Chris Brown‘s net worth is an interesting figure, given his undoubted talent yet penchant for controversy. Christopher Maurice “Chris” Brown was born on May 5, 1989 in Tappahannock, Virginia. Growing up, he was involved in his church choir and several local talent shows from a young age.
Having signed with Jive Records in 2004, Brown released his self-titled debut studio album the following year. It peaked at number two on the US Billboard 200 and was later certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. And ever since then, he’s been a foundation of the hip hop/ R&B scene. Since his debut, Brown has released seven studio album, and has been featured on what seems to be one hundred or so singles. ibSo how much is Chris Brown’s net worth exactly, after a decade of dominating the music scene?
Chris Brown Net Worth as of 2019: $35 Million
But how did such a controversial star acquire such a large net worth? We take a look back.
2002 – 2004
At age 13, Brown was discovered by Hitmission Records, a local production team that visited his father’s gas station while searching for new talent.
Tina Davis, senior A&R executive at Def Jam Recordings, was impressed when Brown auditioned in her New York office, and she immediately took him to meet the former president of the Island Def Jam Music Group,Antonio “L.A.” Reid, who offered to sign him that day. “I knew that Chris had real talent,” says Davis. “I just knew I wanted to be part of it.”
2005
Brown attended Essex High School in Virginia until early 2005, when he moved to New York to pursue his music career.
After being signed to Jive Records in 2004, Brown began recording his self-titled debut studio album in February 2005. By May, there were 50 songs already recorded, 14 of which were picked to the final track listing.
Released on November 29, 2005, the self-titled Chris Brown album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 with first week sales of 154,000 copies.
2006
On June 13, 2006, Brown released a DVD entitled Chris Brown’s Journey, which shows footage of him traveling in England and Japan, getting ready for his first visit to the Grammy Awards, behind the scenes of his music videos and bloopers.
On August 17, 2006, to further promote the album, Brown began his major co-headlining tour, The Up Close and Personal Tour. Due to the tour, production for his next album was pushed back two months. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital received $10,000 in ticket proceeds from Brown’s 2006 “Up Close & Personal” tour.
2007
In January 2007, Brown landed a small role as a band geek in the fourth season of the American television series The O.C.
Brown then made his film debut in Stomp the Yard, alongside Ne-Yo, Meagan Good and Columbus Short on January 12, 2007.
In April 2007, Brown was the opening act for Beyoncé, on the Australian leg of her The Beyoncé Experience tour.
On July 9, 2007, Brown was featured in an episode of MTV’s My Super Sweet 16 (for the event, it was retitled: Chris Brown: My Super 18) celebrating his eighteenth birthday in New York City.
In November 2007, Brown starred as a video host for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital’s Math-A-Thon program.
Shortly after ending his summer tour with Ne-Yo, Brown quickly began production for his second studio album, Exclusive, which was released in the United States on November 6, 2007. The album debuted at number four on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 294,000 copies in its first week, and received generally positive reviews from music critics. As of March 23, 2011, it has sold over 1.9 million copies in the United States.
On November 21, 2007, Brown appeared in This Christmas, a family drama starring Regina King.
To further support the album Exclusive, Brown embarked on his The Exclusive Holiday Tour, visiting over thirty venues in United States. The tour began in Cincinnati, Ohio, on December 6, 2007, and concluded on February 9, 2008, in Honolulu, Hawaii.
In 2007, Brown founded the record label CBE (Chris Brown Entertainment or Culture Beyond Your Evolution), under Interscope Records.
2008
In March 2008, Brown was featured on Jordin Sparks’ single “No Air”, which peaked at number three on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. He also made a guest appearance on Ludacris’ single “What Them Girls Like” alongside Sean Garrett.
In August 2008, Brown guest-starred on Disney’s The Suite Life of Zack & Cody as himself.
n October 2008, he was featured on T-Pain’s single “Freeze”, from his third studio album Thr33 Ringz. Towards the end of 2008, Brown was named Artist of the Year by Billboard magazine.
2009
In 2008, Brown began work on his-then upcoming third studio album, Graffiti. According to him, he would experiment a different musical direction for his new album. The album’s lead single “I Can Transform Ya” was released on September 29, 2009. The song peaked at number 20 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, and number 11 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.”Crawl” was released as the album’s second single on November 23, 2009. The song reached number 53 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Graffiti was then released on December 8, 2009. The album debuted at number seven on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 102,000 copies in its first week, but received generally negative reviews from critics. As of March 23, 2011, it has sold 341,000 copies in the United States.
On February 8, 2009, Brown and his 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 6:30 p.m. and was booked under suspicion of making criminal threats. 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”.
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.
2010
In May 2010, Brown released a collaborative mixtape with Tyga, title dFan of a Fan. “Deuces”, which features Tyga and Kevin McCall, was released from the mixtape in the United States on June 29, 2010. The song peaked at number one on US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart for seven non-consecutive weeks, giving Brown his first number-one on the chart since his 2006 hit single, “Say Goodbye”.
