included his single "Forever" which reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100.

In June 2008 he performed "With You" at the BET Awards.

Chris was named the top artist of 2008 by Billboard Magazine.

In 2008, Chris began working on his third album: Graffiti. He debuted his first single off this album, "I Can Transform Ya". "His next single was "Crawl". Graffiti was surprisingly debuted at number 55 and ranked 1 out of 4 stars.

Mixtapes and his Fourth Album: F.A.M.E

2010-Present:

Chris performed a Michael Jackson Tribute at the 2010 BET Awards where he started to cry while singing Jackson's "Man in the Mirror".

In May 2010, Chris released a collaborative mixtape with Tyga, called "Fan of a Fan". "Deuces" was released as a single in June 2010. It was number one on the U.S. R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart for seven non-consecutive weeks. It was also number fourteen on the Billboard Hot 100.

In August, 2010, Chris starred in the movie "Takers", as well as filling the role of executive producer.



F.A.M.E was Chris' next album. "Yeah 3x" was released as the album's first single in October 2010. The song peaked at number 15 in the United States and Canada as well as top five in Australia and New Zealand. "Look at Me Now" was his second single released in January 2011, and "Beautiful People" was the third. "She Aint You" was the fourth single, which samples Michael Jackson's "Human Nature", and "Next to You" was his fifth single.

In June 2011, Chris performed at the BET Awards.

Chris' next album, "Fortune", will be released in early 2012.

Chris will also be starring in Steve Harvey's "Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man", coming out in 2012.

Domestic Violence Case

In 2008, Chris faced some setbacks with his music career due to a domestic assault. He turned himself in to the L.A. Police Department on February 8th, 2009, after he physically assaulted his girlfriend, fellow R&B singer Rihanna. 

After his arrest, several of his commercial ads were suspended, and his music was taken off many radio stations. He also withdrew from public appearances such as the 2009 Grammy Awards. 

In March, 2009, Chris was charged with felony assault and making criminal threats. He was arraigned in April and pleaded not guilty to a count of assault and a count of making criminal threats. On June 22, 2009, he pleaded guilty to a felony and accepted a plea deal of community labor, five years of formal probation, and domestic violence counseling.

The next month, Chris released a youtube video apologizing to his fans an Rihanna for the domestic altercation.

On August 25, he was sentenced to the five years of probation, one year of domestic violence counseling, and six months of community service. He also received a five-year restraining order, which requires him to stay 50 yards away from Rihanna and 10 yards at public events.

On March 22, 2011, in an interview on Good Morning America, he was asked about the Rihanna situation and proceeded to throw a chair at the window during a commercial break, and left the building shirtless.