Will Chris Brown bounce back?
In today's paper, I did a piece about R&B singer Chris Brown.
Brown, who pled guilty to assaulting his ex-girl Rihanna earlier this year, is finally back on tour, playing relatively small venues. Tomorrow, he'll be at Sonar. His new album, "Graffiti," just came out Tuesday, too.
I asked a bunch of folks if they thought Brown will ever bounce back from the incident. Most of them said Brown will forever be associated with the assault, in the same way R. Kelly is known for the child pornography charges, but Brown is still young and has a bright future.
"It's going to be a hard one to shake," said Angela Yee, host of The Morning After on Sirius/XM satellite radio. "Stuff like this does tend to stick around."
It's been almost a year since Brown was arrested and this whole mess started. It seems like he lost a lot of fans over it, and understandably so. His listeners still feel divided about the ordeal ...
Qiana McKay, a 29-year-old who lives in Washington, supports the singer but doesn't know if his career will ever be the same.
"It's a horrible situation for both of them, but he's paid his debt," McKay said. "It's not like he said he didn't do it. He did it, he's atoned for it, let's all move on."
Since Brown typically performs in arenas, the Fan Appreciation Tour is a chance for the singer's fans to see him in an intimate setting. Though ticket sales were sluggish at first, according to the New York Daily News, the Fan Appreciation Tour appears to have picked up steam. Brown's shows in Washington and Connecticut sold out, and the last few tickets for the Sonar show went on Tuesday.
What do you think? Will audiences forgive and forget?
(AP photo)
Erik Maza is a features reporter at the Baltimore Sun. He writes for several sections of the Sun paper and contributes weekly columns on music and nightlife. He also writes and edits the Midnight Sun blog. He often covers entertainment, business, and the business of entertainment. Occasionally, he writes about Four Loko, The Block, the liquor board, and those who practice "
Comments
I never liked Rihanna and I totally support Chris. Most of his fans are young black women. People who hate him are older white people.
Posted by: Ann | December 10, 2009 10:54 AM
Ann -- What a completely idiotic comment. This is not a black or white issue. What he did was wrong, and from reading the story it sounds like he openly admits that.
Posted by: BaltBabs | December 10, 2009 11:27 AM
I think Chris will bounce back...he's talented and I truly believe he is remourseful for what he did. His album is great, I love majority of the songs, just a few could have been left off, but overall I think he deserves a second chance. I also would not have wanted to listen to an album full of apologies...He has done enough interviews that I think speak for itself. If you havent got the album get it, and get the Deluxe editon!!!!!
Posted by: Melanie Chris Brown Fan | December 10, 2009 12:51 PM
I stopped liking him after he literally sold his song to Doublemint Gum and rewrote the lyrics for them.
Posted by: Evan | December 10, 2009 1:32 PM
I LOVE YOU CHRIS BROWN
Posted by: britt | December 10, 2009 1:40 PM
i'm going to be selling t-shirts at the show that read, "I saw Chris Brown, and all I got was the crap kicked out of me"
Posted by: Allan | December 10, 2009 2:43 PM
I love and support Chris Brown 100% always have and always will. People make mistakes and he made one. But people learn from there mistakes just like he will. He is truly sorry you can tell and i know he won't do it again. Everyone deserves a second chance and we all need to help both chris brown and rihanna because they need us the most. Chris Brown will become stronger and I know if i made a mistake i would want the world to help me not hate me. So we need to help both Chris Brown and Rihanna. I love chris brown and forgive him. I forgave him the moment I heard what happened. Forgive and move on. Buy grafitti its the best album ever. I love it and I love Chris Brown soom muchh <3
Posted by: lauren | December 10, 2009 5:31 PM
Society doesn't like guys who beat the crap out of girls. Will he ever bounce back? Think about it. I certainly hope he doesn't.
Posted by: Johnny | December 10, 2009 6:56 PM
This entire strain of comments had me laughing my tail off!
Posted by: JTK | December 11, 2009 10:09 AM
Wow, lauren... Wow. Are you sure you didn't mean to post this at this site?
Hit the target demo with this one, didn't you, Sessa?
Posted by: Abject Disaster | December 11, 2009 10:18 AM
Chris Brown will be just fine in time. This young man is only 20 and his audience will not hold a grudge against him. The old folks who read the Sun and the news media have tried to paint him as a monster, but the youngsters who listen to his (and her) music will go to the concerts anyway. It is somewhat a sad commentary on our society, but young people see this type of action every day. It is commited by both men and women. Actually, although I condemn his physical actions of hitting a female, I commend him for being "man enough" to bear the weight of this situation. Unlike that sorry Justin Timberlake who allowed Janet Jackson to totally take the fall for the Superbowl fiasco, Chris Brown has not revealed the full story of what caused their argument to escalate to a physical confrontation. He took the media criticism like a man. Brown has apologized, and he is remorseful. He has learned a valuable lesson. He must learn to control his rage. He'll continue singing and dancing, and she will return to strutting around singing about "Umbrellas" and all will be right with the world. ... But don't be surprised if we hear about them again. I suspect that another incident will arise with her getting into a verbal altercation with someone, and Brown allowing his anger to cause a physical confrontation. But they are young and still growing and developing as entertainers and as people.
Posted by: ~Alan~ | December 11, 2009 1:55 PM
Yes I think chris brown will bounce back I think he can do everything
Posted by: sommerpalmer | December 13, 2009 12:28 PM
yes he' going to bounce back i love you chris
Posted by: mrise bond | December 17, 2009 9:03 AM