Whether you hate to admit it or not, Chris Brown is one of the greatest performers we have ever seen. Just like there is always a conversation of who’s the greatest basketball player, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, or LeBron James? Or who’s the best rapper in this generation; Drake, Kendrick Lamar, or J.Cole? For R&B, the conversation is always Michael Jackson, Usher Raymond, and then Chris Brown.
Last year, at Usher’s Las Vegas residency, he brought out Chris Brown to perform, in which he called his co-collaborator for “New Flame”, a “legend”. Usher is right, Breezy is a legend. He proves he can do it all as a singer, dancer, rapper, and actor. You’re bound to get a bit of everything when you see him in concert.
Chris Brown has too many great performances to count. Whether it be on tour, the Grammys, or the BET Awards, Breezy has always left it all on the stage. Let’s take a look at the seven best performances from Chris Brown throughout his career.
7. Chris Brown sings “All Black” at 2011 American Music Awards
Although they rescinded their invitation for him to perform there in 2022, Brown hit the AMAs stage in 2011. In a performance where he solely displayed his vocal abilities, Breezy put his heart in it when he sang “All Back”. The slow ballad turned into the uptempo song, “Say It With Me”, where he put his moves on display, per usual.
6. Chris Brown Performs Hits at 2014 Soul Train Music Awards
Chris Brown’s ability to sing while dancing is what separates him from other artists. Most singers often lip sync their lyrics while performing their moves, but not Breezy. In this performance, he started off with his hit song “Yo”, where you can clearly hear his voice over the music. He transitions to his hits like “Poppin”, “Take You Down”, and “New Flame”.
As the camera points to the crowd, you can see fellow artists enjoy the song, including Tank. The R&B crooner caught himself trying to move like the Virginia artist at one point. To wrap up this set, Breezy performed his hit, “Loyal”, which got some people off their feet. Even nearing the end of his set, he still sounds good while dancing like his set just started. It’s safe to say the man is in shape.
5. Breezy Gets Intimate at 2011 Summer Jam
Chris Brown gets intimate with his fans at the 2011 Summer Jam as he starts off with “Wet the Bed”. He continues the theme by performing his slow jam, “Take You Down”. The “No Guidance” singer has always been about his fans and is known to bring women on stage. Of course, he did it at Summer Jam, too.
The woman on stage was subject to Breezy dancing and caressing her as she sat in a chair. She even experienced a few intense thrust at one point as women all throughout the stadium went crazy longing to be her.
You can see Chris put his all into this performance nearly falling to his knees as he belted out “Take You Down”.
4. 2016 iHeartRadio Awards
In a set that shows all different sides of Breezy, iHeart fans were blessed in a set that was less than 10 minutes. He starts with “Liquor” with his background dancers, but transitions to “Back to Sleep” by himself. Brown is singing to a woman on stage before jumping into “Wrist”-literally.
As he raps “Wrist”, he dances along with his background dancers, but somehow he always manages to out do them. His style is second to none. Chris and his crew break out into his pop hit song, “Yeah 3x”. Not too many artists can give you hits across different genres like Brown. And to top it all off, his clothing company, Black Pyramid, received a bit of promo during the set.
An-all around great performance by Breezy yet again.
3. Chris Brown performs in Timbs at the 2007 Grammys
Gliding down the stairs while coming out in a mask, Breezy started his performance with a step show before going in to his debut hit “Run It”. Dancing in Timberland Boots is something we haven’t seen before and Chris makes it look easy.
Just like his MTV Awards performance that year, the “New Flame” singer performed alongside two kids that might be the future Breezy. From backflips to handstands, he received a standing ovation. And to think, he did it all on a sprained ankle and in TIMBS! This could be considered his greatest performance based on the circumstances alone.
2. 2007 MTV Awards
Breezy’s first time performing at the MTV Video Music Awards was in 2007. He started it theatrically, as he acted if he was trapped in a booth. Two kids came to free him and he started dancing alongside them. As the two kids leave, his dance crew forms behind him as Breezy makes some stunning moves.
As “Wall to Wall” begins, Brown jumps from the stage to another platform and the show starts. With this being his first performance on this stage, it’s no secret that he was going to be lip syncing. As “Wall to Wall” ends, Rihanna comes out to her hit song, “Umbrella”. After a few moments, she approaches Chris and they dance together, shortly, before going their separate ways. This is one of the first interactions we see of the two young superstars.
Breezy starts his Michael Jackson impression as his DJ plays “Billie Jean” in the background. Moments like these are the reasons people say he is the second coming of MJ. He maneuvers just like Michael did when he was on stage for a few seconds before going into his hit “Kiss Kiss”. With the “Run It” artist jumping from platform to platform, moving like Michael, and dancing with Rihanna, there’s no way the crowd wasn’t entertained.
1. 2006 World Music Awards Michael Jackson Tribute
Breezy did a tribute to the King of Pop at the 2006 World Music Awards. As soon as the light hit him, the audience started cheering and did not stop. Chris comes out in the same red “Thriller” jacket Michael had on in the original video moving like MJ himself. He re-creates the video on stage following a young woman serenading her while dancing.
Of course, Chris Brown and his crew perform the iconic dance scene that’s in the “Thriller“ music video, to which the crowd couldn’t get enough of. You bet he received a standing ovation that night and he was only 16 years old!
Let us know your favorite Chris Brown performance in the comments!