Toni Braxton Pictures

Toni Michelle Braxton was born October 7 in either 1968 and she is an American R&B singer-songwriter and actress who enjoyed much success in the 1990s. Braxton has won six Grammy Awards and has sold over 40 million records worldwide. Braxton has a contralto vocal range.

Braxton topped the Billboard 200 with her 1993 self-titled debut album and continued that streak with her second studio album Secrets, which spawned the number-one smash hit "Un-Break My Heart". After filing for bankruptcy, Braxton returned with her chart-topping third album, The Heat. Her most recent albums were More Than a Woman, her last release under the Arista label, and Libra, her first and only release on Blackground.

Braxton was involved in the 7th season of the reality show Dancing with the Stars. Her professional partner was Alec Mazo. She was voted off in week five of the competition.

Toni's father was a clergyman, and the Braxton children were raised in a strict religious household. Braxton's first performing experience was singing in her church choir. She attended Bowie State University to obtain a teaching degree but decided to sing professionally after she was discovered by William E. Pettaway Jr., who heard her singing to herself while pumping gas.

Braxton dated football player Curtis Martin from 1997 to 1998. She then met musician Keri Lewis when his group, Mint Condition, opened for her on tour. On April 21, 2001, they married. On December 2, 2001, she gave birth to their first child, a son named Denim Cole Braxton-Lewis. The couple's second son, Diezel Ky Braxton-Lewis, was born on March 31, 2003.

In an October 2006 concert at the Flamingo in Las Vegas, it was reported that Braxton broke down in tears discussing her son, Diezel, who had recently been diagnosed with autism. Braxton has been outspoken regarding her doctor's failure to diagnose Diezel's condition earlier, contending that if he had been diagnosed earlier, he could have been helped.

As well as becoming a spokeswoman for Autism Speaks, she is also a spokeswoman for the American Heart Association.

As of August 2007, rumors surfaced that she has been diagnosed with breast cancer. Toni stated to Access Hollywood that the breast cancer rumors were false and that her health is in great condition. However, in 2008, she had a benign lump removed from her breast.

On April 8, 2008, near the end of her two-year run at the Flamingo Hotel, Braxton was briefly hospitalized and the remaining dates on the show, which was scheduled to end on August 23, 2008, were canceled. Later, while appearing on Season 7 of Dancing with the Stars, she stated that she has been diagnosed with microvascular angina (small vessel disease).