No question, this was not a good year to be pop singer Chris Brown. He started off the year with a bang with a world tour that sold out everywhere. Brown and his then girlfriend Rihanna were considered royalty to the paparazzi who couldn’t get enough of them. The cute couple were set to perform their hits on the Grammy Awards in February when tragedy struck.
Brown was accused of beating, punching and kicking Rihanna in the pre-dawn hours of February 9, 2009 following a pre-Grammy party. Then TMZ.com “acquired” a police evidence photo of a bruised and bleeding Rihanna. The public backlash against Chris Brown was immediate and the course of Brown’s career was altered forever
Both artists released albums late in the year and Rihanna’s album, Rated R, topped Chris’ album ‘Graffiti’ in sales almost 2-1. Graffiti debuted at #7 selling a meager 107,000 copies — a total flop by todays industry standards.
Rihanna’s ‘Rated R’ came in at #3 with robust sales of 181,000 in the first week. Brown was expected to best Rihanna’s sales as he rode a groundswell of sympathy from his fans who believed that cock and bull story about Rihanna hitting him first (a man should never hit a female under any circumstance).
Additionally, Brown received nearly unprecedented pre-sales national network press coverage following appearances on CNN’s Larry King Live and Good Morning America. As a result, Brown was expected to best Rihanna’s first week sales by at least 200,000 copies.
Brown’s numbers were so shocking that the “Run It” singer went into a tailspin. His poor impulse control got the best of him and he experienced a melt down on social micro-blogging site Twitter.com, blaming his poor sales on WalMart not stocking his album (a complete lie).
Brown’s record label had no choice but to force him to shut down his Twitter page. His reputation is so irreparably damaged that rumor has it Brown will be dropped from his record label after the first of the year.
