Bobby Brown Headed To Rehab; New Edition, Bell Biv DeVoe Sued

10/20/1998 8:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
Craig Rosen

(10/20/98, 6 p.m. PDT) - In September 1996, New Edition surprised the pop world when its reunion album, Home Again, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, upsetting R.E.M.'s New Adventures In Hi-Fi. Now, just over two years later, that triumphant return seems like a distant memory, as singer Bobby Brown battles his personal demons while the rest of the group has been hit with a breach-of-contract lawsuit by MCA Records.

Last month, Brown did report to Broward County Jail to serve a five-day sentence on a drunk driving charge (myLAUNCH, 9/21). The only problem was that the singer reportedly turned up at the correctional facility drunk and under the influence of marijuana.

That stunt, according to the Associated Press, prompted Judge Leonard Feiner to issue a warrant for Brown's arrest. However, the judge agreed to postpone the warrant now that Brown is planning to check himself into a substance abuse treatment center in Minnesota. An MCA Records spokesperson had no comment on Brown's situation.

Brown, who is still under contract with MCA, is the only former New Edition member not named in a breach-of-contract suit recently filed by the record label in Los Angeles Superior Court. The suit, which lists Johnny Gill, Ralph Tresvant, Ricky Bell, Michael Bivins, and Ronnie DeVoe as defendants, claims that New Edition owes the label four more albums, while spin-off group Bell Biv DeVoe has to deliver two more albums to fulfill its contract with the label.

Prior to the filing of the lawsuit, the members of New Edition claimed that they were no longer contractually bound to MCA, since a California Labor Code limits personal service contracts to seven years.

Click here for a pre-rehab interview with Bobby Brown.