  Toni Braxton was born October 7,
1968, in Maryland and grew up singing with
her sisters and winning talent contests. A
daughter of a minister, Toni was brought up
without the influences of pop culture. Toni's
exposure to music occurred when her parents
were out of the house, and Toni and her
sisters could sneak a look at Soul Train.
The combination of watching Soul Train
and admiring her mother's opera background
led Toni to attend to her own musical
feelings. Since arriving on the radio as a
solo singer in 1993, Toni has been able to
claim critical acclaim and diva status at the
same time, while maintaining a sense of
elegance and seductiveness.
Toni began a recording career
with her sisters, The Braxtons,
who signed with Arista Records.
 # 107
Singles Artist of the Year
 Toni was preparing herself for a
career of music teaching while attending
Bowie State University (since 1989) when she
signed with LaFace Records, headed by
producers Babyface and L.A. Reid, who had
been looking for their first female solo
artist. Toni's first appearance on the pop
and R&B charts came with 2 tracks from
the Boomerang soundtrack: "Love Shoulda Brought
You Home" and a duet with Babyface, "Give U My Heart" - a lucky break
handed to Toni when Anita Baker
was not able to contribute her vocals to the
soundtrack.
Toni hit the Top 40 with "Love Shoulda Brought
You Home."
 # 14
Singles Artist of the Year
 Toni's debut LP, Toni
Braxton was released and kept Toni on
the charts for the rest of the year and into
1994. Toni hit the Top 3 with the songs
"Another Sad Love Song" and "Breathe Again" followed by the
1994 hits, "Seven Whole Days," "You Mean The World To
Me,"
"How Many Ways" and "I Belong To You."
Toni hit the Top 40 with "Another Sad Love Song."
Toni
Braxton was certified gold.
Toni hit the Top 10 with "Another Sad Love Song."
Toni
Braxton topped the Billboard Top
R&B Albums chart for 3 weeks.
Toni
Braxton was certified platinum.
Toni hit the Top 40 with "Breathe Again."
Toni hit the Top 10 with "Breathe Again."
Toni
Braxton was certified 2x platinum.
 # 5
Singles Artist of the Year
Toni topped the Billboard
R&B Airplay chart for 5 weeks with "Seven Whole Days."
Toni won 2 American Music
Awards for Favorite Soul/R&B New
Artist and Favorite New Adult Contemporary
Artist, and was nominated for Favorite
Soul/R&B Female Artist.
Toni topped the Billboard Hot
100 Airplay chart for a week with "Breathe Again."
Toni
Braxton was certified 3x platinum.
Toni hit the Top 40 with "Seven Whole Days."
Toni
Braxton topped the Billboard Pop Albums
chart for 2 weeks.
Toni won her first 2 Grammy
Awards for Best New Artist and Best R&B Vocal
Performance - Female ("Another Sad Love Song").
Toni hit the Top 40 with "You Mean The World To
Me."
Toni
Braxton was certified 4x platinum.
Toni hit the Top 10 with "You Mean The World To
Me."
The single "You Mean The World To
Me"
was certified gold.
The video for "Breathe Again" was nominated
for a MTV Video Music
Award for Best R&B Video.
Toni hit the Top 40 with "How Many Ways."
The single "Another Sad Love Song" was certified
gold.
Toni
Braxton was certified 5x platinum.
The single "Breathe Again" was certified
gold.
Toni hit the Top 40 with "I Belong To You."
Toni topped the Billboard
Year-End Charts as the Top R&B
Artist - Female (singles & albums) and
the Top R&B Album Artist - Female.
 # 95
Singles Artist of the Year
Toni won an American Music
Award for Favorite Soul/R&B Album
and was nominated for Favorite Soul/R&B
Female Artist.
Toni won another Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal
Performance - Female ("Breathe Again").
Toni
Braxton was certified 6x platinum.
Toni
Braxton was certified 7x platinum.
 While readying herself for the
all-important sophomore release, Toni
recorded a track for the hit movie, Waiting
To Exhale called "Let It Flow."
