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Toni Braxton BiographyToni Braxton was one of the most popular and commercially successful female R&B singers of the '90s, thanks to her ability to straddle seemingly opposite worlds. Braxton was soulful enough for R&B audiences, but smooth enough for adult contemporary. She has three gold albums, two of which have sold over eight million copies.Braxton was born in Severn, MD, on October 7, 1968. Her father was a minister and her mother was an operatically trained vocalist. This quite naturally let to Toni singing gospel music in the church with her four sisters at an early age. As Toni got older and her voice became warmer and more husky, she began to develop her vocal style while listening to Chaka Khan and male singers like Luther Vandross, Stevie Wonder, and Michael McDonald. Toni and her sisters were locally successful during her high school years after which she studied to be a music teacher in college. Her time in college was short lived as she was overheard singing to herself at a gas station by successful songwriter, Bill Pettaway. With his help, Braxton and her sisters signed with Arista Records in 1990 as "The Braxtons". Their first single was released in 1990 called "The Good Life", which was heard by L.A. Reid and Babyface. L.A. Reid and Babyface were owners of the "LaFace" label which was also associated with Arista Records. Toni signed with LaFace in 1991 and landed a spot on Eddie Murphy's, "Boomerang" soundtrack with her solo recording of "Love Shoulda Brought You Home." As this song began to rise up the R&B and pop charts, Toni was again featured in a duet with Babyface on "Give U My Heart." When Braxton finally released her first solo album in 1993, it was an immediate hit, climbing to number one on both the pop and R&B charts. From the album, she landed three Top Ten singles, including "You Mean the World to Me," "Another Sad Love Song," and "Breathe Again." This album eventually sold over eight million copies, landed her a Grammy in 1994 for Best New Artist, another for Best Female R&B Vocal on "Another Sad Love Song," and another in 1995 for "Breathe Again." Again collaborating with L.A. Reid and Babyface, Toni released her second album, Secrets, in the summer of 1996. It was an enormous hit, which would again sell over eight million copies. The two biggest hits from this album were "You're Makin' Me High," which earned her a Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal, and the monster ballad "Un-break My Heart," which would spend eleven weeks as number one on the pop charts and net Toni another Grammy for Best Female R&B Vocal. Sadly, Toni spend the next two years in court, eventually winning her release from LaFace Records. During this time, she appeared on stage as Belle in Disney's "Beauty and the Beast," and in 1999, began work on her third album. Heat was released in the spring of 2000, and entered the charts at number two. "He Wasn't Man Enough" was a Top Ten hit, netting her another Grammy for Best Female R&B Vocal. In 2001, Braxton made her feature film debut in the ensemble comedy Kingdom Come, and married Mint Condition keyboardist Keri Lewis; by the end of the year, they had a baby boy. Braxton also released her first holiday album, Snowflakes. In early 2002, Braxton appeared in the VH1 movie Play'd, and recorded More Than a Woman for release later that year. The singles "Please" and "That's the Way Love Works (Trippin')" announced Braxton's 2005 return with the full-length Libra. |
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