Before he arguably became the biggest movie star in the world earning around $20 million per film, Will Smith was one half of the hip hop duo, The Fresh Prince & DJ Jazzy Jeff, who won the first Grammy for best rap duo in 1989. Though he was earning million of dollars (and underpaying his income taxes), at age 19 his splurging days came to an abrupt halt when the Internal Revenue Service assessed a $2.8 million tax debt against him. Nearly bankrupt, Smith got a break when Benny Medina and Jeff Pollack approached him with an opportunity to star in his own television show, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Though the show was successful, for the first three years, the IRS was taking 70 percent of Smith’s paychecks to repay his debt. Once he was cleared, Smith’s acting career propelled to new heights and has since made him more money than his rap career ever did.
Tina Turner
Tina Tunrer’s story is probably one of the most well-known and celebrated comebacks in music history. She started her music career as the lead singer and one half of the musical duo, Ike & Tina. They had a string of hits including “Proud Mary” and “A Fool In Love.” But in the 1970s, Turner left the successful duo after suffering years of abuse at the hands of her husband, Ike. But when she left him, she left a fortune and struggled to move forward with a solo career. By 1984, Turner’s comeback was official with the Grammy award winning song, “What’s love got to do with it?” She has been called the most successful female rock artist having sold nearly 180 million records worldwide and more concert tickets than any other solo performer in history.
Whitney Houston
For a the first decade of her career, Whitney Houston was pop music’s princess. Her 1985 self-titled debut album became the best-selling album by a female artist at the time of its release. Her star status reached new heights as she took on acting roles in the early 90s, most notably in “The Bodyguard” and “Waiting To Exhale,” and took on producer roles for both movies’ soundtracks. “The Bodyguard” spent 20 weeks in the number one spot on the Billboard charts and won a Granny Award for Album of the Year. To date, it has sold over 44 million copies.”Waiting to Exhale” snagged the number one spot for five weeks, went 7x platinum by Sept. 1996 and earned Houston a Grammy for Best R&B Song: “Exhale (Shoop Shoop).” But between a tumultuous marriage with Bobby Brown and her abuse of drugs, Houston’s magical voice went silent for the most part in the early 2000s. After some personal rehabilitation, which included divorcing Brown, Houston made her comeback last year with the record “I Look to You.” It premiered at the top of the Billboard charts selling over 300,000 copies in the first week.
MC Hammer
MC Hammer was a phenomenon in the late 80s and early 90s with his incredible dance moves and infectious hits such as “U Can’t Touch This” and “Pray.” But his meteoric rise was soon followed by a legendary fall. Saddled with a $13 million debt, he filed for bankruptcy in the mid-1990s. Now, the former rapper, whose birth name is Stanley Kirk Burrell, has returned to the music industry as an entrepreneur. He is the chief strategy officer of the new website DanceJam.com, which started with $1 million in seed money. He also is launching a business venture in the world of mixed martial arts (MMA).
Chris Brown
At just 16 years old, Chris Brown made an explosive splash onto the music scene with the hit single “Run It!” in 2005, which helped his debut album go double platinum. Brown followed with a string of radio hits and gained the adoration of millions of fans, including then-girlfriend Rihanna. However, that relationship proved toxic to Brown, both personally and professionally. In 2009, he plead guilty to felony assault on Rihanna and faced heavy criticism from the media, his peers in the industry and fans. Arguably, his moment of redemption came when he broke down on the stage at the BET awards while singing Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror.” Since then, he’s bounced back with his ninth top ten single “Deuces” and co-starred in the crime thriller Takers. Most recently, he was nominated by the American Music Awards for Favorite Male Artist in the Soul/Rhythm & Blues category.
Monica
The world was introduced to 15-year-old Monica when she made her debut with the 1995 album, “Miss Thang.” She went on to become a dominant figure on the R&B charts, earning a Grammy for her duet “The Boy Is Mine” with singer Brandy in 1998. But Monica’s career stalled at the start of the new millennium due to personal troubles. She witnessed the suicide of her boyfriend and carried on an emotionally draining relationship with rapper turned inmate C-Murder. She made her comeback with the release of her fourth album “After the Storm,” which contained her sixth number one single, “So Gone.” Her latest album, “Still Standing,” produced her seventh number one hit single “Everything to Me.”Her album was complimented by the BET reality series of the same name. The premiere attracted 3.2 million viewers and the show made the second highest series debut in BET history.
Brandy
Brandy dominated the R&B and Pop Charts in the mid-1990s with her self-titled debut album, which spawned several top ten hits, including “I Wanna Be Down” and “Baby.” She also found success on the small screen in the starring role of the television series Moesha. But Brandy’s music career started to wane after 2001 and in 2006, she was involved in a fatal car accident that claimed the life of one person. Even though no charges were brought against her due to insufficient evidence, multiple lawsuits were filed against her. Brandy sought solace in seclusion. She came back last year with a new VH1 reality show titled Brandy and Ray J: A Family Business, which has been renewed for a second season. Brandy was also a contestant on the recent season of Dancing with the Stars and ultimately placed fourth in the competition. To date, she’s sold over 30 million records worldwide and ranks as one of the best-selling female artists in American music history by the RIAA.
Mariah Carey
Armed with a five octave vocal range, Mariah Carey proved early that she was a force to be reckoned with when her 1990 debut self-titled album produced four number one hits and earned her two Grammy Awards. She rarely surrendered the top spot and in 1998, she was deemed the world’s best-selling recording artist of the 90s. Carey, a notoriously career-driven artist, worked to maintain that success at the turn of the century. But in 2001 she suffered a breakdown. After a stint in the hospital to recover from exhaustion, she released Glitter, but both the film and the accompanying soundtrack of the same name flopped. In 2002, Virgin Records bought out Carey’s contract. But the pop diva wasn’t down for long. She signed with Island Def Jam and her first album for the label, The Emancipation of Mimi, produced the number one hit, “We Belong Together.” The Emancipation of Mimi was named the best-selling album of 2005 by Nielsen SoundScan. Carey continued her reign on the charts and in 2008, she earned her 18th number one single, placing her only second behind The Beatles for the most number one hits.
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