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.