UB Black Music Month Spotlight: Toni Braxton’s ‘Secrets’ Turns 25

Toni Braxton first 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.

Anita, who was pregnant at the time, didn’t 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. Toni, meanwhile, was signed to Reid and Edmonds’ Arista-distributed imprint, LaFace Records, and immediately began recording her solo debut album.

On June 29th, 1993, LaFace Records released Toni‘s self-titled debut album, Toni Braxton. The album, which was primarily produced by Reid, Babyface and Daryl Simmons, peaked at #1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 albums chart. The first single, “Another Sad Love Song“, peaked at number seven and number two on Billboard’s 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 #2 in the UK. More singles from Toni Braxton were released in 1994, including “You Mean the World to Me”, “Seven Whole Days”, and “How Many Ways”.

Her 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 and has sales of over 15 million worldwide.

However it was on June 18th, 1996, Toni released her second and most successful album, “Secrets.” Toni 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, Toni also worked with R. Kelly, Tony Rich, and David Foster on the album. Toni 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 her first #1 hit on the Hot 100 singles chart), the album peaked at #2 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 her signature song-became the biggest hit of her career spending eleven weeks at #1 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 #2 in the UK.

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, whom Toni later toured with.

After 92 weeks charting on the charts, Secrets was certified 8x platinum, becoming the second straight 8 million seller. Internationally, Secrets sold more than 20 million copies, concreting Toni‘s superstar status.

Take A Trip Down Memory Lane with “Secrets.”