Toni Braxton

Toni Michelle Braxton (born October 7 1966) is a six-time Grammy Award winning American R&B singer. She is most notable for her dark, deep, thick contralto vocals, which are low even by contralto standards.

Braxton was born in Severn, Maryland, and is the oldest of six children. She attended Richard Henry Lee Elementary School, Corkran Middle School, and Glen Burnie High School in Glen Burnie, Maryland. Her father was a clergyman, and the Braxton children were raised in a strict religious household. Braxton's first performing experience was singing with a church choir. She attended Bowie State University to obtain a teaching degree but decided to pursue a musical career.

= 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, "The Good Life", was released in 1990. Though the song was not very successful, it attracted the attention of producing team Antonio "L.A." Reid and Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds.

With Braxton's low register sounding similar to that of Anita Baker, Reid and Babyfa...