Toni Michelle Braxton was born October 7th 1967 in Severn, Maryland to Evelyn and Michael Braxton Sr. She was born the oldest of six children. Her family was known as the very religious and known family of her town, not only because both her parents were evangelists on a mission to teach the word of God, but simply because they were a family of pure talent. Singing.
Toni never took her singing talent for granted. She wanted to be the next Anita Baker or Whitney Houston, but because her family were so strict on religion she knew that was almost nearly impossible. Secular music was the music of the devil. She couldn't do anything a "normal" child could do growing up like watching movies, wearing open toed shoes, no pants, had to be fully covered, hats were worn, playing outside was forbidden, etc. It was as if everything she could have possibly wanted to do she was damned for hell and was bullied terribly because of it. Life as a child was hard for her, but nevertheless she always took her talent and made something good out of her misery. She would sing at the opening of a bandaid, sneaking to listen to secular music like Rick James and Chaka Khan, playing piano at local churches for extra money, and when she was old enough she even worked at clubs singing her heart away and everyone loved it.
One day in the late 80s, she got her big break. She met this record producer named Bill Pettaway at a gas station that wrote Girl You Know It's True for Milli Vanilli. He overheard her singing and claimed to have heard about her around town and offered her an opportunity to record with him. She was skeptical at first thinking he was only trying to flirt but later agreed tagging her friend along with her. Soon after, it turned from just her into her and her sisters forming a group called the Braxtons. Toni and her sisters luckily got an opportunity to audition for upcoming record label LaFace with Anthony LA Reid and producer and songwriter Kenneth Babyface Edmonds after their first record went "copper" in the early 90s. It went great, but unfortunately because of marketing due to the major age differences they only wanted Toni beginning her guilt of being the chosen one. She started off only doing the demos, but in 1992 after Anita Baker, her idol, suggested she sing the songs for the Boomerang film soundtrack, the then 25 year old who would become the living legend we know now today, was set for a life she would've never imagined.
This Legendary woman's life has been less of a happy journey. She fought years battling insecurities from childhood changing her nose because it was seen as too big and having breast implants to appear more mature and sexy, she wanted to be noticed. Many people today are still amazed at how this preacher's child went from the girl next door to this Sex Symbol across the world. She created a lane that many artists after her would follow. The Glitz and Glam she portrayed in every outing she went was the dream every girl wanted to accomplish. She was PERFECT in the eyes of the world so the last thing they expected was for this superstar to file for bankruptcy late 1996. A devastating moment for the star that would carry on throughout her life. She went from top to bottom in a matter of seconds but she fought even when people called her names she fought with the help of her later husband Keri Lewis. Her and Keri went through a lot with each other from the decision of aborting a child, rebuilding their finances, raising two kids with one being special needs, guilt, marital issues and on top of it all another bankruptcy in 2010 due to Toni's own health issues with Lupus. In 2013, one could imagine the pain this woman felt when after so many years of sacrifice and disappointment she had to divorce her husband of 12 years.
So now what? How can anyone recover from this?
____________________________
2015
"Toni?!"
"Huh?"
"You alright baby?"her mother asked.
