Chris Brown Biography

Early Life

Christopher Maurice Brown was born on May 5th, 1989 in the small town of Tappahannock, Virginia to Clinton Brown and Joyce Hawkins. Music entered his life when he started listening to the home radio and was influenced by artists like Michael Jackson and Sam Cooke. His interest and talent were nurtured further when he was sent to live with his Aunt in Arkansas where his younger cousins and he performed in a few local talent shows.

Till Chris was 11 years old, he wanted to become a rapper but he began to notice his singing talents and started working on the same. When he was 13, Chris was discovered by a local production team which had come to his father’s gas station is search of new talents. From this point on there was no looking back for Chris. He moved to New York and began his singing career.

Singing Career

The production team organized an audition event before Tina Davis who was the president of Def Jam (and is incidentally his manager now). When Chris turned 15, that is in 2004 he was sent to Los Angeles where he was signed a contract with Jive Records. Chris began working on his debut album in early 2005 with big names like Scott Storch, Bryan Cox, Bow Wow and the Underdogs.

Chris’s debut album ‘Chris Brown’ was released on November 29, 2005 which debuted at the number 2 position on the Billboard Hot 200 selling more than 150,000 copies in the first week itself. The song ‘Run It’ from the album was a hit and peaked at the number 1 position in the United States for 5 weeks. The album was certified as platinum in 5 weeks and was certified double platinum within the year. To promote the album further Chris kicked off a tour ‘Up Close and Personal’ which also pushed back the production of his next album by two months.

The album received a Grammy nomination in the Best Contemporary R&B Album and Best New Artist category wherein he had the privilege to be a part of a nationally televised performance on the Awards night along with Smokey Robinson and Lionel Richie singing a medley of their respective hits. He also won the Soul Train award in the Best R&B/Soul New Artist category, 2 BET Awards in the Best New Category and Viewer’s choice category, 3 Billboard Awards in the Artist, Male Artist and the New Artist of the Year category an NAACP Image Award in the Outstanding New Artist category.

Chris’s second album ‘Exclusive’ was released on November 6, 2007. The second single of the album ‘Kiss Kiss’ went on to become Chris’s second US number 1 single and reached the number one spot on the US Billboard Hot 100. On December 4th, 2007 the third single ‘With You’ was released which reached the number 2 position on the Billboard Hot 100 and became Chris’s fifth top ten hit in the United States.

Acting Career

Chris Brown has starred in a couple of television serials. He made guest appearances in UPN’s ‘One on One’ and on the pilot episode of the N’s ‘The Brandon T. Jackson Show’. Further he also featured in a small role as a band geek in the fourth season of FOX’s ‘O.C.’ in January 2007. Chris made his film debut in the dance movie ‘Stomp the Yard’ starring Ne-Yo, Columbus Short and Meagan Good. His next release was the family drama ‘This Christmas’ which starred Regina King and released on November 21, 2007. His most recent work is on Disney’s serial ‘The Suite Life of Zack and Cody’ where he guest starred as himself along with the Cheetah Girls.

Chris is also involved in charity work and has been a strong supporter of the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital which is recognized internationally for the pioneering work that it does in saving children and finding cures in the field of cancer and other catastrophic diseases. He helped raise over $50,000 during his tour around the world. He is also a part of the Math-A-Thon program with the same institute and they together hope to raise over $22 Million by the end of the year.