Toni Braxton

TONI BRAXTON is pop's hot new diva for the nineties. Since the then-unknown artist emerged on the 1992 soundtrack for the Eddie Murphy film Boomerang, her golden alto voice has become the Midas touch for hit singles, multi-million-selling albums, and all the awards you can imagine. But the success of "The First Lady of LaFace"--the label owned by equally golden writer-producers Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds and Antonio "L.A." Reid--was hardly a goal when Braxton was a child; she is making a kind of music she wasn't even allowed to listen to growing up.

The Braxton home in Severn, Maryland, adhered to the strict tenets of the Apostolic faith, of which Braxton's father was a minister. Women, for instance, were not allowed to wear pants, sandals, or makeup. And certainly no popular music was allowed. Not that Braxton and her five siblings (four sisters and one brother) were entirely in the dark: "I used to sneak Soul Train when my parents would leave the house to go shopping on Saturday," remembers Braxton, who sang in the church choir from an early age. Her technical skill came from her mother, an amateur opera singer, but watching the biggest R&B stars of the seventies on TV--particularly Stevie Wonder, Chaka Khan, and Quincy Jones--planted a different kind of seed. Things lightened up at home when Braxton was about eleven and her parents joined the less strict United Methodist faith.

Braxton eventually studied teaching at Bowie State University, but singing was her true passion. Her first break came after she and three of her sisters, performing as the Braxtons, signed to Arista Records and hit the low end of the Billboard R&B charts with "The Good Life." The record caught the attention of L.A. and Babyface, who signed Braxton to LaFace in 1991. Then another break: a pregnant Anita Baker bowed out of singing on the Boomerang soundtrack, which the two producers were overseeing. At Baker's suggestion, they threw a couple of tracks to Braxton: "Give U My Heart," a duet with Babyface, hit No. 29 on Billboard, while "Love Shoulda Brought You Home"--which also appeared on her debut album--hit No. 33. It was a fortuitous start.

Braxton's self-titled debut, meanwhile, sold more than seven million copies and earned her three Grammy Awards, three American Music Awards, and two Soul Train Music Awards. There were five hits from the album, all of which earned gold records. Babyface also used Braxton for the song "Let It Flow" on the award-winning soundtrack for the film Waiting To Exhale.

Her second album, Secrets, took eighteen months to produce and featured a somewhat flashier and sexier Braxton; the song "You're Makin' Me High"--which won a 1996 Billboard Award for Best R&B Single--deals with eroticism and masturbation. She also became more involved in creating her music, serving as co-executive producer and co-writing four of the album's songs. Secrets has turned into another multi-million-seller, and Braxton opened 1996 on the road with saxophonist Kenny G, who plays on the Secrets track "How Can An Angel Break My Heart." She cleaned up again at the 1997 Grammy Awards, winning Best Pop Female Vocal Performance for "Un-Break My Heart" and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for "You're Makin' Me High."

Besides music, Braxton is often asked about an acting career. She surely has the looks for it: People magazine listed her as one of the most beautiful women in the world. Braxton says acting is a consideration--she gets plenty of scripts, mostly for romantic comedies--but the woman who wasn't allowed to see Walt Disney films when she was growing up says she'd rather direct and produce.

Toni 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; sophisticated enough for adults, but sultry enough for younger listeners; strong enough in the face of heartbreak to appeal to women, but ravishing enough to nab the fellas. Wielding such broad appeal, Braxton managed to score not one, but two albums that sold over eight million copies; naturally, they were accompanied by a long string of hit singles on the pop and R&B charts, one of which -- "Un-break My Heart" -- ranks among the longest-running number one pop hits of the rock era.

