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Da Diva Toni Braxton -
The lives and loves of Toni Braxton
Sultry songstress prepares for her Sumfest debut
By Yasmine Peru Entertainment editor peruy@jamaicaobserver.com
Friday, July 24, 2009
The much hyped-up world of entertainment rolls out females singers with varying degrees of talent and of all varieties - there are singers who are witches with a capital 'B', full-fledged divas and divas who somehow manage to do that perfect balancing act and are also real darlings. Grammy award-winning, multi-platinum selling R&B singer Toni Braxton, falls comfortably in the last category.
BRAXTON...
I just can't wait . I did hear that Jamaicans are a sing-along crowd
In a no-holds-barred interview (well, almost) she spoke about her passion for music, how blessed she feels at having achieved mega-success in her career, the joys - and heartbreak - of motherhood, her work as spokesperson for the Autism Association, her combination single with a reggae act ("Oh Jeez, what's his name again?") and, despite a strict Pentecostal upbringing, her school-girl crush on King of Pop, Michael Jackson.
Braxton, whose single Unbreak My Heart ranks among as the longest-running number one pop hits of the rock era, has rested at the very pinnacle of success with a debut album that spawned two number one gold singles and went platinum all of five times.
As if to cement her place in music history, Braxton managed to score not one, but two albums that sold over eight million copies, and has copped six Grammys. They were accompanied by a long string of hit singles on the pop and R&B charts. In total, she has sold in over 40 million albums.
And, just as she is excited and prepared to unleash some of these hits on the Reggae Sumfest stage come International Night 2 on Saturday, fans of the singer are waiting with bated breath to Breathe Again when Braxton takes the stage. She admits to being no stranger to Jamaica, having vacationed on the Rock with her family, but Sumfest marks her stage debut.
"I just can't wait. I did hear that Jamaicans are a sing-along crowd. What are some of the songs that I absolutely must do in Jamaica?" she quizzed eagerly, as if already mapping out her platinum performance.
Braxton has just completed a new album, the first single of which is due out in September. The album, she says, is still untitled and should drop in November. Will fans hear any collaborations with a reggae singer? Possibly, as she is "doing some stuff with Sean Paul". But she has in fact done a collabo with a reggae singer, just that she had a difficulty recalling his name. "What's his name again? Oh goodness, if he ever knows that I've forgotten his name he's going to kill me," she said, and we could almost see her tearing out her hair trying to recall the name. "Just recently I was saying I had to call him," she continued, but still the name eluded her.
Anyway, a devoted mother of two boys, she confessed that she had schoolgirl dreams of marrying the late King of Pop, Michael Jackson and having his kids.
"We were brought up in a strict Christian home," said Braxton - the preacher man's daughter who was banned from wearing pants and listening to secular music - "and Michael Jackson's Off the Wall was the first secular song that I heard and it really touched a chord. I became a huge fan," she reminisced to Splash.
"From then I decided that I was going to marry Michael and have his kids," she laughed. "His death is really such a great loss to music. to everybody. It's so sad; he will be greatly missed."
Toni Braxton has been described as an artiste with the ability to straddle seemingly opposite worlds - soulful enough for R&B audiences, smooth enough for adult contemporary and sultry enough for younger listeners. This is quite a testimonial for a singer whose voice was referred to as "weird".
"The good thing is that I have been blessed in so many ways. I have a great team of writers and producers and really great fans. It was my fans who made me believe in myself again," she declared.
And family, she emphasised, is very important to her. Reggae Sumfest, for example, will double as a family vacation as she will be taking her two sons along.
"I love being a mother," she said simply. "The boys are doing just fine," she enthused, as she went straight into "Mummy mode" and the inflections in her voice changed as she chatted a bit about her sons.
Very candidly, Toni Braxton spoke about her six-year old's autism and the wonderful progress he's been making. She's "over the moon" that he has improved enough to now move from special school into the regular school system.
"We are just so happy at his progress," she said, and one could feel a mother's joy seeping through the phone. She added that she is a spokesperson for autism, as it not only equips her to personally deal with the challenge, through this means she is also "able to reach out and help other moms".
And, then she stops mid-sentence and fairly shouts. with glee, "Shaggy!"
Immediately the dots were connected. "Yes, that's the name I was trying to remember. He and I did a combination called Christmas In Jamaica. If he's in the island, maybe we could perform it together. But wouldn't it be better to call it 'Summer In Jamaica'?" she suggested.
