July 30, 2004

Brandy And Quentin Richardson To Tie The Knot

By Alyssa Rashbaum (MTV.com)

Almost two weeks after Robert Smith alleged that he and Brandy never actually married, the singer has announced her engagement to NBA star Quentin Richardson.

The singer, 25, and the Chicago-born baller (who is in the process of leaving the Los Angeles Clippers for the Phoenix Suns), 24, got engaged on Tuesday, according to People. Richardson proposed during a private party at the Century Club in Los Angeles with the couple's friends and families in attendance.

Richardson reportedly asked for Brandy's hand by adorning it with an 11-and-a-half-carat diamond ring valued at $1 million and designed by jeweler Jason Arasheben, who completed the ring just 30 minutes before the proposal.

No date for the wedding was announced.

In a June interview with MTV, Brandy spoke of her relationship with Richardson. "It's definitely going well," she said. "We're taking it day by day because we're both young and I've been through a crazy experience."

The singer also said that if she were to get engaged again, she would not keep it a secret. "I promise you, I'm gonna call [my next marriage] my first marriage, because it'll be the first time that I'll ever get a chance to walk down the aisle and have bridesmaids and my mom crying and my dad giving me away, and just really being in love with somebody. I promise you, it will not be a secret because it'll be real."

Robert Smith recently told two New York radio stations that he and Brandy were never legally wed, but simply kept up appearances to maintain the singer's image, since she was pregnant with their child.