Brandy Norwood may have ruled the '90s, but life hasn't always been easy for
this much-loved singer and actress. From fearsome feuds to health scares
to the loss of her idol and mentor, these are the tragic details of Brandy's life.
Finding fame during childhood is never easy, as Brandy knows all too well. In an interview with
Rolling Stone, she looked back on the difficulties she faced early in her career, explaining:
"I had to grow up in front of the public. I didn't get a chance to make
private mistakes and really discover my own voice without having to deal
with everyone else's voices and thoughts and opinions about the things that I was doing."
As a young actress with little experience, Brandy landed her first major acting role as the title
character's daughter on the television show Thea — a landmark in TV history, since it was the first
time a Black female comedian had a show named after her. Just a few years later, Brandy herself
would star as the title character on Moesha, following the trail first blazed by Thea. But in
that first onscreen role, Brandy felt entirely out of place, later telling Rolling Stone:
"I had a difficult time on Thea because I never dreamed of being an actress.
I thought everyone was light years ahead of me."
On his iconic album Thriller, Michael Jackson teamed up with Paul McCartney for "The Girl
Is Mine" — a tune about the two men vying for the same woman. Almost 20 years later,
Brandy — having been inspired by MJ and Macca's duet — co-wrote her own hit song,
"The Boy Is Mine." In this gender-reversed version, Brandy's so-called "rival" was
fellow R&B star Monica. Both singers were still in their teens when the song
reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart — and stayed at No. 1 for 13 weeks.
Unfortunately, attached to the song were rumors of the two young women feuding in real life,
which included a number of alleged physical confrontations. They supposedly punched each
other after rehearsing their song for the 1998 VMAs, with the original story by the New York
Daily News claiming that Brandy had given Monica a black eye during their fight. The
initial report was deemed "inaccurate," however, and Brandy has since expressed dismay over the
media's portrayal of their relationship. More recently, Brandy told The Guardian:
"For us to be put against each other like that,
I didn't think that was funny at all. We didn't really get a chance to experience what we could
have with 'The Boy Is Mine.' The fan bases and the media really threw a wrench in that experience."
"And so we bought into that, and being young and not very mature, we
kinda like, uh, started to believe what other people were saying."
In 1994, Brandy released her first album, Brandy, at just 15 years old. She has
remained an active singer and musician ever since, putting out six more studio
albums since then — including the most recent, B7, which was released in 2020. Nonetheless,
Brandy has faced more than a few hurdles on the road to success in the world of music.
For example, Brandy ran into label troubles after the release of her 2012 album,
Two Eleven. Her former label claimed she had breached her contract by releasing
music without their permission. Subsequently, Brandy countersued over unpaid production costs.
It wasn't until 2017 that Brandy and the label reached a settlement.
She wouldn't release another album for eight years, later revealing that she
had been dealing with a bad case of writer's block. Confessing that
she struggled to find any inspiration in songwriting, Brandy told Rolling Stone:
"I just didn't want to start creating music and not feel inspired,
not feel moved by life or the things that I was going through."
In the lead up to the 2002 birth of Brandy's daughter, Sy'rai, the R&B star invited filmmakers
into her home to document the experience. Airing as an MTV special, the film saw Brandy and her
supposed husband, producer Robert Smith, sharing a little more about their life together. But just
a year after it aired, Smith and Brandy were separated. Later, Smith revealed a shocking
truth about him and his wife: that he and Brandy were never actually legally married. In fact,
according to him, they had just pretended to be married in order to preserve Brandy's image.
For her part, Brandy stated through her publicist that she felt "hurt
and shocked" by the comments, and defined her relationship with Smith as a, quote,
"spiritual union and a true commitment to each other." Looking back at the incident,
Brandy noted that the public reacted negatively to the news. In 2020, she told People magazine:
"It changed people's perspective of me."
Unfortunately, this wasn't the first time Brandy's marriage prospects were up for public discussion.
A couple years later, Brandy fell in love with basketball star Quentin Richardson.
The two became engaged in 2004, but ultimately called off the wedding a year later.
While she was thriving as a musician and actress, Brandy's life changed forever in late 2006. Just
before the New Year, Brandy was behind the wheel of her car while driving in Los Angeles.
She subsequently rear-ended a 2005 Toyota Corolla, which started a chain-reaction
pile-up that involved two other cars. The singer walked away from the incident unharmed,
but Awatef Aboudihaj, the driver of the Toyota and a 38-year-old mother of two,
died of her injuries the following day. After a yearlong investigation, Brandy avoided
charges of misdemeanour vehicular manslaughter. A statement released by Brandy's attorney revealed:
"These past 12 months have posed an extraordinary hardship for Brandy
and her family, who have been unfairly forced to live under a cloud of suspicion
initially caused by the ill-advised and premature press release sent out by the California Highway
Patrol, accusing Brandy of wrongdoing before the police investigation was even finished."
Brandy later settled a wrongful death lawsuit with Aboudihaj's children
out of court. Understandably, the tragic accident may still linger
in the musician's mind, who seldom talks about it during interviews.
"I just couldn't believe it and I don't like to think about it because
I don't think it's something I can ever get over."
