U.S. singer Chris Brown denied bail in U.K., throwing upcoming tour into doubt

In this June 7, 2015, file photo, Chris Brown performs at the 2015 Hot 97 Summer Jam at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. (Photo by Scott Roth/Invision/AP, File)

MANCHESTER, England, May 16 - U.S. singer Chris Brown was denied bail by an English court over a serious assault charge on Friday, throwing his upcoming world tour into doubt.

Brown has been charged with inflicting grievous bodily harm in what prosecutors said was an “unprovoked attack” in a London nightclub in 2023.

The 36-year-old has not yet been asked to enter a plea to the charge. His tour manager and record label did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Brown was arrested at a hotel in Manchester, northern England this week after returning to Britain.

Prosecutor Hannah Nicholls told Manchester Magistrates’ Court on Friday that Brown had committed an “unprovoked attack with a weapon in a nightclub full of people.”

She added that Brown allegedly attacked a music producer with a bottle at the Tape nightclub in central London on February 19, 2023.

The R&B star, a two-time Grammy Award winner known for hits such as “Loyal,” “Run It” and “Under the Influence,” is set to kick off his “Breezy Bowl XX” tour on June 8 in the Netherlands.

Judge Joanne Hirst remanded Brown into custody ahead of his next appearance at London’s Southwark Crown Court on June 13.

(Reporting by Phil Noble in Manchester and Sam Tobin and Sam Tabahriti in London; editing by Sarah Young, Michael Holden and Andrew Heavens)