Toni Michelle Braxton is an American R&B singer, songwriter and actress. Braxton has won six Grammy Awards in her career and has sold 40 million records worldwide. She has a contralto vocal range.
Braxton topped the Billboard 200 with her 1993 self-titled debut album and continued that streak with her second studio album Secrets, which spawned the number-one hits "You're Makin' Me High" and "Un-Break My Heart". Although she had successful albums and singles, Braxton shortly filed for bankruptcy, but then returned with her chart-topping third album, The Heat. In 2009, she returned to the spotlight with "Yesterday", a #12 R&B hit which serves as the first single off her new album Pulse, released on May 4, 2010, which debuted at #1 on Billboard R&B Album Chart. Braxton was involved in the 7th season of the reality show Dancing with the Stars. Her professional partner was Alec Mazo. She was voted off in week five of the competition. It was announced on October 6, 2010 that Braxton once again had filed for bankruptcy.

oni's father was a Methodist clergyman, and the Braxton children were raised in a strict religious household. Braxton's first performing experience was singing in her church choir.
She attended Bowie State University to obtain a teaching degree but decided to sing professionally after she was discovered by William E. Pettaway Jr., who heard her singing to herself while pumping gas.

Braxton and her four sisters (Traci, Trina, Towanda, and Tamar) began performing as The Braxtons in the late 1980s and were signed to Arista Records in 1989. Their first single, "Good Life", was released in 1990. Though the song was not successful, it attracted the attention of Antonio "L.A." Reid and Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds.
With Braxton's low register sounding similar to that of Anita Baker, Reid and Babyface recruited her to record a demo of "Love Shoulda Brought You Home", a song that they had written for Anita Baker for the soundtrack of Eddie Murphy's film, Boomerang. Baker, who was pregnant at the time, did not record the song but suggested that Braxton record it. Her recording was later included on the soundtrack along with "Give U My Heart", a duet by Braxton and Babyface. Braxton, meanwhile, was signed to Reid and Edmonds' Arista-distributed imprint, LaFace Records, and immediately began recording her solo debut album.

On July 13, 1993, LaFace Records released Braxton's self-titled debut album, Toni Braxton. The album, which was primarily produced by Reid, Babyface, and Daryl Simmons, peaked at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 albums chart. The first single, "Another Sad Love Song", peaked at number seven and number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B Singles charts respectively. The album's second single, "Breathe Again" peaked in the top five of both the Hot 100 and R&B singles charts and no 2 in the UK. More singles from Toni Braxton were released in 1994, including "You Mean the World to Me", "Seven Whole Days", "I Belong To You", and "How Many Ways".
Braxton's debut album won her several awards, including three Grammy Awards (for Best New Artist and two consecutive awards for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance in 1994 and 1995). She also won two American Music Awards (for Favorite Soul/R&B New Artist and Favorite New Adult Contemporary Artist) in 1994 and another one in 1995 (for Favorite Soul/R&B Album). Toni Braxton was certified 8x platinum in USA and has sales of over 10 million worldwide.