The soundtrack was a tour-de-force of premium
R&B singers under the production of Babyface.
 # 8
Singles Artist of the Year
Toni was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal
Performance - Female ("I Belong To You").
 Toni's second LP, Secrets, was released and gave
Toni her first #1 pop hits: "You're Makin' Me High" (hitting the Top
40 and the Top 10 in June) and "Un-Break My Heart." Toni said of
the LP: "The motivation for this album
was to include a little bit of everything.
Our aim was to come up with material that
would have a familiar 'feel' to the people
who bought the first album without being
musically redundant." She also had some
help with the LP including Babyface, R.
Kelly, Tony Rich,
and David Foster. Toni also
was the co-executive producer of Secrets and co-wrote
2 songs including the hit "How Could An Angel
Break My Heart" (which hit the Top 40 in
1997 and was included on the a Princess Diana
memorial LP).
Toni topped the Billboard Hot
R&B Singles chart for 2 weeks and the Hot
R&B Singles Airplay chart for 13 weeks
with "You're Makin' Me High."
The single "You're Makin' Me High" was certified
platinum and hit #1.
Toni topped the Billboard Hot
100 Singles chart for a week with "You're Makin' Me High."
Secrets topped the Billboard
Top R&B Albums chart for a week.
Secrets was certified
platinum.
Toni topped the Billboard Dance
Club Play chart for 2 weeks with "You're Makin' Me High."
Secrets was certified 2x
platinum.
The video for "You're Makin' Me High" was nominated
for a MTV Video Music
Award for Best R&B Video.
 Toni hit the Top 40 with "Un-Break My Heart."
Toni hit the Top 10 with "Un-Break My Heart" and by the end
of the month hit #1 for 3 weeks.
Secrets was certified 3x
platinum.
Toni accompanied Kenny G
on tour.
Toni won a Billboard Music Award
for Best R&B Single ("You're Makin' Me High").
The single "Un-Break My Heart" was certified
platinum.
"Un-Break My Heart" topped the
Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart for 11 weeks,
the Dance Music Maxi-Singles Sales chart for
11 weeks, the Dance Music Club Play chart for
4 weeks, and the Dance Music Club Play chart
for 4 weeks.
 # 9
Singles Artist of the Year
 Toni won 2 American Music
Awards for Favorite Soul/R&B Album
(Secrets) and Favorite
Soul/R&B Female Artist.
Secrets was certified 4x
platinum.
"Un-Break My Heart" topped the
Billboard Hot 100 Singles Airplay chart for 2
weeks and the Billboard Adult Contemporary
chart for 14 weeks.
Toni won 2 more Grammy
Awards for Best Pop Vocal Performance
- Female ("Un-Break My Heart") and Best R&B Vocal
Performance - Female ("You're Makin' Me High") and was
nominated for Best Pop Album (Secrets).
Toni
Braxton was certified 8x platinum.
Toni hit the Top 40 with "I
Don't Want To."
Toni took a turn at modeling
when she participated in the "Fashion
Week" shows in New York City and became
a temporary runway model for the designs of
Mark Bower.
Secrets was certified 5x
platinum.
The single "I
Don't Want To" was certified gold.
Toni hit the Top 10 with "I
Don't Want To."
"I
Don't Want To" topped the Billboard
Dance Music Club Play chart for a week.
Toni was
nominated for 2 MTV Video Music
Awards for Best Female Video and Best R&B Video ("Un-Break My Heart").
Toni hit the Top 40 with "How Could An Angel
Break My Heart."
Toni filed a lawsuit against her
label, Arista and LaFace Records. Toni
claimed that she has fulfilled what her
original 7-year contract with her label had
required and she wished to be released from
her contract. Arista, however, has not agreed
to let Toni go. It was reported that Toni has
received far less per LP than most artists of
her status and record-selling abilities. With
only 2 LP releases, Toni has sold over 15
million LPs so far. Her original contract is
said to have expired this past August. Toni
has said of the lawsuit: "I can't talk
about the suit, but I love those guys very
much. It's just business."
