Tony Braxton He is the protagonist of a particular story. Although he had a relationship with music since he was born, his childhood was quite lacking. Daughter of a former opera singer and a worker, Not only did he have financial difficulties, but he also had a different upbringing than the other children in his neighborhood.
Her mother gave singing lessons to her daughters with the aim of getting them to join the choir of the Methodist church they attended. They did not celebrate Christmas and they did not listen to music that was not religious. They were very conservative and dressed in clothing that covered the entire body.
Toni Braxton’s early years and her rise to fame
Although her parents ended up being pastors of the church, she and her sisters decided to make their own path. They formed a group called The Braxton and with a small contract they managed to release the song “Good Life”. Although it was not successful, it reached the ears of two important producers who fell in love with Toni’s style.
Antonio “LA” Reid and Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds hired her to work on the Arista label’s La Face label. Thus, he began to earn a living recording demos and participating as a backup singer in other artists’ shows. But his big break came in 1992 when Eddie Murphy urgently requested a soundtrack for “Boomerang” and found its demos very good.
Their first global hit came in 1996, “Unbreak My Heart.” Even though Celine Dion, Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey dominated the scene, she managed to place that single at the top of the Billboard Ranking for 11 weeks, becoming the most popular song of the year. In this way, his voice was known throughout the world and his album Secrets became one of the most popular of the decade.
This catapulted her on a tour of Europe and Asia already performing on stages around the world, but just 2 years later, everything would change surprisingly.
From having everything to having nothing: how Toni Braxton declared bankruptcy
Despite having sold 15 million copies of his album Secrets, In 1998 he went to court to declare bankruptcy due to a debt of 50 million dollars. His mistake was the contract signed with the production company Arista/LaFace, which stipulated that he would receive only 33 cents for each album sold.
Unknowingly, she lived a millionaire’s life imagining that she would earn millions with her records, but when she received her check it was only $1,972. He tried to take legal action against his production company to terminate the contract and sign with another company or at least renegotiate the terms, but he could not afford the expenses. She talked about this situation on Oprah’s show, but she didn’t help her either and even questioned her about her lifestyle.
Then, the company imposed a legal muzzle on him so that she would not talk about it anymore, and cornered by debts, she was forced to sell her belongings: dresses, jewelry, cars, a grand piano and, legend has it, even her Grammy Awards. He managed to participate in the adaptation of “Beauty and the Beast” on Broadway and in 1999 he was able to be released from his contract.
It seemed that he would be able to recover, but after his new rise after 2000, in 2007 he collapsed on stage and was diagnosed with Lupus. She had to be hospitalized and cancel shows she had already prepared, which prevented her from continuing to pay off her debts. In 2010 he declared bankruptcy again.
But in 2012, another artistic environment gave him an opportunity, the reality shows. Together with her sisters, they made Braxton Family Values, which was a success and made her a reality star.
Source: Ambito
