Albert Joseph Brown III (born June 4, 1968, Boston, Massachusetts) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He grew up in Leonia, New Jersey, and Mount Vernon, New York. During the late 1980s under the stage name Al B. Sure!, he enjoyed a brief run as one of new jack swing’s most popular romantic singers and producers.
Brown was a star football quarterback at Mount Vernon High School in New York, who rejected an athletic scholarship to the University of Iowa to pursue a music career. In 1987, Quincy Jones selected Brown as the first winner of the Sony Innovators Talent Search. Subsequently, Brown went on to work with Jones on several projects, most notably the platinum single “The Secret Garden (Sweet Seduction Suite)” from Jones’ double-platinum-certified album Back on the Block. On this recording, Brown was one of a quartet with Barry White, El DeBarge, and James Ingram.
His debut album from 1988, In Effect Mode, sold more than two million copies, topping the Billboard R&B chart for seven straight weeks. The album included the single “Nite and Day,” which topped the R&B chart and reached No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100. He received numerous Grammy and American Music Award (AMA) nominations, and won an AMA for Best New R&B Artist. He also received several Soul Train Award nominations, and won the award for Best New Artist. He also won several New York Music Awards. In addition, his 900 phone line was third in generating revenue, following those for New Kids on the Block and Run-D.M.C.
As a writer and producer, Brown introduced the multi-platinum group Jodeci and teen R&B performer Tevin Campbell (also one of Quincy Jones’s former protégés), as well as Faith Evans, Dave Hollister, Case, and Usher to the music industry.
In 2009, Brown signed with Hidden Beach Recordings. His first single for the label, “I Love It (Papi Aye, Aye, Aye),” entered the Radio & Records Urban AC chart at No. 33 in one week. The album Honey, I’m Home was released on June 23, 2009.
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