Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds is an American R&B musician, singer–songwriter and record
producer.
He has written and produced over 26 No. 1 R&B hits throughout his career.
He has won 10 Grammy Awards.
Early life Edmonds was born on April 10, 1959, in Indianapolis,
Indiana, to Marvin and Barbara Edmonds.
Barbara was a pharmaceutical plant manager.
Edmonds, who is the fifth of six brothers, attended North Central High School in Indianapolis,
Indiana, and as a shy youth, wrote songs to express his emotions.
When he was in eighth grade, Edmonds' father died of lung cancer, leaving his mother to
raise her sons alone.
At this stage, Edmonds became determined to have a career in music.
Music career Edmonds later played with funk performer Bootsy
Collins, who tagged him "Babyface" because of his cute face while he was still a teen.
He also performed in the group Manchild, as he was a guitarist for the band.
Then, as a keyboardist in the light-funk and R&B group The Deele.
One of his first major credits as a songwriter for outside artists came when he wrote the
tune "Slow Jam" for the R&B band Midnight Star in 1983.
The tune was on Midnight Star's double-platinum No Parking on the Dance Floor album, and while
it never was a single, it received massive radio airplay and the song is still played
on quiet storm radio stations.
Babyface remained in The Deele until 1988, when both he and Reid left the group.
His album Playlist consists of eight cover songs and two original works.
It was released on September 18, 2007.
It was the first album on the newly re-launched Mercury Records label.
On February 4, 2014, he released a duets album with Toni Braxton titled Love, Marriage & Divorce
on Motown Records after numerous release date changes.
Other ventures Writing and producing
In the late 1980s, he contributed to the creation of new jack swing, writing and producing music
for the likes of Bobby Brown, Karyn White, Pebbles, Paula Abdul and Sheena Easton.
In 1989, Edmonds co-founded LaFace Records with Reid.
Three of the label's early artists TLC, Usher, and Toni Braxton were successful, the former
becoming one of the best selling female groups in music history.
Braxton's eponymous 1993 debut album went on to sell over eight million copies, and
earned her the 1994 Grammy Award Best New Artist.
TLC's first two albums on LaFace—1992's Ooooooohhh...
On the TLC Tip and 1994's CrazySexyCool—combined to sell more than 15 million copies in the
U.S. CrazySexyCool won the 1996 Grammy Award for Best R&B album.
Babyface helped form the popular late-90s R&B group Az Yet.
Edmonds also helped to mold and work closely with some of his former wife Tracey Edmonds
acts such as Jon B and producer Jon-John Robinson.
Edmonds works with many successful performers in contemporary music.
“I’m Your Baby Tonight,” produced for Whitney Houston, was his first No. 1 Top 40
hit in the US.
He also wrote and produced Boyz II Men's "End of the Road" and "I'll Make Love to You,"
both of which established records for the longest stay at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot
100 chart.
He co-wrote, co-produced, and provided backing vocals on Madonna's 1994 Bedtime Stories,
which featured the 7-week No. 1 hit "Take a Bow," and shared billing with Eric Clapton
on the chart-topping Grammy winner "Change the World" from the Phenomenon soundtrack.
He also wrote and produced the No. 1 hit "Exhale" for Whitney Houston as well as the rest of
the critically acclaimed 10 million selling Waiting to Exhale soundtrack in 1995, which
spawned additional hits for Houston, Brandy and Mary J. Blige.
Additionally, Edmonds has produced and written music for many artists including Carole King,
Patti LaBelle, Chaka Khan, Aretha Franklin, Madonna, Janet Jackson, Faith Evans, Al Green,
Beyoncé, Diana Ross, Sheena Easton, Toni Braxton, Michael Jackson, Michael Bolton,
Paula Abdul, Eric Clapton, Pebbles, Tevin Campbell, Bobby Brown, Whitney Houston, Brandy,
Mary J. Blige, Tamia, Shola Ama, 3T, Sisqó, Dru Hill, Fall Out Boy, Céline Dion, Honeyz,
Katharine McPhee, Mariah Carey, Vanessa L. Williams, Chanté Moore, En Vogue, Kenny G,
Kristinia DeBarge, Lil Wayne, Japanese singer Ken Hirai, P!nk, Marc Nelson, TLC, Ariana
Grande, and Phil Collins among others.
He received three consecutive Grammy Awards for Producer of the Year in 1995–1997.
Babyface was in the studio for about two years with Ashanti to produce her album The Declaration.
He worked on the Lil Wayne album Tha Carter III, on the Kanye West-produced "Comfortable."
He also worked with R&B singer Monica for her sixth studio album Still Standing.
In 2013, Babyface served as producer for Ariana Grande's debut album Yours Truly, producing
majority of her songs, including her second single, "Baby I".
Acting career and film producing In 1994, he appeared and performed on an episode
of Beverly Hills, 90210 entitled "Mr. Walsh Goes to Washington".
In the mid-1990s, Edmonds and his then wife Tracey Edmonds expanded into the business
of motion pictures, setting up Edmonds Entertainment Group and producing films such as Soul Food,
Josie and the Pussycats, and also the soundtrack for the film The Prince of Egypt, which included
contributions from numerous artists, including Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston.
They are the current executive producers of the hit BET reality series College Hill.
Edmonds also worked with David Foster to compose "The Power of the Dream," the official song
of the 1996 Summer Olympics, performed by superstar Céline Dion.
Linda Thompson provided the lyrics.
Babyface also participated as a duet partner on the Fox reality show Celebrity Duets.
Soda Pop Records Edmonds founded his record label Soda Pop
Records in 2009.
Since founding the label he has signed R&B icons K-Ci & JoJo, releasing their first album
for the label entitled My Brother's Keeper.
In 2013 Babyface secured a distribution deal with E1 Music for the label.
Current artists Babyface
K-Ci & JoJo
Personal life In 1990, Babyface met Tracey Edmonds when
she auditioned for the music video "Whip Appeal".
They married on September 5, 1992 and they have two sons, Brandon and Dylan Michael.
In January 7, 2005, Tracey filed for divorce in Los Angeles County Superior Court, citing
irreconcilable differences.
In October 2005, Babyface and Tracey finally announced that they were ending their marriage
of thirteen years.
In 2007, Babyface began dating his backup dancer Nicole "Nikki" Pantenburg.
In September 2008, Babyface and Nicole welcomed a daughter, Peyton Nicole Edmonds.
On December 2, 2012, Babyface worked at a local Nathan's for charity.
All proceeds went to Toys for Tots.
Legacy Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds Highway
In 1999, a 25-mile stretch of Interstate 65 that runs through Indianapolis was renamed
Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds Highway.
Discography
Solo albums Lovers
Tender Lover A Closer Look
For the Cool in You The Day
Christmas with Babyface Face2Face
Grown & Sexy Playlist
Collaboration albums Love, Marriage & Divorce
Awards On August 30, 2006, Babyface was honored as
a BMI Icon at the 6th annual BMI Urban Awards.
Throughout his career, Babyface has won the BMI Pop Songwriter of the Year trophy seven
times and a total of 51 BMI Awards, which includes Song of the Year for his Toni Braxton
hit, "Breathe Again," in 1994.
Babyface was honored with the 2,508th star of the Hollywood Walk of Fame on October 10,
2013.
The star is located at 6270 Hollywood Boulevard.
Grammy Awards References
External links Official website
Babyface at Bmi.com Babyface at the Internet Movie Database