1989-1998: Career beginnings and The Braxtons Tamar and her sisters
Toni, Traci, Towanda, and Trina, signed their first record deal with
Arista Records in 1989. In 1990, they released their first
single, "
Good Life" with little success. In 1991, during a showcase with
L.A. Reid and
Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, who were in the process of forming
LaFace Records, Toni Braxton, minus her four sisters, was chosen and signed as the label's first female solo artist. After Toni's departure from the group, the remaining Braxtons members became
backup singers for Toni's first tour, and featured in her
music videos including the single, "
Seven Whole Days". In 1993, LaFace Records
A&R Vice President, Bryant Reid, signed The Braxtons to LaFace. However, the group never released an album or single for the label. When Reid moved on to work for
Atlantic Records, he convinced executives at
LaFace to allow him to take the group to Atlantic also. It was reported in
Vibe magazine that in 1995, Traci Braxton had left the group to pursue a career as a youth counselor. However, it was not confirmed until a 2011
promotional appearance on ''
The Mo'Nique Show'', that Traci was not allowed to sign with
Atlantic because of her pregnancy at the time. In 1996, Tamar, Trina, and Towanda returned with a new album,
So Many Ways, which peaked at No. 26 on the
Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. At the time of its release, Reid told
Billboard magazine, "I had a vision for them then that was about young sophistication with sex appeal." The trio also performed a remixed version of "So Many Ways" with rapper
Jay-Z on September 9, 1996, at the
Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards. "So Many Ways" peaked at No. 83 on the
Billboard Hot 100 chart and number 32 on the
UK Singles Chart. The group then served as the opening act for Toni Braxton on the European Leg of her
Secrets Tour in 1997. The Braxtons decided to part ways as a group after Tamar left to pursue a solo career with
DreamWorks Records in 1998.
1999–2009: Tamar and label troubles In 1999, Braxton met
Christopher "Tricky" Stewart. She recorded her solo debut album,
Ridiculous, so-named for the many different musical styles on the album. The album spawned two buzz singles ("Let Him Go" and "Just Cuz") in hopes of garnering attention from the public eye; however, when the songs failed to gain impact on urban radio outlets, the album was pushed back and canceled. That same year, Braxton was featured on Sole's, "4 The Love of You." Instead of shelving the album,
DreamWorks Records abandoned 3 old tracks, added new ones, and renamed it
Tamar. The lead single "Get None" was produced by
Jermaine "J.D." Dupri and also featured rap verses from him as well as former Jay-Z protégée
Amil. The song also included uncredited background vocals and songwriting by R&B singer
Mýa. As soon as the song began to pick up airplay, Braxton announced the album would be released in early 2000, alongside a second single, "If You Don't Wanna Love Me". The album featured production from
Missy Elliott,
Tim & Bob, and Tricky Stewart, and peaked at number 127 on the
Billboard 200. When the album's second single failed to gain significant radio airplay, her label dropped her from their roster. In 2001, Braxton's previously unreleased song "Try Me" appeared on the soundtrack album for the film
Kingdom Come. She also began to work alongside her sister Toni Braxton in a number of songs and music video cameos, including the video for "
He Wasn't Man Enough". She performed, co-wrote and sang background vocals on songs for Toni's albums,
The Heat (2000),
Snowflakes (2001),
More than a Woman (2002),
Libra (2005) and
Pulse (2010). When her sister launched her
Las Vegas revue
Toni Braxton: Revealed, Tamar again sang backup until she was replaced by singer
Sparkle. By 2004, Braxton was signed to
Tommy Mottola's reactivated
Casablanca Records and had begun work on her second album. A "
Grindin'"-influenced single, "I'm Leaving", was released with a guest appearance from Bump J. alongside promotional remixes featuring
Sheek Louch,
Styles P. and Ali Vegas.
