Despite his extracurricular habits and mishaps in the later part of his career, ‘80s superstar and new jack swing pioneer Bobby Brown brought some of the best R&B dance-pop music to the front stage of the U.S. during the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. Scoring megahits like "Every Little Step" and "Candy Girl," Brown's incredible career could not have squeezed any more success out of his decade of dominance.Boston-raised Brown first appeared in the pop bubble in 1978, when he started the group New Edition with Roxbury schoolmates Michael Bivins and Ricky Bell. Maurice Starr discovered the trio and signed them to his label, and together they penned the hit song "Candy Girl," which led to an even bigger record deal with MCA. Exiting his teens into solo stardom, Brown left New Edition in 1986 and immediately began working on his debut solo album, King of Stage. The 1987 release was somewhat of a dud, but striking into the new jack swing movement of the late ‘80s, Brown returned to the scene with the help of L.A. Reid and Babyface to create the 1988 masterpiece Don't Be Cruel. The artist's mission statement was relayed in "My Prerogative" (which Britney Spears took to new classy heights in the ‘00s,) and the song was a smash hit, reaching the coveted number one slot on the R&B/hip hop and Billboard Top 100 charts in 1988. "Roni" and "Every Little Step" were also hits from the album, and the latter fared even better than "My Prerogative," earning Brown his first and only Grammy Award.After performing the theme song for Ghostbusters II and recording the platinum 1990 remix album Dance!...Ya Know It!, Brown married R&B super diva Whitney Houston, continuing to punch out hits. Eventually, however, Brown's career took a dive when was involved in a number of drug scandals and battery charges, appearing in and out of jail through the ‘90s before finally making a comeback in 2002 to record the duet "Thug Lovin" with rapper Ja Rule.