'I love you, Whitney' : Bobby Brown on Miss. stage

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SOUTHAVEN, Miss.—It was an affecting night for body accompanist Bobby Brown as he performed Saturday night afore bags aloof hours afterwards acquirements that his ex-wife Whitney Houston had diedin Beverly Hills.

"First of all, I demand to acquaint you that I adulation you all," he told admirers aggregate at a about sold-out 7,500-seat area in arctic Mississippi. "Second, I would like tosay, 'I adulation you, Whitney.' The hardest affair for me to do is to appear on this stage."

Brown took the date as allotment of the New Edition alliance bout at the Landers Center in Southaven,close to Memphis, Tenn. He said he absitively to go on with the achievement because admirers had apparent their adherence to the accumulation New Edition for added than 25 years. He performed about 10 songs over added than hour—"My Preogative" and "Mr. Telephone Man" amid them—before he appeared visibly annoyed on stage.

Brown aback appeared affected with affect as the concert anguish down, wiping his face with his belong as the accumulation able to sing a ballad. Back the song began, he abutting in, but his articulation cracked. He again coiled to the admirers and absolved off stage. The appearance concluded anon afterward.

Houston and Brown had a agitated 15-year alliance that concluded in 2007.

In 1993, they had a daughter, Bobbi Kristina. Ten years later, badge responded to a calm abandon alarm from Houston about Brown. Badge begin Houston with a cut lip and aching cheek. She was in and out of biologic rehabilitation during the mid-2000s, and appeared to hit a low point with her unsteady appearances in the 2005 absoluteness TV appearance "Being Bobby Brown." She filed for acknowledged break the afterward year and the brace afar in 2007.

Before New Edition took the stage, Landers Center controlling administrator Todd Mastry had adumbrated Brown would go on as appointed but wouldn't be accessible to allocution with the media.

Mastry said he hadn't announced with Brown, but had been backstage. Asked the affection there, he said, "It's what you would apprehend it to be back article like this happens—respectful."

Singer Kevon Edmonds paid accolade to Houston on date and said his thoughts and prayers were with her family, according to Mastry.

New Edition began its appearance with the bristles associates advancing onstagewithout Brown. He abutting them toa continuing ovation. They were all cutting bittersweet red coats with atramentous pants and white shirts, and Brown wore a atramentous hat. As they began to perform, one accumulation affiliate said, "This one is for Whitney."

During an intermission, one of Whitney Houston's aboriginal hits, "YouGive Good Love," played over the speakers. Admirers stood up and began singing forth with the song.

Khalilah Hollis, 34, of Horn Lake, Miss., said she was already in the architecture for the concert back shefound out through Facebook that Houston had died.

"It's absolutely sad that she anesthetized away. She was an icon," Hollis said.

She said that back she heard the news, she anticipation that conceivably Brown would not perform. But she was animated back he did go on.

She said Brown's words about Whitney were touching.

"He apparently didn't demand to go into capacity because he apparently would accept burst down," Hollis said.