Child Music Stars Gone Bad
A collection of cautionary tales for Lil Twist and Biebz.
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Child Music Stars Gone Bad - Slow down, Justin Bieber and Lil Twist. The two former child stars, now age 18 and 19, have had quite a 2013 so far. On New Year's Day, Twist was allegedly driving Bieber's Ferrari when they were pulled over for speeding; a paparazzo who tried to take a picture of the stop was struck by a car and killed. That very night, the two friends were photographed at a hotel party in L.A. smoking weed. It's a big blow to the two teen idols' formerly clean-cut images, but more importantly, it could be the first sign of the same problems that have plagued countless other child stars in adulthood. Here, as a cautionary tale for Twist and Biebz, we take a look at past young music stars gone bad.
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Bobby Brown - Bobby Brown started out as a member of boy-band New Edition at the age of 9, but his life took a drastic turn after his solo career went downhill in the ‘90s. By the mid-‘90s, he and his late wife Whitney Houston were abusing crack, heroin and alcohol. He’s racked up plenty of arrests since then as well, for drug possession, DUI and domestic abuse.. (photo: John Ricard / BET)
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Chi Ali - Few child stars experienced more of a 360 than Chi Ali, the Native Tongues affiliate who dropped his debut album, 1992’s The Fabulous Chi Ali, at the age of 15. Nine years later he was convicted for manslaughter after being featured on America’s Most Wanted. He was released last September after serving 11 years.(Photo: Instagram)
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Soulja Boy - Soulja Boy recorded his career-defining, chart-topping hit “Crank That (Soulja Boy)” in 2007, when he was 16. He’s seen his career decline slowly since he hit adulthood, punctuated by an arrest for multiple drug charges in 2011. (Photo: DJDM/WENN.com)
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Shyheim - Staten Island rapper Shyheim, cousin of the late Ol’ Dirty Bastard dropped his hit single “On and On” in 1993 and appeared in, but his career was derailed by a three-year prison sentence for various charges.(Photo: Virgin/EMI)
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Lil Wayne - Lil Wayne, who got his start as a 14-year-old member of the Hot Boys, has had a great career musically, but he’s had to endure some serious problems on the personal side, from an alleged cough-syrup addiction to a year-long jail sentence for gun changes. (Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
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Frankie Lymon - Frankie Lymon debuted as the star of The Teenagers in 1956 by topping Billboard’s R&B singles chart for five weeks with "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" in 1956, when he was just 13. Twelve years later, after a declining solo career, Lymon was found dead from a heroin overdose in his grandmother's bathroom. (Photo: Gilles Petard/Redferns)
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Chris Brown - Chris Brown signed to Jive in 2004 at the age of 15, and released his self-titled, double-platinum debut a year after. Five years later he was convicted of felony assault for beating up his then girlfriend Rihanna. He’s had several public blow-ups since then, most notably a club brawl with Drake in a New York nightclub last summer. (Photo: Scott Gries/Getty Images)
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Michael Jackson - Though Bieber would love to follow child-star-turned-global-icon Michael Jackson’s career trajectory, he needs to be sure to avoid his personal pitfalls, which included drug abuse, health problems, and sex-abuse allegations. (Photo: Anwar Hussein/Getty Images)
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Michael Jackson - Though Bieber would love to follow child-star-turned-global-icon Michael Jackson’s career trajectory, he needs to be sure to avoid his personal pitfalls, which included drug abuse, health problems, and sex-abuse allegations. (Photo: Anwar Hussein/Getty Images)