Bobby Brown’s Life Explored in New Docuseries

A&E chronicles the controversial past and hopeful present of R&B icon Bobby Brown

At different times in his life, Bobby Brown has been a Grammy-winning R&B artist, fodder for the tabloids and a man trying to maintain his sobriety while raising a family and pursuing new opportunities. All of that is on display in a pair of documentary projects upcoming on A&E. 

The first, Biography: Bobby Brown, airing in two parts on Monday and Tuesday, May 30th and 31st, gives an intimate look at the man who rose from the projects of Roxbury, Massachusetts, to fame with the band New Edition and as a solo artist, selling a combined 32 million records worldwide and garnering a Grammy for the 1989 single “Every Little Step.” 

It also covers his very public personal struggles, including with substance abuse, his stormy marriage to pop diva Whitney Houston and the deaths of her and their two children, Bobby Jr. and Bobbi Kristina. Also included are the man’s hard-won triumphs: his remarriage to current wife Alicia Etheredge-Brown, and his efforts to stay sober and be a devoted husband and parent. 

Then, in the 12-episode docuseries Bobby Brown: Every Little Step, which airs Tuesdays beginning May 31st, the Browns invite viewers into their world as they embark on a new chapter in life—Bobby juggling a music career with family demands and a focus on physical and mental health. 

A&EExecutive-produced by the Browns, Lauren Lazin and J. Kevin Swain, the two projects often venture into uncomfortable territory for Bobby Brown, whom Lazin credits for his fearlessness and his candor. 

“Bobby keeps it real,” she says. “There was never a moment where it was, ‘I’m not talking about that. I’m not going to do that.’ He’s just really open and very giving and a pro. And it was just great to work with someone who was so open about everything. It just made the whole filmmaking process so easy because you start to relate to him and his story on a very personal level even though you may have come from a different place.” 

That openness is probably best exemplified by a sequence in the series when cameras follow Brown as he visits the graves of ex-wife Houston and daughter Bobbi Kristina in New Jersey. It was a difficult scene, to be certain, but one that Brown himself felt was necessary. 

“I didn’t want to let anything get in between my life and what I was doing,” he says. “So, I just wanted the cameras to follow me wherever I was going, and that day I happened to be going to the gravesite.” 

He continues, “I hope [viewers] take away the fact that I’ve gone through the rough patches in my life and I’m living my life in a clean and honest way. It’s all real.” 

Biography: Bobby Brown airs Monday & Tuesday at 5 p.m., 8:04 p.m. & 11:04 p.m. on A&E, and Bobby Brown: Every Little Step airs Tuesday at 7:01 p.m. & 10:03 p.m. on A&E