TONI BRAXTON OFFICIAL WEBSITE
BABYFACE OFFICIAL WEBSITE
Toni Braxton:
With an impressive catalog of five albums (alongside 2003's best-selling Ultimate Collection), Toni Braxton has built a worldwide base of music lovers since she first burst onto the contemporary music scene in 1991 with "Love Shoulda Brought You Home" (from the soundtrack of the hit movie "Boomerang"). As the 'First Lady Of LaFace Records,' Toni's creative partnership with Antonio 'L.A.' Reid and Kenneth 'Babyface' Edmonds yielded a non-stop run of multi-platinum albums with 1993's Toni Braxton, 1996's Secrets and the 2000 set The Heat through to the 2001 Snowflakes holiday album and 2003's highly personal and thought-provoking More Than A Woman CD, which featured a number of songs written by Toni herself as well as production from The Neptunes and Rodney Jerkins among others.
Along the way, Toni distinguished herself with unforgettable hit singles such as "Another Sad Love Song," "Breathe Again," "Un-Break My Heart," "You're Makin' Me High" and "He Wasn't Man Enough" picking up five Grammy Awards in the process (in 1993 for "Best New Artist" and "Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female"; in 1994 for another "Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female" award; and in 1997, as winner in both the "Best R&B" and "Best Pop" Female Vocal Performance categories).
With natural musical skills that were immediately evident when she started singing in church with her four sisters in Severn, Maryland and inspired by the likes of Stevie Wonder, Anita Baker, Chaka Khan and Whitney Houston, Toni had set her sights on a singing career from her earliest days. It was while studying to become a teacher at Bowie State University that she came to the attention of LaFace owners L.A. Reid and Babyface. Her decade with LaFace was filled with both accomplishment and challenge; while she constantly achieved chart success globally, racking up some forty-million worldwide sales through her five LaFace albums, Toni dealt with a much-publicized bankruptcy in 1997 which she recalled was "a major learning opportunity for me." Resolved in 1998, Toni began her first Broadway run that year with a starring role in "Beauty & The Beast." The 2000 success of The Heat, her third album was typified by Top 10 status in over a dozen countries including the U.S., France, Germany, Holland, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Hong Kong, South Africa, Greece, Denmark, Austria, Belgium, Israel and Switzerland. The album's gold single "He Wasn't Man Enough" earned Toni a 2000 Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance" while the album won two American Music Awards.
While doing promotional work on The Heat, Toni made her silver screen debut with "Kingdom Come" which featured an all-star cast and earned her a BET Black Oscar. In 2000, she was also given the coveted Aretha Franklin Soul Train Award for career achievement. The October 2001 release of Snowflakes, Toni's critically-acclaimed holiday album provided further validation for her popularity. In 2002, Toni began work on More Than A Woman which she described as "more 'in your face' than my previous albums." At the time she explained, "My first love has always been R&B and I've been into hip-hop since it first started. On each of the albums I've done since my first one, I've done things to introduce people to other aspects of what I'm about musically.
In 2005, following the release of her fifth album Libra, Toni headlined her own show at the Flamingo Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. The show Toni Braxton: Revealed was originally only scheduled for a three month run, however the show's success prompted an extension through April 2008. In August 2008, Toni competed on ABC's Dancing with Stars and headlined the Dancing with the Stars tour.
Babyface:
If you were to closely examine the annals of modern pop music history, few creative forces have been more seminal or impacted the contemporary pop/urban genres as much as Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds. In a relatively short time, he has reached icon status as a poignant tunesmith, prolific hit maker/producer, superstar recording artist, and revolutionary label owner. He is a statistical juggernaut, who keeps adding milestone after milestone to a legacy that seems to have no threshold or peak in sight.
A 10-time Grammy winner with 11 solo albums of his own, Edmonds’ impeccably crafted explorations of love, romance and relationships have made an indelible imprint on the evolution of contemporary pop music throughout the world: over 125 Top-10 R&B and Pop hits, 42 #1’s R&B hits, and 51 Top-10 Pop hits (including 16 #1’s), which have produced single and album sales in excess of over 500 million units worldwide.
Just a few of the vocalists from which his music can be heard: Whitey Houston, Boyz II Men, Mariah Carey, Madonna, Eric Clapton, Mary J. Blige, Michael Jackson, TLC, Toni Braxton, Celine Dion, John Mellencamp, Brandy, Aretha Franklin, Fall Out Boy, Pink, Charlie Wilson, and Chrisette Michele. Most recently, he co-wrote and produced Beyoncé’s single, “Best Thing I Never Had” and several songs for Boyz II Men’s recent CD release and Anthony Hamilton’s new CD “Back to Love” including the single “Woo.”
He is the recipient of numerous awards, including Soul Train Music Awards, BMI Awards, NAACP Image Awards, and American Music Awards. Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds was the recipient of the third BET Walk of Fame Award (previous honorees were Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston), and was named BET’s “Entertainer of the Year” at the First Annual BET Awards Ceremony. He received a star on Hollywood’s legendary Walk of Fame in Feb. 2011.