Braxton was born in Severn, MD, on October 7, 1968. The daughter of a minister, she was raised mostly in the strict Apostolic faith, which prohibited not only all popular culture, but also pants in women's wardrobes. Encouraged by their mother, an operatically trained vocalist, Braxton and her four sisters began singing in church as girls; although gospel was the only music permitted in the household, the girls often watched Soul Train when their parents went shopping. Braxton's parents later converted to a different faith, and eased their restrictions on secular music somewhat, allowing Braxton more leeway to develop her vocal style; because of her husky voice, she often used male singers like Luther Vandross, Stevie Wonder, and Michael McDonald as models, as well as Chaka Khan. Braxton had some success on the local talent-show circuit, continuing to sing with her sisters, and after high school studied to become a music teacher. However, Braxton soon dropped out of college after she was discovered singing to herself at a gas station by songwriter Bill Pettaway (who co-authored Milli Vanilli's "Girl You Know It's True"). With Pettaway's help, Braxton and her sisters signed with Arista Records in 1990 as a group dubbed simply the Braxtons.

The Braxtons released a single in 1990 called "The Good Life," and while it wasn't a hit, it caught the attention of L.A. Reid and Babyface, the red-hot songwriting/production team who had just formed their own label, LaFace (which was associated with Arista). Braxton became the first female artist signed to LaFace in 1991, and the following year she was introduced to the listening public with a high-profile appearance on the soundtrack of Eddie Murphy's Boomerang. Not only did her solo cut "Love Shoulda Brought You Home" become a substantial pop and R&B hit, but she also dueted with Babyface himself on "Give U My Heart." Anticipation for Braxton's first album ran high, and when her eponymous solo debut was released in 1993, it was an across-the-board smash, climbing to number one on both the pop and R&B charts. It spun off hit after hit, including three more Top Ten singles in "Another Sad Love Song," "Breathe Again," and "You Mean the World to Me," plus the double-sided R&B hit "I Belong to You"/"How Many Ways." With eventual sales of over eight million copies, Toni Braxton's run of popularity lasted well into 1995. By that time, Braxton had scored Grammys for Best New Artist and Best Female R&B Vocal ("Another Sad Love Song") in 1994, and tacked on another win in the latter category for "Breathe Again" in 1995.

To tide fans over until her next album was released, Braxton contributed "Let It Flow" to the Whitney Houston-centered soundtrack of Waiting to Exhale in 1995. Again working heavily with L.A. Reid and Babyface, Braxton released her second album, Secrets, in the summer of 1996, and predictably, it was another enormous hit. The first single, "You're Makin' Me High," was Braxton's most overtly sexual yet, and it became her biggest pop hit to date; however, its success was soon eclipsed by the follow-up single, the Diane Warren-penned ballad "Un-break My Heart." "Un-break My Heart" was an inescapable juggernaut, spending an amazing 11 weeks on top of the pop charts (and even longer on the adult contemporary charts). Further singles "I Don't Want To" and "How Could an Angel Break My Heart" weren't quite as successful (not that that's an indictment), but that didn't really matter; by then Secrets was well on its way to becoming Braxton's second straight eight-million-seller. In 1997, she picked up Grammy awards for Best Female Pop Vocal and Best Female R&B Vocal (for "Un-break My Heart" and "You're Makin' Me High," respectively).

Toward the end of 1997, Braxton filed a lawsuit against LaFace Records, attempting to gain release from a contract she felt was no longer fair or commensurate with her status. When LaFace countersued, Braxton filed for bankruptcy, a move that shocked many fans (who wondered how that could be possible, given her massive sales figures) but actually afforded her protection from further legal action. Braxton spent most of 1998 in legal limbo, and passed the time by signing on to portray Belle in the Broadway production of Disney's +Beauty and the Beast (a role originally held by erstwhile teen queen Deborah Gibson). Braxton and LaFace finally reached a settlement in early 1999, and the singer soon began work on her third album. Heat was released in the spring of 2000, and entered the charts at number two, matching the highest position held by Secrets. Lead single "He Wasn't Man Enough" was a Top Ten hit (and an R&B chart-topper), although the follow-ups "Just Be a Man About It" (a duet with Dr. Dre) and "Spanish Guitar" didn't sustain the album's momentum as well as one might have expected. A brisk seller out of the box, The Heat eventually cooled off around the two-million mark; a disappointing showing compared to her previous efforts, despite yet another Grammy win for Best Female R&B Vocal ("He Wasn't Man Enough").

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. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide