American R & B singer-songwriter, actress and TV personality Toni Michele Braxton was born 57 years ago in Severn, Maryland, is divorced and has 2 children. She is best known for her unique contralto voice.
As a teenager, Toni went to university as she intended to become a teacher, however, she changed her mind and pursued a singing career. Her first singing experience was in her local church choir.
In the late 80s, Toni formed ‘The Braxtons’ together with her 4 sisters and in 1990 released their first single named ‘Good Life’. Though unsuccessful, it was noticed by a couple of record producers and Toni was invited to record a song for the movie ‘Boomerang’ starring Eddie Murphy, which was initially intended for another singer, Anita Baker. However, since Anita was pregnant, she recommended Toni to sing it instead.
Toni’s first solo album came out in 1993 and went extremely well on the music charts, so much so that it reached number one on the US Billboard 200 and placed with the Top 10 in several other countries around the world. It featured various singles like ‘Another sad love Song’, ‘Breathe Again’ and ‘Seven Whole Days’, to name a few.
Likewise, the album that followed a couple of years later proved very successful and included her all-time best number one hit ‘Un-break my Heart’. Afterwards, she performed in 2 shows of the Disney theatrical production ‘Beauty and the Beast’.
In the year 2000, ‘Heat’, her 3rd album came out and was a hit like the previous ones. She composed a few songs of this album together with other songwriters. A year later, she had her first acting experience and starred in the film ‘Kingdom Come’ which went quite well in the box office. Afterwards, Toni acted in 6 more films made for TV. With regards to TV productions, Braxton appeared in some TV series, particularly in a main role in the reality TV series ‘Braxton Family Values’ with a total of 142 episodes.
To date, Toni had 20 albums, 90 music videos and 34 singles, amongst others and has sold more than 70 million records globally. She was also honoured with numerous awards including 7 American Music, 5 Billboard Music, 7 Grammy and 5 Soul Train Music.
Braxton supports and is also a spokeswoman for 2 non-profit organisations regarding autism and cardiovascular diseases.
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