In June 1996, Braxton released her second and most successful album, Secrets. Braxton has said about the album: "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." Along with Babyface, Braxton also worked with R. Kelly, Tony Rich, and David Foster on the album. Braxton was the co-executive producer of the album and co-wrote two of its songs, including the 1997 single "How Could an Angel Break My Heart", which was also later included on Diana Princess of Wales Tribute, a Princess Diana memorial album.
With help from the album's first single, "You're Makin' Me High" (which became Braxton's first number one hit on the Hot 100 singles chart), the album peaked at number two on the Billboard 200 albums chart. "You're Makin' Me High" also topped the R&B singles chart for two weeks and saw similar success in Europe and Asia. The album's second single, "Un-Break My Heart" (written by Diane Warren)—which would later become the singer's signature song became the biggest hit of her career spending eleven weeks at number one on the Hot 100 and also topping the Hot Dance Singles Sales chart for eleven weeks and the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart for four weeks as well as reaching no 2 in the UK The song is the second biggest selling single by a female singer in Billboard history behind Whitney Houston's I Will Always Love You. Other singles from the album included the double A-side "I Don't Want To"/"I Love Me Some Him" (which peaked at number one on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart) and "How Could an Angel Break My Heart" which featured Kenny G, with whom Braxton later toured. After 92 weeks in the charts, Secrets is certified 8x platinum, becoming Braxton's second straight 8 million seller. Internationally, Secrets sold more than 15 million copies, concreting Braxton's superstar status.
Braxton topped the Billboard Year-End Charts as the Top Hot 100 Singles Artist — Female, Top R&B Artist — Female (singles and albums), Top Hot R&B Singles Artist — Female, Top Hot Dance Club Play Artist, and Top Hot Adult Contemporary Artist, while "Un-Break My Heart" became the Top Hot Dance Club Play Single and the Top Hot Adult Contemporary Track of the year. She won two Grammy Awards; one for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance and two American Music Awards for Favorite Female Soul/R&B Artist and Favorite Soul/R&B Album.

In March 2000, LaFace Records released "He Wasn't Man Enough", the first single from Braxton's third studio album, The Heat. By June 2000, the song peaked at number two on the Hot 100 chart. Braxton's music video for "He Wasn't Man Enough", which also featured actress Robin Givens, was nominated for two MTV Video Music Awards including Best Female Video and Best R&B Video and a Billboard Music Video Award for Best R&B Clip of the Year.
The Heat was released on April 25, 2000. Debuting at number two on the Billboard 200 albums chart with first week sales of 194,448 copies sold, it remained in the top 20 for fifteen consecutive weeks. Braxton again worked with producers Babyface and Foster; also included in the staple were Rodney Jerkins, and new beau musician Keri Lewis. Braxton herself also took a more hands-on approach, co-writing and co-producing a handful of the tracks. "Gimme Some", a track on "The Heat", featured a rap verse from TLC star Lisa "Left-Eye" Lopes.
The albums second single, "Just Be a Man About It", peaked at number 32 on the Hot 100 and number six on the R&B Charts. The third single, "Spanish Guitar", peaked at number 98 on the Hot 100 and number one on the Hot Dance & Club charts. The fourth single, "Maybe", peaked at 74 on the R&B charts.

In November 2002, Braxton's fourth studio album More Than a Woman was released. Opening to an instant commercial disappointment, the album peaked at number 13. The first single, The Neptunes-produced "Hit the Freeway", failed at radio and peaked at number 86 on the Hot 100. The two singles that followed ("A Better Man", "Lies, Lies, Lies") also failed to make a dent and missed the Hot 100 completely. Meanwhile, a promotional vinyl was sent out to DJs for "Give It Back"/"Let Me Show You the Way (Out)". More Than A Woman was certified gold by RIAA and sold more 800,000 copies worldwide.

In April 2003, Braxton abruptly left Arista Records, having been there for fourteen years, and immediately signed with Blackground Records—headed by Barry Hankerson, her manager at the time. The change of scenery, however, did not ultimately help her recording career. As had been the case during her final years at Arista—Braxton's fifth album, and first release on Blackground, Libra was released with scant promotion and accumulated poor sales.
In April 2005, Braxton's new label, Blackground/Universal, released "Please"—the first single from her fifth album, Libra. The album was originally planned for a June release, but it was pushed back several times and was finally issued on September 27. Unfortunately for Braxton, her troubles with weak album promotion and lack of label commitment weren't over. "Please" peaked at number 36 on Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, while altogether missing the Hot 100. The album lacked promotion by Blackground, causing it to go under the radar of many.