When she sat down with The Guardian in 2020, the topic was, according to the interviewer,
"very much off the table." Similarly, Brandy refused to discuss the incident
in her interview with People magazine, out of respect for the people involved.
For someone who's dominated all different kinds of entertainment,
you think that Brandy would be more than comfortable living her celeb lifestyle.
But it seems like she's anything but. In the past, she has admitted that she gets
nervous before performances — and not just a few jitters either, but, in her words, "very very
very nervous." An article for the Washington Post also revealed that, prior to a performance,
Brandy prefers to find a quiet corner backstage and sit in silence, etching in her journal.
While speaking with Oprah.com, Brandy elaborated
that a calm state of mind was her respite to help perform her best. She explained:
"The worst thing to do before a performance is tell yourself,
I'm afraid or I'm so nervous. Instead, I tell myself, 'All is well; everything is
going to be great.' I walk back and forth, and I stay completely quiet. And it works."
Several famous singers have cited Brandy's work as a source of inspiration. For example,
Erykah Badu revealed that she learned a lot from Brandy while working on her debut album.
Speaking about Brandy's own debut, Badu added:
"Just musically, production-wise and the writing,
it was really good. And I hadn't heard anything else like it."
Unfortunately, not everyone has been so kind towards Brandy and her career.
In 2020, the singer told the Washington Post:
"There have been times where other people have intentionally tried to make me feel
like I'm a has-been. A part of me — the weaker parts of me — bought into that."
After dealing with all the negative feedback — and
turning the criticism inward as a result — Brandy confessed:
"I was lost. I didn't know what my sound was.
I didn't even know if I was important enough in music to put together a body of work."
This self-doubt endured, and the singer later recalled that these years were her
"lowest of lows" as an artist. Brandy even took praise from her fans and spun it into
something more negative — such as when she mistook her affectionate nickname,
the "Vocal Bible," as a critical remark about her singing style. Brandy later said:
"To not understand myself, that's hell."
Prior to releasing her debut album, a 14-year-old Brandy saw her "idol",
Whitney Houston, live in concert. After the show, the young girl tried her best
to meet the superstar in person. As she told the Guardian in 2020:
"I was just telling security:
'I'm going to be a star someday, I'm going to pay all your bills if you just let me back.'"
They let her through, but unfortunately,
Houston was no longer there. Brandy was crushed, but her mom consoled her by saying:
"You'll meet her when you put music out."
As it turned out, Brandy finally got to meet her childhood idol when the two starred together in
the movie musical, Cinderella, after Houston specifically requested Brandy portray the lead
role. Speaking about the opportunity to work with her hero, Brandy said:
"It's just something that's still surreal to this day."
Sadly, Houston passed away in 2012. Brandy,
who considered Houston to be her very own on-and-offscreen "Fairy
Godmother," was understandably devastated by the news. She told the New York Post:
"I miss her every day. I'm not over it. She was a wonderful light. No matter what she went through,
you could always see the light. And I just pray that she's resting well."
Funnily enough, Brandy isn't the only one in her family with a talented voice. You may remember
the song "Sexy Can I" by musical artist Ray J, but what you may not know is that Ray J
is actually Brandy's younger brother. Of course, Ray J is often remembered as Kim
Kardashian's ex-boyfriend, as well as the sex tape the former couple made together,
which in some ways helped launch the showbiz careers of the Kardashian-Jenner family.
But that's not the only time Brandy's fate has been intertwined with that of the Kardashians.
In 2017, TMZ reported that, soon after Brandy boarded a commercial flight from Los Angeles,
the singer reportedly took a pill and passed out before the plane even made it to the runway. While
crew members attempted to aid Brandy, and the plane spun around for emergency help, a doctor
stepped in to help. And who was that physician? None other than Kim Kardashian's uncle. Thanks to
the quick action from the unidentified Kardashian, Brandy safely made it to a hospital for treatment.
For better or for worse, the Kardashians really do seem to be everywhere in Hollywood.
As a superstar, Brandy has experienced the highest highs you can reach in the
entertainment industry — which only made her eventual fall from the top
even more devastating. After multiple incidents, tragedies, heartbreaks,
and the pressures of fame itself, the singer-actress fell into a deep depression.
"Being a celebrity,
I started to become a celebrity, instead of what I would have been if I wasn't."
Her internal turmoil grew even worse over time, and, at her lowest moment, she even
considered taking her own life. Looking back at her struggle, Brandy said she remembered thinking:
"'So, you're just going to go out like this? That's wack. You have a daughter. If you can't
do it for yourself, do it for her because this is not the way to leave a mark in her life.'"
Thanks to Brandy's bond with her daughter, the star was able to carry on. She credits Sy'rai
for pulling her out of that particularly dark time in her life. In her music,
Brandy has addressed mental health, releasing a song called "Bye BiPolar."
And although she was never diagnosed with this illness, she explained to the New York Post:
"I've had moments where trauma has caused me to not be myself,
and I felt at a point that I could've experienced moments of that."
If you or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide
Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or text HOME to the Crisis Text Line at 741741.