Sultry songstress prepares for her Sumfest debut
By Yasmine Peru Entertainment editor peruy@jamaicaobserver.com
Friday, July 24, 2009
The much hyped-up world of entertainment rolls out females singers with varying degrees of talent and of all varieties - there are singers who are witches with a capital 'B', full-fledged divas and divas who somehow manage to do that perfect balancing act and are also real darlings. Grammy award-winning, multi-platinum selling R&B singer Toni Braxton, falls comfortably in the last category.
BRAXTON... I just can't wait . I did hear that Jamaicans are a sing-along crowd
In a no-holds-barred interview (well, almost) she spoke about her passion for music, how blessed she feels at having achieved mega-success in her career, the joys - and heartbreak - of motherhood, her work as spokesperson for the Autism Association, her combination single with a reggae act ("Oh Jeez, what's his name again?") and, despite a strict Pentecostal upbringing, her school-girl crush on King of Pop, Michael Jackson.
Braxton, whose single Unbreak My Heart ranks among as the longest-running number one pop hits of the rock era, has rested at the very pinnacle of success with a debut album that spawned two number one gold singles and went platinum all of five times.
As if to cement her place in music history, Braxton managed to score not one, but two albums that sold over eight million copies, and has copped six Grammys. They were accompanied by a long string of hit singles on the pop and R&B charts. In total, she has sold in over 40 million albums.
And, just as she is excited and prepared to unleash some of these hits on the Reggae Sumfest stage come International Night 2 on Saturday, fans of the singer are waiting with bated breath to Breathe Again when Braxton takes the stage. She admits to being no stranger to Jamaica, having vacationed on the Rock with her family, but Sumfest marks her stage debut.
"I just can't wait. I did hear that Jamaicans are a sing-along crowd. What are some of the songs that I absolutely must do in Jamaica?" she quizzed eagerly, as if already mapping out her platinum performance.
Braxton has just completed a new album, the first single of which is due out in September. The album, she says, is still untitled and should drop in November. Will fans hear any collaborations with a reggae singer? Possibly, as she is "doing some stuff with Sean Paul". But she has in fact done a collabo with a reggae singer, just that she had a difficulty recalling his name. "What's his name again? Oh goodness, if he ever knows that I've forgotten his name he's going to kill me," she said, and we could almost see her tearing out her hair trying to recall the name. "Just recently I was saying I had to call him," she continued, but still the name eluded her.
Anyway, a devoted mother of two boys, she confessed that she had schoolgirl dreams of marrying the late King of Pop, Michael Jackson and having his kids.
"We were brought up in a strict Christian home," said Braxton - the preacher man's daughter who was banned from wearing pants and listening to secular music - "and Michael Jackson's Off the Wall was the first secular song that I heard and it really touched a chord. I became a huge fan," she reminisced to Splash.
"From then I decided that I was going to marry Michael and have his kids," she laughed. "His death is really such a great loss to music. to everybody. It's so sad; he will be greatly missed."
Toni Braxton has been described as an artiste with the ability to straddle seemingly opposite worlds - soulful enough for R&B audiences, smooth enough for adult contemporary and sultry enough for younger listeners. This is quite a testimonial for a singer whose voice was referred to as "weird".
"The good thing is that I have been blessed in so many ways. I have a great team of writers and producers and really great fans. It was my fans who made me believe in myself again," she declared.
And family, she emphasised, is very important to her. Reggae Sumfest, for example, will double as a family vacation as she will be taking her two sons along.
"I love being a mother," she said simply. "The boys are doing just fine," she enthused, as she went straight into "Mummy mode" and the inflections in her voice changed as she chatted a bit about her sons.
Very candidly, Toni Braxton spoke about her six-year old's autism and the wonderful progress he's been making. She's "over the moon" that he has improved enough to now move from special school into the regular school system.
"We are just so happy at his progress," she said, and one could feel a mother's joy seeping through the phone. She added that she is a spokesperson for autism, as it not only equips her to personally deal with the challenge, through this means she is also "able to reach out and help other moms".
And, then she stops mid-sentence and fairly shouts. with glee, "Shaggy!"
Immediately the dots were connected. "Yes, that's the name I was trying to remember. He and I did a combination called Christmas In Jamaica. If he's in the island, maybe we could perform it together. But wouldn't it be better to call it 'Summer In Jamaica'?" she suggested.
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