Babyface

Since emerging commercially toward the end of the 1980s, Babyface has exerted a commanding influence over nearly every significant dimension of popular music through his roles as vocalist, record producer, composer, and label executive. His own releases, led by the unbroken platinum run of Tender Lover (1989), For the Cool in You (1993), and The Day (1996), revived the R&B lineage of the polished, emotionally attuned crooner while embedding his voice as a fixture on urban contemporary airwaves. That solo achievement has been overshadowed by an even more substantial catalog of songwriting and production for outside artists. Bobby Brown's "Every Little Step," Boyz II Men's "End of the Road," Whitney Houston's "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)," Eric Clapton's "Change the World," and Toni Braxton's "You're Makin' Me High" illustrate merely a portion of the Top Ten pop singles he has crafted and overseen. Inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and recipient of eleven Grammy Awards—including four wins as Producer of the Year—Babyface received a Grammy Trustees Award in 2021 for the full arc of his contributions and, as co-founder of LaFace Records, for his pivotal part in shaping the careers of TLC, OutKast, and Usher. He followed that honor in 2022 by issuing his ninth studio album, the duets-focused Girls' Night Out.

Kenneth Edmonds entered the world on April 10, 1959, in Indianapolis and started performing with area R&B groups while still a teenager. He spent time in Bootsy Collins' touring ensemble, where the nickname originated, before joining the funk band Manchild, which secured a recording contract in 1977 and put out three albums. After that group disbanded, Babyface and collaborator Antonio "L.A." Reid assembled the urban funk outfit the Deele in the early 1980s; the act notched several notable R&B chart successes. Babyface and Reid simultaneously began writing and producing for additional performers, achieving breakthroughs with the Whispers' "Rock Steady" and Pebbles' "Girlfriend." Upon completing the Deele's third album in 1988, the pair departed to pursue external projects exclusively and established the LaFace imprint in 1989. Additional hits arrived via Bobby Brown's "Every Little Step," Sheena Easton's "The Lover in Me," and Karyn White's "The Way You Love Me" and "Superwoman," each registering strongly on both pop and R&B listings.

Babyface had earlier put out a modestly received solo effort titled Lovers in 1986, yet his mounting profile prompted a full-scale launch of his individual career. Tender Lover, arriving in 1989, ignited commercially and yielded four singles across the ensuing year, among them the R&B chart-topping "It's No Crime" and the number-two "Whip Appeal"—both of which also cracked the pop Top Ten—while the project itself attained double-platinum status. Now positioned as a dominant force, Babyface proceeded to co-author successes for Johnny Gill ("My, My, My," which earned a Best R&B Song Grammy nomination), Whitney Houston ("I'm Your Baby Tonight"), and Madonna ("Take a Bow"); his most pronounced impact, however, materialized with Boyz II Men, whose version of "End of the Road" ranked among the longest-running number-one records in pop annals, with the follow-up "I'll Make Love to You," also penned by Babyface, enjoying comparable traction. He shared an Album of the Year Grammy nomination for his production on the Bodyguard soundtrack and subsequently collaborated with Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, Gladys Knight, Aretha Franklin, En Vogue, and Mary J. Blige. Meanwhile, LaFace evolved into a thriving enterprise that launched Toni Braxton, TLC, OutKast, and Usher, frequently with direct involvement from Reid and Babyface.

Unsurprisingly, Babyface stepped back from fronting his own projects in the early 1990s, issuing solely the remix collection A Closer Look in 1991. The true successor to Tender Lover surfaced in 1993; nevertheless, For the Cool in You surpassed its predecessor commercially, reaching triple platinum and delivering Babyface's initial Top Five pop entry, the acoustic-guitar-driven "When Can I See You Again," which secured his first Grammy as a performer in the Best Male R&B Vocal category. In 1995 he attained further prominence with the Waiting to Exhale soundtrack, which he produced, scored, and largely composed, highlighted by Whitney Houston's "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)." That same year marked the first of three straight Grammys awarded to him as Producer of the Year. Momentum persisted into 1996: the star-studded The Day generated another Top Ten pop/R&B single in "Every Time I Close My Eyes," and he cemented his mainstream standing by capturing Record of the Year for producing Eric Clapton's "Change the World."

Buoyed by the reception of Waiting to Exhale, Babyface and spouse Tracey Edmonds launched a film-production venture that premiered in 1997 with the well-regarded urban family drama Soul Food; Babyface naturally curated its soundtrack. The following year he supplied lyrics to the animated feature The Prince of Egypt, though without on-album credit. As cinematic work expanded, his subsequent musical offerings became isolated ventures—an MTV Unplugged set in 1997 and the holiday project Christmas with Babyface the year after. Production and songwriting persisted even as he remained inactive as a performer for several years. Epic issued the retrospective A Collection of His Greatest Hits in 2000, concluding his association with the label; he had chosen to sign with Arista, where L.A. Reid held a senior post.

Babyface delivered Face2Face in 2001, which included the Top Ten R&B/hip-hop track "There She Goes" featuring the Neptunes, and he also helmed the punk-pop soundtrack for Josie & the Pussycats. The return-to-roots Grown & Sexy arrived in July 2005, coinciding with the announcement of his divorce from Tracey Edmonds. Playlist, an interpretive collection of 1970s singer/songwriter material and lesser-known selections from James Taylor, Jim Croce, and Bread, appeared on Mercury in September 2007. Over the ensuing period he collaborated with Lil Wayne, Vanessa Williams, Whitney Houston, Kristinia DeBarge, Boyz II Men, and Anthony Hamilton, whose "Pray for Me" received a 2013 Grammy nomination for Best R&B Song. He co-wrote and co-produced multiple tracks on Ariana Grande's number-one U.S. album Yours Truly. Love, Marriage & Divorce, a duet project with Braxton, surfaced on Motown in February 2014; it entered the charts at number four and earned a Grammy for Best R&B Album. Late the next year he released Return of the Tender Lover, a nod to his second solo album and shaped by the upbeat stage approach of touring companions Charlie Wilson and Maze.

After a period of reduced visibility, Babyface spent subsequent years largely behind the scenes, overseeing recordings for Johnny Mathis and After 7 while appearing on tracks by Arin Ray and Lucky Daye. During this interval he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 2020 he and fellow contemporary R&B figures Jam & Lewis reached number four on the Adult R&B chart with "He Don't Know Nothin' 'Bout It," the standout single from Jam & Lewis: Volume One. Awarded a Grammy Trustees Award in 2021, he appeared the following year alongside Johnny Gill and K-Ci Hailey on Charlie Wilson's "No Stoppin' Us," a reworking of McFadden & Whitehead's "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now." He subsequently unveiled the glistening ballad "Keeps On Fallin'," featuring Ella Mai, as the lead single from Girls' Night Out, his debut Capitol release. The Grammy-nominated duets album arrived in October with Kehlani, Ari Lennox, and Queen Naija among the participants.