Toni topped the Billboard
Year-End Charts as the Top Hot 100
Singles Artist - Female, Top R&B Artist -
Female (singles & albums), Top Hot
R&B Singles Artist - Female, Top Hot
Dance Club Play Artist, Top Hot Adult
Contemporary Artist, and with the Top Hot
Dance Club Play Single and Top Hot Adult
Contemporary Track ("Un-Break My Heart").
 Toni was nominated for 2 American Music
Awards for Favorite
Female Artist Rock/Pop and Favorite Female
Artist Soul/R&B.
At the end of January, Toni
filed for bankruptcy protection with
liabilities totaling more than $1 million.
The filing was a result of recent disputes
over her contract with Arista and LaFace
Records. Toni's publicist said of the action:
"...the only sensible option... She is
confident that with the court's protection,
she will be able to make a fresh start."
Secrets was certified 6x
platinum.
A bankruptcy judge ruled in
Toni's favor by denying the dismissal of the
claim (as filed by Arista and LaFace
Records).
It was announced that Braxton
will be heading to Broadway in the fall to
appear as Belle in Beauty And The Beast
- a role that 80s pop star Debbie
Gibson once occupied.
Secrets was certified 7x
platinum.
Word came that Toni had resolved
her conflicts with LaFace Records and was
recording new material with the label
planned. Babyface told MTV: "We're
getting ready to head back in the studio with
Toni and we've got everything worked out with
Toni..."
 # 31
Singles Artist of the Year
 Toni's next LP, The
Heat, was released with the first
Top 40 single "He
Wasn't Man Enough" which topped the
Billboard R&B/Hip Hop chart for 4 weeks.
The
Heat was certified platinum and
topped the Billboard R&B Album chart for
a week.
The single "He
Wasn't Man Enough" was certified gold and
hit #1 in Canada.
 Toni hit the Top
10
with "He
Wasn't Man Enough" and the video went to #1
in Canada.
Toni was nominated for a
VH1/Vogue Fashion Award for Most Fashionable
Artist - Female.
Toni topped Billboard's Club
Play chart with "Spanish
Guitar."
Toni hit the Top 40 with "Just
Be A Man About It."
Videos by Toni were nominated
for 2 MTV Video Music
Awards including Best Female Video and Best R&B Video ("He
Wasn't Man Enough").
Toni was nominated for a
Billboard Music Video Award for Best R&B
Clip of the Year ("He
Wasn't Man Enough").
Toni received the 2000 Aretha
Franklin Award for "Entertainer of the
Year" at the Soul Train Lady of Soul
Awards.
Secrets was certified 8x
platinum and The
Heat was certified 2x platinum.
Toni hit the Top 40 with "Spanish
Guitar."
Toni topped Billboard
Year-End Charts as the Top
R&B/Hip-Hop Artist - Female, Top
R&B/Hip-Hop Album Artist - Female, and
Top Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks
Artist - Female.
Toni announced her engagement to
Keri Lewis from Mint Condition.
 # 114
Singles Artist of the Year
 Toni won 2 American Music
Awards for Favorite
Soul/R&B Female Artist and Favorite
Soul/R&B Album (The
Heat).
Toni won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal
Performance - Female ("He
Wasn't Man Enough") (her 4th win in that
category) and was also nominated for Best R&B Album (The
Heat).
Toni also won most of the
attention at the ceremony with a provocative
dress. Toni was nominated for a Soul Train
Music Award for Best R&B/Soul Album,
Female (The
Heat).
Toni won a Blockbuster
Entertainment Award for Favorite Female
Artist - R&B and was nominated for
Favorite Female Artist.
Toni got married to keyboardist
Keri Lewis of Mint Condition.
 Toni released a holiday LP - Snowflakes. The LP was produced
by Braxton and her husband.
Snowflakes was certified gold.
Toni gave birth to a baby boy.
 Toni could be seen acting in the
VH1 movie, Play'd.
Toni ranked #
38 on
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