TONI BRAXTON & BABYFACE TAKE #1 R&B SOUNDSCAN DEBUT WITH LOVE, MARRIAGE & DIVORCE DUETS ALBUM ON MOTOWN RECORDS !!!
ALBUM CONTAINS #1 URBAN AC SMASH “HURT YOU” AND NEW SINGLE, “WHERE DID WE GO WRONG”
USA TODAY’s ALBUM OF THE WEEK: “JUST IN TIME FOR VALENTINE’S DAY. WITH MORE ON THEIR MINDS THAN FLOWERS OR CHOCOLATES“
NEW YORK (Feb. 13, 2014) – LOVE, MARRIAGE & DIVORCE on Motown Records (released February 4th), the first album of duets by multi-platinum superstars Toni Braxton & Babyface, wins a #1 R&B and a #4 Soundscan Valentine’s Week chart debut on first week sales of 67,000 copies. Described as a “quiet-storm oasis” in People magazine’s rave review, LOVE, MARRIAGE & DIVORCE is “the highest charting album since 2005 for Braxton, and the highest charting ever for Babyface,” as reported by Billboard.
LOVE, MARRIAGE & DIVORCE takes off with one of the biggest Urban AC #1 duet hits in recent memory, “Hurt You,” co-written by Toni Braxton & Babyface and produced by Babyface, who also handled all guitar, drums, and keyboards on the track. “Hurt You” enters its 25th week on the Adult R&B Songs chart this week, one of the longest-running hits on the chart. The new single from LOVE, MARRIAGE & DIVORCE is “Where Did We Go Wrong.”
“Toni Braxton and Babyface are two of the most iconic figures in Pop and R&B music,” says Ethiopia Habtemariam, SVP of Motown Records. “Their chemistry is undeniable and it is without surprise that this body of work is being so well received. Working with the best and brightest talent of our era, supporting real artistry, and creating music that connects with the people is what the Motown brand represents. Motown is honored to work alongside Toni and Babyface on this special project.”
After nearly a half-year of top radio play for “Hurt You,” the arrival of LOVE, MARRIAGE & DIVORCE was officially launched this month with a non-stop round of television appearances by Toni & Babyface. In addition to her hit weekly Thursday night reality series, WE TV’s Braxton Family Values, which wraps up its 4th season on February 20th, the duo have appeared on Good Morning America, Live With Kelly & Michael, The Tonight Show, Conan, The Arsenio Hall Show, Bethenny, The Chew, Tavis Smiley and a TV One “Interludes Live” hour-long concert special. They’ve also taken over the radio airways with a Steve Harvey radio show special and appearances on Tom Joynerand Clear Channel’s Power 105 Breakfast Club, to name a few.
Next month on March 18th, Toni Braxton & Babyface become the latest Grammy Award®-winning artists to join the roster of the new Broadway musical After Midnight as “Special Guest Star” vocalists, for a limited engagement running through March 30th. After Midnight has reintroduced the Cotton Club’s exciting tradition of welcoming contemporary artists in limited engagements throughout the musical’s run. After Midnight is playing at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre – for more information visit : www.aftermidnightonbroadway.com.
LOVE, MARRIAGE & DIVORCE was inspired by real events in the lives of Toni Braxton & Babyface, who share an all-time total of 16 Grammy Awards® between them. The album celebrates the strong bond that has been in place between the two artists ever since their first duet on Toni’s 1992 debut, “Give U My Heart,” the #2 R&B smash co-written and co-produced by Babyface (from the Boomerang movie soundtrack).
LOVE, MARRIAGE & DIVORCE is Babyface‘s first new studio album in nearly seven years, since Playlist (released September 2007), Top 10 on Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart on the strength of his Top 10 AC version of James Taylor’s “Fire & Rain.” For Toni, LOVE, MARRIAGE & DIVORCE is her first new studio album in nearly four years, since Pulse (May 2010), the #1 R&B album containing the hit single “Yesterday” featuring Trey Songz.