On May 19, 2006, the Flamingo Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas announced that Braxton would replace Wayne Newton as the casino's new headlining act on August 3, 2006. The show, entitled Toni Braxton: Revealed, was to be performed six nights a week and was scheduled to run through March 2007. Braxton Later confirmed that she was extending her show through August 2007. The show became the first headlining show from an African American performer in Las Vegas to enter the top ten Vegas shows charting. Due to the success of the show, it was reported that Braxton would extend her show through August 2008. The singer subsequently took time off after being hospitalized for chest pains in April 2008. The show was later cancelled, and it was announced that the show was officially shut down in order for the singer to focus on her health.
Braxton has been released from her contract with Blackground after a number of disputes with former manager Barry Hankerson.

In October 2008, it was announced that Braxton signed to Atlantic Records. In the November 2008 issue of Jet, Braxton discussed her time spent on Dancing with the Stars as well as dealing with her son's autism. Braxton also talked about being signed to Atlantic Records and the debut of her upcoming single. She added that the complete CD is scheduled to come out in some time in 2009. She also hinted at a cooking show with fellow Dancing with the Stars competitor, Rocco DiSpirito.
The DJ Frank E produced song "Yesterday" premiered on September 11, 2009 and features Trey Songz. It was released as the lead single from her sixth studio album Pulse. "Yesterday" peaked at #12 on the U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart making it her highest chart performance since her 2000's single "Just Be a Man About It", which peaked at #6. The single has been released worldwide on May 3, 2010. In the UK, "Yesterday" became Braxton's first hit single since the release of "Hit the Freeway", peaking at #50 on the UK Singles Chart and at #17 on the UK R&B Singles Chart. The song also became a moderate hit in Europe, peaking at #20 on the German Singles Chart, at #17 on the Swiss Singles Chart and charting at #50 on the European Hot 100.
On January 29, Braxton's official website posted two new songs from the upcoming album, "Hands Tied" and "Make My Heart". The former peaked at #29 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, the latter was sent to dance/club radio. She performed Make My Heart on The Wendy Williams Show. Videos for both songs "Make My Heart" and "Hands Tied" have been shot.

In January, 2011, WE tv Network confirmed that it had signed Braxton for a reality series, entitled "Braxton Family Values", which will be marketed as one of the the network's flagship shows. To prepare for the networks heavily anticipated new show lineup, WE tv has also given the network a new logo and marketing tagline: WE tv, “Life As WE Know It.” The show, Braxton Family Values, series debuts April 12, 2011, and looks at the relationship between the singer/songwriter Braxton, her mom, and her four sisters; Trina, Tamar, Traci and Towanda— all aspiring singers themselves, along with the interpersonal relationships of each family member. The show will also look at Braxton's heavily publicized separation from estranged husband, singer Keri Lewis.

Braxton met musician Keri Lewis when his group, Mint Condition, opened for her on tour. On April 21, 2001, they were married. On December 2, 2001, she gave birth to their first child, a son named Denham Cole Braxton-Lewis. The couple's second son, Diesel Ky Braxton-Lewis, was born on March 31, 2003.
In an October 2006 concert at the Flamingo in Las Vegas, it was reported that Braxton broke down in tears discussing her son, Diesel, who had recently been diagnosed with autism. Braxton has been outspoken regarding her doctor's failure to diagnose Diesel's condition earlier, contending that if he had been diagnosed earlier, he could have been helped.
As well as becoming a spokeswoman for Autism Speaks, she is also a spokeswoman for the American Heart Association.
In November 2009, through Attorney, Antavius Weems, Braxton announced that she and Lewis had separated.
As of August 2007, rumors surfaced that she has been diagnosed with breast cancer. Toni stated to Access Hollywood that the breast cancer rumors were false and that her health is in great condition. However, in 2008, she had a benign lump removed from her breast.
On April 8, 2008, near the end of her two-year run at the Flamingo Hotel, Braxton was briefly hospitalized and the remaining dates on the show, which was scheduled to end on August 23, 2008, were canceled. Later, while appearing on Season 7 of Dancing with the Stars, she stated that she has been diagnosed with microvascular angina (small vessel disease).