Chris Brown Hits No. 1, All Is Forgiven?

R&B singer is a star again, boasts first No. 1 single since 2009 assault bust

By Natalie Finn Sep 02, 2010 10:07 PMTags
Chris BrownEric Charbonneau/WireImage

"Deuces" is aces for Chris Brown.

The embattled R&B singer is back on top of the singles charts for the first time since his 2009 assault arrest and subsequent flaying in the court of public opinion.

The fiercely worded "Deuces," about a guy trying to recover from a breakup with a cold-hearted woman, features rappers Tyga and Kevin McCall and is off his new mixtape, Fan of a Fan.

Brown, who recently received a thumb's-up from a Los Angeles judge as to the progress of his probation (he got five years' probation for beating on Rihanna) hasn't had a No. 1 single on any Billboard chart since 2007's "Kiss Kiss." That hit tune topped both the pop and R&B singles charts.

His "comeback" album, 2009's Graffiti, sold pretty crappily by Brown's previous standards, moving only 316,000 copies—in comparison with Exclusive's 3 million-plus worldwide—to land briefly at No. 1 on Billboard's R&B album chart.

The 21-year-old Brown may have won back a few hardened fans with his emotional Michael Jackson tribute at the 2010 BET Awards, when he broke down during "Man in the Mirror" and couldn't get the words out.

He also currently appears in the action caper Takers.

By the way, holding fast in the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for the seventh consecutive week: Eminem and Rihanna's "Love the Way You Lie." She also had a solo No. 1 last year with "Rude Boy."

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Check out who gave Chris Brown a resounding round of applause in our 2010 BET Awards gallery.