About Kenny ‘Babyface’ Edmonds:
10-time Grammy Award®-winning recording artist Kenny ‘Babyface’ Edmonds, singer, songwriter, producer, philanthropist, and record label owner, has been revolutionizing the contemporary pop/Urban music landscape ever since scoring consecutive multi-platinum landmark albums with Tender Lover (1989, with R&B smashes “It’s No Crime,” “Tender Love,” “Whip Appeal,” “My Kinda Girl”); For the Cool In You (1993, with hit singles “For the Cool In You,” “Never Keeping Secrets,” “And Our Feelings,” “When Can I See You”); and The Day (1996, with “This Is For the Lover In You” and “Every Time I Close My Eyes”). As co-founder with L.A. Reid of Atlanta’s LaFace Records in 1989, Edmonds nurtured the careers of megastars TLC, OutKast, Goodie Mob, Usher, and (starting in 1992) Toni Braxton. Into the ’90s and ’00s, Edmonds lent his talents to an abundance of hits with artists ranging from Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson and Boyz II Men, to Mariah Carey, Madonna, Eric Clapton, Mary J. Blige, John Mellencamp, Aretha Franklin, Fall Out Boy, P!nk, Beyoncé, Anthony Hamilton, and many others. Under Edmonds’ belt are more than 125 Top 10 R&B and pop hits, 42 R&B #1 hits, and 51 Top 10 Pop hits (including 16 #1’s), which have generated cumulative single and album sales of more than 500 million units worldwide. Most recent production with other artists includes Barbra Streisand, Celine Dion, Keri Hilson, Ledisi, Colbie Caillat, Jennifer Hudson, Ariana Grande and Aretha Franklin. Babyface is an active touring artist, performing concerts across the U.S. and around the world on a regular basis.
Edmonds is the recipient of numerous awards, including Soul Train Music Awards, BMI Awards, NAACP Image Awards, and American Music Awards. He received the third BET Walk of Fame Award (following previous honorees Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston), and was named BET’s Entertainer Of The Year at the First Annual BET Awards Ceremony. His charitable work has garnered him the Essence Award For Excellence, The City of Hope Award, and Variety magazine’s “Top of the Town” Honoree Award. He has donated over $100,000 to the VH-1 Save the Music program, and contributes to a host of worthwhile organiza tions, including the United Negro College Fund (UNCF). In 2008, Edmonds and longtime partner L.A. Reid co-wrote and co-produced Stand Up To Cancer’s “Just Stand Up” with heavyweights Mariah Carey, Rihanna, Beyoncé, Mary J. Blige, Leona Lewis, Carrie Underwood, Miley Cyrus, and Sheryl Crow. The song served as the backbone of a multi-network breast cancer awareness special broadcast. Edmonds and Reid were subsequently honored by the Noble Awards for their contribution to Stand Up To Cancer.And recently he has been very active in supporting Carousel of Hope, benefiting Children’s Diabetes Foundation and Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes and Larry Ruvo’s “Keep A Memory Alive” who are committed to improving the lives of patients and their families as they navigate the extraordinary challenges of brain disorders. In Las Vegas, the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health treats patients with Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s and Parkinson’s disease, as well as frontotemporal dementia and multiple sclerosis.
Website: www.Babyfacemusic.com
Facebook: www.Facebook.com/Babyface
Twitter: Twitter.com/KennyEdmonds
About Toni Braxton:
The distinctive, sultry vocals of six-time Grammy Award®-winning recording artist Toni Braxton, singer, songwriter, record producer, and philanthropist, have been celebrated internationally ever since she was first introduced to the world by Babyface and L.A. Reid in 1992. Her self-titled debut album released the next year was a 10 million-selling phenomenon that generated Toni’s first Grammys® in 1994, for Best New Artist and Best Female R&B Vocal (“Another Sad Love Song”). The album’s longevity led Toni to win her second Best Female R&B Vocal Grammy® the following year (for “Breathe Again”). Her second album, Secrets arrived in ’96, and history repeated itself with 15 million worldwide sales. At the Grammy Awards® in 1997, Toni became only the second woman in history (beside Dionne Warwick) to win Best Female Pop Vocal (“Un-break My Heart”) and Best Female R&B Vocal (“You’re Makin’ Me High”) in the same year. She returned to the Grammy® podium in 2001, to claim another Best Female R&B Vocal award (“He Wasn’t Man Enough,” from the double-platinum album The Heat).
Into the millennium, Toni blossomed into an acting career with Broadway musical roles in Beauty and the Beast and Aida, and a dramatic turn in the Lifetime movie Twist of Faith. She and her sisters currently enjoy huge success in Braxton Family Values, one of WE tv’s flagship reality series, which returned for a fourth season in November 2013. Raising her two sons Denim and Diezel, Toni balances her career demands with the high priorities of family, heath, public service, and charity work, particularly on behalf of the two diseases that have impacted her family directly: She is living with Lupus and her youngest child is living with Autism. Early detection and intervention has helped both Braxtons to be role models on how to live normal lives with these conditions. Toni is also a proud spokesperson for Autism Speaks.
Website: www.tonibraxton.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/tonibraxton
Twitter: @ToniBraxton
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