Al B. Sure!

Albert Joseph Brown III, known to the music world as Al B. Sure! was born in 1969 in Boston, Massachusetts. Growing up in Mount Vernon, New York, he made his first musical appearance with a friend on a soundtrack for Sesame Street. He then began to write songs with his cousin Kyle West.

While playing as quarterback for his high school football team, Brown became friends with Edward Ferrell, known as DJ Eddie F for his work with Heavy D. After graduating from high school in 1986, Al B Sure moved to New York City where he attended the Manhattan Center for the Performing Arts. He worked with his friend DJ Eddie and collaborated with Heavy D. Thanks to these collaborations, Al B Sure was able to meet with the head of Uptown label, Andre Harrell. Harrell helped Al B Sure get signed to Warner Brothers in 1987 who helped the singer launch his career.

In 1987, Al B Sure entered the Sony Innovator Talent Search where he was selected by Quincy Jones as the winner. This selection and Sure's early success would help him establish a close relationship with Quincy Jones that led to many great collaborations.

Al B. Sure's first album, In Effect Mode was released in 1988 and was a big success. The album went double platinum, topping the R&B charts for seven straight weeks. The album featured the single 'Rescue Me' which reached #3 on the R&B charts, 'Off On Your Own (Girl)' which reached #1 on the R&B charts and 'Nite And Day' which topped the R&B charts and reached #7 on the Hot 100. The album's last single, 'If I'm Not Your Lover' furthered the success of the album, reaching #2 on the R&B charts. The album's only single to fair poorly on the charts was 'Killing Me Softly' which topped out at #80 on the Hot 100.

The album scored many award nominations and helped prove that Al B. Sure deserved his honor in the Sony Innovator Search. He then worked with Quincy Jones on the platinum single 'Secret Garden' on the album Back On The Block.

In 1990, he released his second album, Private Times... and the Whole 9! The album went gold, featuring the strong singles 'Misunderstanding' and 'Had Enuf.' The former topped the R&B charts and reached #42 on the Hot 100 while the latter peaked out at #28 on the R&B charts.

In 1992, Al B Sure released his third and last album, Sexy Versus. The album had a hit with the single 'Right Now,' which topped the R&B charts. The album's last two singles, 'Natalie,' and 'I Don't Wanna Cry' peaked at #56 and #83 on the R&B charts respectively.

Al B. Sure! had a hand in the development of many 90s R&B acts, working with the group Jodeci and teen star Tevin Campbell. Through his extended work on Jodeci's album, Al B. Sure! was established as a big name producer in the industry and helped introduce Faith Evans, Dave Hollister, Case and Usher to the music scene.

He has a son Albert Brown IV, a son Quincy with Kim Porter and a son with another woman thought to be named Tanya in Atlanta.

In 1996, Al B Sure suffered a terrible car accident in New York. However, he emerged back on his feet and has been hosting a radio show in San Francisco since 2002.