Bobby Brown says he thought about ‘all the loss of my life’ on ‘Masked Singer’
"It was about strictly having fun. Being able to perform as the Crab really, really, really made me feel good," the R&B star remarked.
Singer Bobby Brown has been revealed to be the Crab on season five of the Fox competition series The Masked Singer after being eliminated.
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During an interview with PEOPLE, he opened up about his personal experience participating in the popular television program.
“I did have so much fun, and it wasn’t about a competition to me,” Brown said to the entertainment and news outlet. “It was about strictly having fun. Being able to perform as the Crab really, really, really made me feel good.”
The 52-year-old also revealed his motivation for signing on to do the show.
“I’m a big fan of the show. Me and my kids, we sit in front of the television and we watch it. We’ve been watching it for years. I got a kick out of seeing all of the stars unveiled, the stars’ performances, and I just thought it would be a great idea for me to do it, to see the looks on my kid’s face when I’m unveiled,” he said.
“It’s been out-of-the-box for me to do this. During the pandemic, just being able to get out of the house and go somewhere and go to work and then come back home, and the kids not know where I’ve been. And then later on letting them know that that’s what Daddy was doing at this time. To be a part of something so special was everything to me.”
He also detailed how his kids immediately knew he was the crab while watching, and despite not wanting to, he lied to them, saying he was not on the show. One of Bobby Brown’s most memorable performances as the crab was his first, delivering a version of “Ain’t No Sunshine,” by Bill Withers. Brown shared the emotional inspiration behind the set.
“I was thinking about a lot of things. Mainly all the loss of my life. That’s really touching to me, that’s close to my heart. But also, just thinking about my kids, and how much I appreciate them, how much I love them, and being able to sing something to them that is not one of their father’s songs,” Brown shared.
“It was therapeutic for me to sing that song and bring it across to the people, and people to get where I’m coming from as a human being. For my kids to hear it, and sit there and say, “That’s you, Daddy. That’s you, Daddy. I know that’s you, Daddy,” it’s been a lot of fun,” he said to PEOPLE.
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During his unmasked interview with the series, Bobby Brown opened up on the difficulty of the show.
“These things right here, trust me…no joke,” he said waiving one of the claws from his costume. “The most fun was the reveal. I must say that because that mask was extremely heavy and restricting.”
He continued, “Doing my signature moves was impossible because I was restricted to this costume.”
Brown was able to compete and enjoy his time on the stage and out of the house, despite suffering a recent loss. theGrio reported, the singer called for opioid suppliers to be held responsible after his son, Bobby Brown Jr., died of an overdose in November 2020.
According to the report, his cause of death was listed by the coroner as “combined effects of alcohol, cocaine, and fentanyl,” and an eye witness told police Brown Jr. “drank tequila and snorted half a Percocet and cocaine on the evening he was found responsive.”
Bobby Brown and Kim Ward are now demanding justice for their late son, saying “those who allegedly supplied him with the dangerous opioid” hold responsibility. A statement issued by the family read, “My family continues to mourn my son’s death. Street fentanyl has taken the life of so many people unnecessarily and Bobby Jr. is another victim,” according to the report.
“This epidemic is out of control and those supplying this lethal drug should be held responsible for the death and destruction that it causes.”
Brown’s time in the public eye has been plagued by headlines of tragedy, scandal, loss, and grief. The anonymity of the crab costume gave the performer a sense of relief, although he was unable to be as physical or portray emotion through facial expression.
“Being able to hide behind a mask was something that was different for me because I’m normally in headlines. You cant hide in real life,” he remarked during his unmasked interview broadcasted by FOX. “I haven’t been able to hide. I love being on stage, but being in a mask and being on this show is so much tension and so much heat that you feel when you get out there. One thing the masked singer has taught me is that I need to do more cardio.”
Beyond making the correct guess of Bobby Brown, the judges named some other talents they believed could have been the crab.
“Ray Parker Jr., Flava Flav, Johnny Gill. Some of them were wild, especially the Flava Flav part,” Brown remarked.
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