A Brand New Brandy

Nov. 8 -- At 15, Brandy was a top recording artist, a sitcom star and a cover girl. Then she dropped out of sight. As is often the case with such a meteoric rise, Brandy took a dramatic fall.

Brandy says she's battled to overcome an abusive relationship, an eating disorder, and what she describes as an "old-fashioned nervous breakdown," to get back on top. And she appears to have done it. Now, she's flaunting the sexy, grown-up version of the wholesome, girl-next-door charm that launched her career.

A Real-Life Cinderella Story

Brandy set her sights on singing and acting since she was just 7 years old. An early age for most of us to choose a career path, but not so early for a girl who made her stage debut in a Mississippi church at the age of 2.

Before long, Brandy took on the world of acting, playing the main character — a sweet, feisty teenager — in Moesha. The family-oriented television sitcom was No. 1 in black households for five years. Singlehandedly, Brandy had given the WB network its first big hit.

"Brandy was the money. That means that she was in practically every scene, uh, she also took on a producing role on the show," said William Allen Young, who played Brandy's on-screen father.

Moesha was a perfectionist to a fault — and so was the young girl who played her.

"She walks onto a set, and nails it. And you realize that old adage, 'You can't teach this,' it's true," Young said.

As if a hit sitcom and a singing career weren't enough to keep a teenager busy, Brandy was also one of America's favorite teen cover girls. She had a string of national commercials — even her own doll.

Her young life truly seemed a fairy tale — especially when Whitney Houston asked Brandy to play Cinderella in a 1997 made-for-TV movie Houston produced.

Brandy then went from princess to diva, holding her own alongside seven others in the "Divas: Live Concert."

Pressures Skyrocket Along With Career

Looking back, Brandy said, "I wanted everything that I accomplished. This was my dream. This is what I worked for."