The 2017 Bet Awards aired on Sunday night at 8:00 p.m. The Hip Hop group "New Edition" stole the show. They were honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award and later gave a show-stopping performance. All six members of the group were on hand as was their long time manager Brooke Payne.
Even Bobby Brown's ego was checked at the door
According to the 3-night BET miniseries "The New Edition Story," Bobby Brown was fired due to drug use and an oversized ego. Brown went on to a successful solo career and Johhny Gill replaced him. Later Ricky Bell, Michael Bivens and Ronnie Devoe formed the popular Hip Hop trio "Bell Biv Devoe." Tresvant and Gill both had moderate success as solo artists.
On stage, Sunday night at the Awards ceremony, were 17 men performing together and all ego's stopped at the door.
Bobby Brown, Ralph Tresvant, Michael Bivens, Ronnie Devoe and Ricky Bell, and Johnny Gill were performing together. Beside them were the six men who portrayed them in the "BET" miniseries as well as the young actors who were the teen versions of the original five in the made for TV production. Longtime manager Brooke Payne who is Ronnie Devoe's uncle was also given a shout out and appeared on stage when the group received the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Faith kept 'New Edition' together
During the ceremony, while giving his acceptance speech for the Award Ronnie Devoe said that the music industry will "Chew you up and spit you out." He credited faith in God and Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Savior for keeping him.
This was echoed by several other group members. When Bobby Brown took the mic he said, "I been through some "Sh**t." The censors did not bleep him out so everyone heard exactly what he said. Brown's daughter Bobbie Kristina died just one year after her mother and Brown's ex-wife Whitney Houston.
It is commonplace in the entertainment business to see a lot of change.
Group members leave for solo careers or are fired and are replaced by new artists. There are times when bands break up and never play together again. Producers and managers are changed often. For the five original "New Edition" members to forgive and forget whatever led to the rift with Brown and for Bobby to embrace and work with Johhny Gill with no hard feelings is commendable.
BET chose a most worthy group of men for its prestigious Lifetime Achievement honor.
To see all the "New Edition" all sharing a stage and singing their hits is amazing in itself but they also allow Bell Biv Devoe and the solo artists to do their own thing as well. This is unheard of in the cutthroat world of the music business. And for Brooke Payne to still be in the picture some 30 years later is a miracle by Hollywood standards. So indeed it looks as if the faith the group members have relied on has served them well.
