Singer and songwriter Brandy Norwood has lived most of her life in the public eye, having signed her first recording contract as just the age of 14. However, as she got older, Norwood, now 41, revealed she began to feel trapped by her “perfect” public image.
During an interview with PEOPLE published on Wednesday, Aug. 19, the actress spoke candidly about how a fatal car accident led her down a path of depression and ultimately had her contemplating suicide. In 2006, the “Borderline” singer was involved in a highly publicized car crash, which resulted in the death of a 38-year-old woman. Brandy, who wasn’t charged criminally for the incident, settled the case out of court with the woman’s family. She also, out of respect, declined to speak on the matter publicly.
“I remember laying in bed super depressed,” Brandy recalled. “I [told] myself, ‘So, you’re just going to go out like this? That’s wack. You have a daughter. If you can’t do it for yourself, do it for her because this is not the way to leave a mark in her life.'”
Brandy expressed that the incident, coupled with the falling out of some personal relationships, took a toll on her mental health. Still, she credited her now 18-year-old daughter Sy’ rai for pulling her out of the darkness that she was experiencing.
“If Sy’ rai wasn’t here, I wouldn’t be either,” the singer said. “The place that I was in, it just felt like I wasn’t going to make it through.”
Brandy and her then partner and producer Robert Smith welcomed their daughter in 2002. A year later, the pair split and Smith would later go on to reveal that despite what the two portrayed during the filming of their reality TV show “Brandy: Special Delivery,” which documented Brandy’s pregnancy, they never married. “It changed people’s perspective of me,” Brandy said of becoming a mom and the situation with Smith at that time. She added, “But I had to focus on what was important, which was Sy’ rai.”
As of late, Brandy is celebrating the unveiling of her seventh studio album, “B7”, released through her label, Brand Nu, Inc., and eOne Music. The project features 15 tracks and proves that despite an eight-year gap since her last album and 26 years removed from her debut, the singer still has some of the smoothest vocals in the industry.
