Toni Braxton

Toni Braxton Bio

Toni Michele Braxton (born October 7, 1967) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and television personality. She rose to prominence in the early 1990s as a solo artist on LaFace Records, becoming one of the defining R&B voices of her generation. Braxton is a seven-time Grammy Award winner who has also received nine Billboard Music Awards, seven American Music Awards, and a Soul Train Legend Award. Over a career spanning more than three decades, she has sold tens of millions of records worldwide and is best known for hits such as “Breathe Again” and “Un-Break My Heart.”

Early Life and Background

Toni Michele Braxton was born on October 7, 1967, in Severn, Maryland, to Michael Conrad Braxton Sr., a Methodist clergyman and power company worker, and Evelyn Jackson, a former opera singer, cosmetologist, and pastor. Her maternal grandfather was also a pastor, and Braxton has often credited her religious upbringing with sharpening her musical instincts. She has explained that performing in church felt like a natural stage, training her to engage an audience from a young age.

Braxton is the eldest of six siblings. She grew up alongside a younger brother, Michael Jr., and four younger sisters: Traci Renee, Towanda Chloe, Trina Evette, and Tamar Estine. The family was raised in a strict religious household, and Braxton’s earliest performances took place in her church choir. She later attended Bowie State University, where she initially pursued a teaching degree before deciding to pursue music professionally.

Path to Music

Braxton’s first major break came when she was discovered at a service station in Annapolis by producer William E. Pettaway Jr. Pettaway, who recognized her from local performances, offered to produce her, and she accepted the opportunity. In the late 1980s, Braxton and her four sisters began performing together as The Braxtons and were signed to Arista Records in 1989. Their 1990 single “Good Life” failed to chart nationally, but it drew the attention of executives Antonio “L.A.” Reid and Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds.

Reid and Babyface invited Braxton to record a demo of “Love Shoulda Brought You Home” for the soundtrack of the 1992 Eddie Murphy film Boomerang, after the song’s intended artist, Anita Baker, was unavailable. The recording was included on the soundtrack alongside a duet with Babyface, and Braxton was soon signed to Reid and Edmonds’s LaFace Records imprint. She began working on her solo debut soon after, setting the stage for one of the most celebrated debut albums of the 1990s.

Toni Braxton Career

Early Career (1989-1995)

Braxton’s self-titled debut album was released by LaFace Records in July 1993. Produced primarily by L.A. Reid, Babyface, and Daryl Simmons, the record reached number one on the Billboard 200 and eventually sold more than 10 million copies worldwide. Singles “Another Sad Love Song,” “Breathe Again,” and “Seven Whole Days” all became major R&B hits, with “Breathe Again” reaching the top five on the Billboard Hot 100.

The debut earned Braxton three Grammy Awards, including Best New Artist and two consecutive wins for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. She also collected two American Music Awards in 1994 and another in 1995, quickly establishing herself as one of the leading new voices in contemporary R&B.

Breakthrough (1996-2000)

In June 1996, Braxton released her second album, Secrets, which peaked at number two on the Billboard 200 and was certified eight-times platinum in the United States. The album sold more than 15 million copies worldwide and produced two number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100: “You’re Makin’ Me High” and the Diane Warren ballad “Un-Break My Heart.” “Un-Break My Heart” spent eleven consecutive weeks at the top of the chart and became one of the most recognizable ballads of the decade.

Braxton won two Grammy Awards for Secrets, including Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for “Un-Break My Heart” and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for “You’re Makin’ Me High.” During this period she also filed for bankruptcy following a dispute with Arista and LaFace Records, an event she later discussed publicly on The Oprah Winfrey Show. In 1998, she made her Broadway debut as Belle in Beauty and the Beast, the first Black woman to take on the leading role in that Disney production.

Continued Success and Diversification (2000-2010)

Braxton’s third studio album, The Heat, was released in April 2000 and debuted at number two on the Billboard 200. The lead single “He Wasn’t Man Enough” became a worldwide top-ten hit and won Best Female R&B Vocal Performance at the 2001 Grammy Awards. She also made her film acting debut in the 2001 comedy Kingdom Come, and later appeared in Disney’s Aida on Broadway in 2003.

Subsequent studio albums Libra (2005) and Pulse (2010) were released amid ongoing label changes and health issues, though Pulse still reached the top ten on the Billboard 200. In 2010, Braxton revealed she had been diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus, an autoimmune disease she has managed publicly ever since. She also became a prominent public advocate for autism awareness following her younger son’s diagnosis.

Recent Years (2014-Present)

In 2014, Braxton and longtime collaborator Babyface released the duet album Love, Marriage & Divorce under Motown Records. The album debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 and won Best R&B Album at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards. That same year, Braxton published her memoir, Unbreak My Heart, through Harper Collins, and Lifetime later premiered a biographical film based on the book in January 2016.

Braxton released her eighth solo album, Sex & Cigarettes, on Def Jam Recordings in March 2018. The single “Long as I Live” topped the US Adult R&B Songs chart, becoming her eighth number-one on that survey. In August 2020, she released her tenth studio album, Spell My Name, through Island Records. She has continued to appear on television, competing in the seventh season of Dancing with the Stars in 2008 and on The Masked Singer in 2021.

Notable Works and Milestones

Braxton’s signature recordings include the self-titled album Toni Braxton (1993), Secrets (1996), and the singles “Another Sad Love Song,” “Breathe Again,” “You’re Makin’ Me High,” and “Un-Break My Heart.” Her 2000 performance at Super Bowl XXXIV is regularly ranked among the most memorable halftime shows in the event’s history, and in 2011 she was named best dressed of the decade at the Grammy Awards. In 2012, VH1 included her on its list of the 50 Greatest Women in Music, and in 2023, Rolling Stone ranked her at No. 48 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.

Toni Braxton Award Nominations

Throughout her career, Toni Braxton has received nominations from the Grammy Awards, the American Music Awards, the Billboard Music Awards, the Soul Train Music Awards, and the BET Awards. Her albums and singles have frequently been recognized in the Best R&B Album, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, and Best R&B Song categories at the Grammys, with more than two dozen nominations across her career.

Toni Braxton Awards Won

Toni Braxton has won seven Grammy Awards, nine Billboard Music Awards, seven American Music Awards, and the Legend Award at the 2017 Soul Train Music Awards. In 2011, she was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. Her Grammy wins include Best New Artist and multiple awards for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.

Toni Braxton Family

Braxton is the eldest of six children and shares a particularly close relationship with her sisters. Four of her sisters, Traci, Towanda, Trina, and Tamar, performed alongside her in the family group The Braxtons and later appeared with her on the We tv reality series Braxton Family Values, which ran from 2011 to 2020. Her younger sister Traci Braxton passed away in 2022.

Personal Life

Braxton married musician Keri Lewis, the frontman of the group Mint Condition, on April 21, 2001. The couple had two sons, the younger of whom was later diagnosed with autism, prompting Braxton to become a prominent advocate and international spokesperson for Autism Speaks. Braxton and Lewis separated in 2009 and finalized their divorce in 2013. In 2024, she married rapper Birdman, having been in an on-and-off relationship with him since 2016. Braxton was also diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus in 2010 and has served as a spokeswoman for the American Heart Association.