“I’m really looking forward to that,” Brown said before performing at a November 28 tribute to Paul Robeson at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center. “She’s making me sing and I’m making her dance, so it’s a beautiful combination.”

Brown, who spent about two months in a Florida jail this year for violating his parole on a 1996 drunk driving conviction, said he’s a changed man. He plans to build centers for underprivileged kids.

“I have to do things that are different now,” Brown said. “Since my life is different, my days are different, I have to do something different.”

Asked how he has changed, Brown said: “I’m a better-built brother, most definitely.”