Tamar Braxton

Tamar Braxton

Tamar Braxton (pronounced Tay-mahr) (born March 17, 1977) is an American R&B singer, songwriter, and reality television personality. She rose to fame in the 1990s as a founding member of the R&B group, The Braxtons. Braxton is the youngest sister of prominent R&B singer Toni Braxton.

In 2011, Tamar Braxton reunited with her sisters and former bandmates, The Braxtons, for the WE tv reality show, Braxton Family Values. The show is currently ranked as the #1 reality show and WE tv ordered a 13-episode second season of the show after the third episode of the first season.

Biography

Braxton was born in Severn, Maryland to Michael and Evelyn Braxton. The youngest of the Braxton's six children, Tamar started singing as a toddler. Evelyn, an amateur opera singer, recognized her children's talents when one day, Tamar, sang "Can you please get me some toilet paper!". Evelyn began training her girls, eventually enrolling them in singing lessons. The Braxton children also would eventually enter in their church choir, where Michael Braxton was pastor.

Brought up in a strict Christian household, secular music was initially frowned upon, causing the children to sneak and sing along to Soul Train when the parents were out of the house. They would soon start harmonizing, forming a girl group. Tamar says of this period "I was always the highest note." Her soprano voice was in sharp contrast to her older sister's husky contralto.

One day Toni was pumping gas at a local gas station while singing along, when she caught the attention of a producer. He heard her sing and was amazed, and decided to pull the five sisters into a group; he envisioned a female version of The Jackson 5. They released a single on Atlantic Records in 1990 as The Braxtons and caught the attention of producers Antonio "L.A" Reid and Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds who had just started a record label, LaFace, with Arista Records. They decided not to sign the group, as they had just signed a new trio (TLC), but they were looking for a solo female artist and loved Toni's voice. So the girls talked it over, and Toni decided to embark on her now famous solo career.

The sisters worked as backup singers for Toni (they can be seen in Toni's video "Seven Whole Days"). Eventually, the girls (minus Toni) would release an album for Atlantic in 1996, So Many Ways.

In 1999, Tamar first explored her gospel side on T.D Jakes' Love Songs album. Later, Tamar would meet up with Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, a rapper/producer (also famous for bringing Blu Cantrell to national attention) based in Atlanta, Georgia. She recorded her solo debut album, Ridiculous, so named because of the many different musical styles on the album. The album would be retooled and released by Dreamworks as Tamar on January 18, 2000. Its first single was "Get None", with guest appearances by Jermaine Dupri and rapper Amil. A second single, "If You Don't Wanna Love Me", was also released. The singles failed to gain significant radio and video airplay. The album did not sell well, and Tamar was dropped from her contract.

In 2000, Tamar can be seen in Toni Braxton's "He Wasn't Man Enough For Me" video along side her older sister.

Tamar sang for the soundtrack for the feature film Kingdom Come in which Toni Braxton appears as Juanita Slocumb. Additionally, Tamar sang background vocals on Toni's albums The Heat, More Than A Woman, and Libra. She was briefly signed to Tommy Mottola's Casablanca Records and released a promotional single "I'm Leaving" in 2004. She sang backup in her sister Toni's Las Vegas show, Toni Braxton: Revealed, but Tamar was replaced by singer Sparkle. Tamar is currently working on a new album and her own record company with her husband, producer Vincent Herbert. She is signed to Universal Records as of 2010.

Tamar appeared on episodes of the BET television series Tiny & Toya which was first broadcast in June 2010.

In July 2010, she released a single "The Heart In Me" which was included on the Adidas 2: The Music compilation with Hasan.

In January 2011, WEtv Network confirmed that it had signed Toni Braxton and her mother and sisters for a reality series, Braxton Family Values. The show debuted April 12, 2011. Along with working on her own music, Tamar also was a featured background vocalist in Lady Gaga's song Born This Way.

Discography

Albums

Information
Tamar Released: 2000 Chart positions: #127 Billboard 200; #42 Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums; #2 Top Heatseekers RIAA Certification: TBA U.S. sales: 103,000 Worldwide Sales: TBA

Singles

• "Get None" (1999) (featuring J.D. and Amil)

Chart Stats: #59 Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs; #21 Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Sales; #52 Hot Singles Sales

• "If You Don't Wanna Love Me" (2000)

Chart Stats: #30 Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs; #8 Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Sales; #15 Hot Singles Sales; #34 Hot Dance Club Play

• "I'm Leaving" (2004)
• "The Heart In Me" (2010)

External links

• Tamar Braxton at MySpace
• Tamar Braxton at Yahoo!'s LAUNCH
• Tamar Braxton at AOL Music