Chris Brown

Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. An R&B musician who works in a variety of genres, he has been called the "King of R&B" by some contemporaries. His lyrics often address emotional and hedonistic themes.

In 2004, Brown signed with Jive Records. The following year, he released his first album, Chris Brown, which reached double Platinum certification by the end of 2006. Brown topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart with his debut single, "Run It!", making him the first male artist since 1995 to do so. His second album, Exclusive (2007), was commercially successful worldwide and spawned his second Billboard Hot 100 number-one single, "Kiss Kiss".

In 2009, Brown faced significant controversy and media attention when he pleaded guilty to felony assault of his then girlfriend, the singer Rihanna. He was sentenced to five years probation with six months community service. The same year, he released his third album, Graffiti, which underperformed commercially. He released his fourth album F.A.M.E. (2011), which was his first album to top the Billboard 200. The album contained the commercially successful singles "Yeah 3x", Diamond certified "Look at Me Now" and "Beautiful People", and earned him the Grammy Award for Best R&B Album. His fifth album, Fortune, released in 2012, also topped the Billboard 200.

Following the releases of X (2014) and Royalty (2015), both peaking in the Top 3 of the Billboard 200, his eighth album, Heartbreak on a Full Moon (2017), a double-disc LP consisting of 45 tracks, was certified Gold for combined sales and album-equivalent units of over 500,000 after one week, and later certified double Platinum. Brown's ninth album, Indigo (2019) found similar success, debuting atop the Billboard 200. It included the single "No Guidance" which broke the record for longest-running number one on Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart. Its chart success was outdone with the single "Go Crazy" released the following year, which broke Brown's own record for longest-running number one. In 2022, his Indigo album spawned a sleeper hit with its song "Under the Influence", which was re-released as a single. In the 2020s, Brown released top-10 debuts Breezy in 2022, Grammy-winning 11:11 in 2023, and Brown in 2026.

Brown has sold over 140 million records worldwide, making him one of the world's best-selling music artists. He has gained a cult following, and is one of the highest-grossing African American touring artists of all time. His singing and dancing skills have often been compared favorably to those of Michael Jackson. In 2019, Billboard named Brown the third most successful artist of the 2010s decade in R&B and hip-hop music, behind Drake and Rihanna. Brown has won 219 awards from 566 nominations over the course of his career. He has also pursued an acting career. In 2007, he made his feature film debut in Stomp the Yard, and appeared as a guest on the television series The O.C. Other films include This Christmas (2007), Takers (2010), Think Like a Man (2012) and Battle of the Year (2013).