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Toni Braxton and Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds Reunite for New Album

Duo will unveil collaboration this fall.

Hit-making duo Toni Braxton and Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds are teaming up for a joint album via Motown Records, BET.com has learned.
Braxton, a six-time Grammy-Award winner, has been retired from singing and very vocal about not wanting to record anymore. "It's not affecting me, making me feel that thing I've always felt when I perform," the 45-year-old said during a visit to Good Morning America in February.  "It's leaving me. I'm not sure what's going on in my life. Maybe a female mid-life crisis? My heart isn't in it anymore. I hate to say that."
A meeting with Edmonds, filmed for her WE tv reality show Braxton Family Values, changed her mind, and for good reason. The two have had chart-topping success and made tons of records together over the years, starting when Edmonds and Antonio "L.A." Reid signed the Baltimore native to LaFace Record in the early '90s. Her 1993 self-titled debut peaked atop Billboard's 200 and was produced primarily by Edmonds, Reid and Darryl Simmons.
In part due to her success, for the better half of a decade, LaFace had a seemingly unbreakable grip on R&B. Their reign included TLC and Usher. Money mismanagement shook the label's foundation; TLC and Braxton filed for bankruptcy.
Braxton had cut three albums on LaFace, the last of which was The Heat. In recent years, her financial troubles took precedence over her career. The mother of two filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy twice. She recently settled her debts by agreeing to pay a sum of $150,000.
The "Breathe Again" singer also released two albums via Arista, including the Christmas album Snowflakes and an album via the now defunct Blackground. Her latest was 2010's Pulse with Atlantic Records, led by the single "Yesterday" featuring Trey Songz.

Her collaboration album with Edmonds is currently slated for a fall release. A rep for Edmonds announced that he, a 10-time Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter/producer, also is planning to embark on a solo North American tour beginning Jul. 12 in Illinois.

 

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(Photos from left: Kevin Winter/Getty Images, Jeff Gentner/Getty Images for Grey Goose)

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