Kenneth 'Babyface' Edmonds

Soundtrack

Popular As Face Y Corp

Birthday April 10, 1959

Birth Sign Aries

Birthplace Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.

Age 65 years old

Nationality United States

Height 5' 9" (1.75 m)

#7907 Most Popular

1959

Kenneth Brian Edmonds (born April 10, 1959), better known by his stage name Babyface, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer.

He has written and produced over 26 number-one R&B hits throughout his career and has won 13 Grammy Awards.

He was ranked number 20 on NME 50 of The Greatest Producers Ever list.

Edmonds was born on April 10, 1959, in Indianapolis, Indiana, to Marvin and Barbara Edmonds.

Barbara was a production operator at a pharmaceutical plant.

Edmonds, who is the fifth of six brothers (including future After 7 band members Melvin and Kevon Edmonds, the latter of whom went on to have a modestly successful solo career), attended North Central High School in Indianapolis, 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.

Edmonds later met funk performer Bootsy Collins, who tagged him "Babyface" because of his youthful look.

1977

He also performed in the group Manchild (which had a 1977 hit "Especially for You" with band member Daryl Simmons) as a guitarist.

He played keyboards and guitar in the light-funk and R&B group the Deele (which also included drummer Antonio "L.A." Reid, with whom he would later form a successful writing and producing partnership).

1980

From the late 1980s to the early 90s, he wrote R&B and dance songs, writing and producing music for Bobby Brown ("Roni"), Karyn White ("Love Saw It"), Pebbles ("Girlfriend", "Mercedes Boy"), The Whispers ("Rock Steady", "In the Mood"), The Deele ("Two Occasions"), Johnny Gill ("My My My"), After 7 ("Ready or Not"), The Boys ("Dial My Heart"), Damian Dame ("Right Down to It") and Sheena Easton.

1983

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 1983 double-platinum No Parking on the Dance Floor album.

1988

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.

1989

In 1989, Edmonds co-founded LaFace Records with Reid.

Three of the label's early artists, TLC, Usher, and Toni Braxton, were very successful.

TLC's second album CrazySexyCool, for which he wrote and produced some of the hits, became the best-selling album of all time by an American girl group.

Under his direction, TLC sold more than 60 million albums worldwide, and a combined total of 75 million records.

1990

Babyface helped form the popular late-1990s R&B group Az Yet.

Edmonds also helped to mold and work with some of his then-wife Tracey Edmonds' acts, such as Jon B. and producer Jon-John Robinson.

Edmonds has worked with many successful performers in contemporary music.

"I'm Your Baby Tonight" (1990), produced for Whitney Houston, was Edmonds' first No. 1 Top 40 hit in the US.

1992

He also wrote and produced Boyz II Men's 1992 "End of the Road" and 1994 "I'll Make Love to You", both of which established records for the longest stay at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

1993

Toni Braxton's first two albums, Toni Braxton (1993) and Secrets (1996), for which he wrote the majority of the songs, went on to sell a combined total of over 10 million copies in America alone.

1994

He co-wrote, co-produced, and provided backing vocals on Madonna's 1994 Bedtime Stories, which featured the seven-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.

1995

He also wrote and produced the No. 1 hit "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)" for 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 Bobby Brown, The Whispers, Pebbles, After 7, Johnny Gill, Deele, Karyn White, The Boys, Damian Dame, Tevin Campbell, Patti LaBelle, Chaka Khan, Aretha Franklin, Madonna, Janet Jackson, Faith Evans, Beyoncé, Diana Ross, Sheena Easton, Toni Braxton, Michael Jackson, Michael Bolton, Paula Abdul, Eric Clapton ("Change the World"), Whitney Houston, Brandy, Mary J. Blige, Tamia, Shola Ama, 3T, Sisqó, Dru Hill, Fall Out Boy, Céline Dion, Samantha Jade, Backstreet Boys, Honeyz, Katharine McPhee, Mariah Carey, Vanessa L. Williams, Bruno Mars, Kelly Clarkson, Chanté Moore, En Vogue, Zendaya, Kenny G, Kristinia DeBarge, Lil Wayne, Kevin Abstract, P!nk, Marc Nelson, TLC, Ariana Grande, Jessica Mauboy, Xscape, K-Ci & JoJo, NSYNC, Jordin Sparks and Phil Collins, among others.

1996

He received three consecutive Grammy Awards for Producer of the Year from 1996 to 1998.

2007

It was released on September 18, 2007.

It was the first album on the newly re-launched Mercury Records label.

2008

Babyface was in the studio for about two years with Ashanti to produce her album The Declaration (2008).

He worked on the Lil Wayne album Tha Carter III (2008), on the Kanye West-produced "Comfortable".

2010

He also worked with R&B singer Monica for her sixth studio album Still Standing (2010).

2013

In 2013, Babyface served as producer for Ariana Grande's debut album Yours Truly, producing the majority of her songs, including her second single, "Baby I".

2014

On February 4, 2014, he released a Grammy Award-winning duet album with Toni Braxton titled Love, Marriage & Divorce on Motown Records.

In September 2014, Babyface collaborated with Barbra Streisand on her album Partners, performing a duet on the track "Evergreen" and background vocals for other album tracks.

2016

Babyface also collaborated with Foxes on her second album, All I Need (2016), producing and co-writing "Scar".

In July 2016, Babyface along with Bruce Roberts and Carole Bayer Sager helped write the song "Stronger Together" sung by Jessica Sanchez.

The song was played after Hillary Clinton's speech at the 2016 Democratic National Convention.