In August 2010, Brown starred alongside an ensemble cast, including Matt Dillon, Paul Walker, Idris Elba, Hayden Christensen and T.I. in the crime thriller Takers, and also served as executive producer of the film.
2011
Brown’s fourth studio album F.A.M.E. was first released on March 18, 2011. Although it received mixed critical reviews, the album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart, with first-week sales of 270,000 copies, giving Brown his first number-one album in the United States.
Its lead single, “Yeah 3x”, reached the top-ten in eleven countries, including Australia, Austria, Denmark, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.The album’s second single, “Look at Me Now”, featuring rappers Lil Wayne and Busta Rhymes, reached number one on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, where it remained for eight consecutive weeks. It also reached number one on the US Hot Rap Songs chart. The album’s third single, “Beautiful People”, featuring Benny Benassi, peaked at number one on the US Hot Dance Club Songs chart, and became the first number-one single on the chart for both Brown and Benassi.”She Ain’t You” was released as the album’s fourth US single, while “Next 2 You”, featuring Canadian recording artist Justin Bieber, served as the album’s fourth international single.
To further promote the album, Brown embarked on his F.A.M.E. Tour in Australia and North America.
Brown received six nominations at the 2011 BET Awards and ultimately won five awards, including Best Male R&B Artist, Viewers Choice Award, The Fandemonium Award, Best Collaboration and Video of the Year for “Look at Me Now”.
He also won three awards at the 2011 BET Hip Hop Awards, including the People’s Champ Award, Reese’s Perfect Combo Award and Best Hip Hop Video for “Look at Me Now”
At the 2011 Soul Train Music Awards, F.A.M.E. won Album of the Year.
The album has also earned Brown three Grammy Award nominations at the 54th Grammy Awards for Best R&B Album, as well as Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song for “Look at Me Now”.
In 2011, he began dating aspiring model Karrueche Tran.
2012
On February 12, 2012, Brown won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Album. During the ceremony, Brown performed several songs marking his first appearance at the awards show since his conviction of felony assault.
On June 14, 2012, Drake and his entourage were involved in a scuffle with 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 as a result.
Brown’s fifth studio album Fortune was released on July 3, 2012. The album debuted atop the Billboard 200, but received once again negative reviews from critics.
“Strip”, featuring Kevin McCall, was released as the album’s buzz single, with “Turn Up the Music” released as the lead single, and “Sweet Love”, “Till I Die”, “Don’t Wake Me Up” and “Don’t Judge Me” released as the album’s following singles, respectively.
To further promote the album, Brown embarked on his Carpe Diem Tour in Europe, Africa, Asia, and Trinidad.
2013 – 2014
Brown’s sixth studio album, X was released on September 16, 2014. The album’s lead single, “Fine China”, was released on April 1, 2013, and sent to US Top 40 radio on April 9. The album features a guest appearance by Kendrick Lamar and production from Diplo and Danja. X debuted at #2 on US Billboard 200 charts with first-week sales of 145,644 copies.
In January 2013, Rihanna confirmed that she and Brown had resumed their romantic relationship, stating, “When you add up the pieces from the outside, it’s not the cutest puzzle in the world. You see us walking somewhere, driving somewhere, in the studio, in the club, and you think you know. But it’s different now. We don’t have those types of arguments anymore. We talk about shit. We value each other. We know exactly what we have now, and we don’t want to lose that.”
On July 16, 2014, Brown and Drake appeared together in a skit produced for the nationally televised ESPY Awards. The skit seemingly mocks their past feud as Drake ends up on an operating table ready surgery, the camera then reveals the surgeon to be Brown, with surgical tools, ready operate. Both men had rehearsed the skit together prior to the televised airing of the ESPY Awards; the live audience roared with laughter
2015
On February 24, 2015, Brown released his first collaborative studio album with Tyga, titled Fan of a Fan: The Album. The album was a follow-up to the pairs 2010 mixtape Fan of a Fan. In early 2015, Brown also embarked on his Between The Sheets Tour with Trey Songz.
On March 20, 2015, Brown’s probation was ended formally closing the felony case emanating from the Rihanna assault which happened over six years prior.
In March 2015, news broke that Brown was father to a baby girl named Royalty
On June 24, Brown released a new song titled “Liquor”. Shortly after, it was announced that “Liquor” was the first single off his seventh studio album. It was revealed that Brown’s seventh album would be titled Royalty. The album was released on December 18th, 2015
According to IB Times, Brown said he purchased 14 branches of one of the country’s largest food franchises. As stated in Burger King’s corporate website, a person who wants to start his own franchise needs to have a net worth of at least $1.5 million and an additional $500,000 in liquid assets.
So there you have it. Over a decade’s worth of music and controversy, and Chris Brown’s net worth of $35 million is continually increasing. Expect to see Chris Brown in the spotlight for at least another decade.
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2018
Chris Brown shared an in-studio preview of his two new tracks on Instagram supposedly to be called “Tell Me How You Feel” and “Strike Me Dead”.
2019
Chris Brown inked a new record deal with RCA Records for his forthcoming album Indigo and will be able to own the master recordings.