2010–2013: Television debut and Love and War In 2010, Braxton signed to
Universal Records, where she released a single "The Heart In Me" in July of that year. The song was included on the
Adidas 2: The Music compilation. Her momentum with Universal would not rise to a satisfactory level to launch a second album. In January 2010,
We TV confirmed that it had signed Braxton and her mother and sisters for a
reality television series titled
Braxton Family Values. The show premiered on April 12, 2011. On December 15, 2011, it was confirmed that Braxton and her husband Vincent would star in their own reality series centered on her solo career and their married life. In November 2011, Braxton performed "
Love Overboard" at the
2011 Soul Train Awards for Lifetime Achievement recipient
Gladys Knight. In September 2012, news broke that Braxton had inked a fresh recording contract with Streamline Records, an imprint of
Interscope Records founded by Vincent. Later that month, her reality television show
Tamar & Vince premiered on We TV. Braxton was the featured model for the "Front Row Couture" collection during the "ELLE/Style360" NYC Fashion Week event. Braxton was a co-host of
Tameka Cottle's late night talk show,
Tiny Tonight, on
VH1.
Basketball Wives star
Tami Roman became a co-host after Braxton. Later, she hosted
The Culturelist, a show on
BET's sister channel
Centric. In March 2013, it was revealed that Braxton had signed to
Epic Records ahead of the release of her second album,
Love and War. The album's lead single, the
title track, was released on December 6, 2012. The song was a commercial success, spending nine weeks at number one on the Adult R&B Songs chart. Although the single reached number one on the US
iTunes chart, it peaked at number 57 on the
Billboard Hot 100 and number 13 on the
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Braxton released "
The One" as the second single from
Love and War on May 7, 2013; it peaked at number 34 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The album was a commercial success in the United States, selling 114,000 copies in its opening week; it debuted at number two on the
Billboard 200, falling short of the top spot behind
Ariana Grande's
Yours Truly, and was number one on the
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. Outside the US, it debuted at number 34 on the
UK R&B Albums Chart. In 2013, Braxton began working alongside
Adrienne Bailon,
Loni Love,
Jeannie Mai, and
Tamera Mowry, when she became a co-host of the syndicated daytime talk show
The Real, which premiered that year on July 15. Braxton's special
Listen Up: Tamar Braxton premiered on
Centric in September 2013. The second season of
Tamar & Vince premiered on September 5, 2013, and is centered on the preparation and birth of the couple's baby, and her launch of
Love and War. On November 11, 2013, Braxton's first
Christmas album,
Winter Loversland, was released and debuted at number 43 on the
Billboard 200 with 8,000 copies sold in its first week.
2014–2019: Calling All Lovers, Dancing with the Stars and Bluebird of Happiness On February 25, 2014, the remix of
Robin Thicke's single "
For the Rest of My Life" which features Braxton, was released as a digital single. Season 3 of
Tamar & Vince premiered in October 2014, and it consisted of 10 episodes just like the previous seasons. On October 6, Braxton's new single "
Let Me Know" featuring rapper
Future peaked at number two on the
Billboard Trending 140 chart, less than an hour after its premiere on Braxton's official
SoundCloud account and eventually reached number one on October 7. Billboard.com gave the song 4 out of 5 stars in its review of "The Best and Worst Singles of the Week" for the second week of October. On May 27, 2015, the single "
If I Don't Have You" was released. The song peaked at number 6 on the US
Adult R&B Songs chart. On October 2, 2015, Braxton's new album,
Calling All Lovers, was released, peaking at number two on the US
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. On November 11, Braxton revealed that she would have to withdraw from the competition due to health problems. Braxton and Chmerkovskiy finished in fifth place overall. In October 2015, the group The Braxtons, including all five Braxton sisters, released a holiday album titled
Braxton Family Christmas. On November 21,
Braxton Family Christmas debuted at number 27 on the US
Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, number 10 on the
US R&B Chart and number 12 on US Top Holiday Albums on November 21, 2015. The album charted at number 4 on the US
Heatseekers Albums on December 12. On December 7, 2015, Braxton received one Grammy nomination for "
If I Don't Have You" at the
58th Annual Grammy Awards: Best R&B Performance from her latest album titled
Calling All Lovers. In May 2016, Braxton departed from
The Real. The following month, it was announced on
The Steve Harvey Morning Show that
Steve Harvey had signed Braxton to produce her own talk show and television series with East 112th Street Productions. In April 2017, it was announced that Braxton left Epic Records to sign with
Entertainment One for a $1 million deal with the label. On April 27, Braxton released "
My Man" from her fifth album,
Bluebird of Happiness. The song peaked at number three on the US
Adult R&B Songs Billboard.
Bluebird of Happiness was released on September 29, 2017, through Logan Land Records and
Entertainment One, with "
Blind" released as its second single. The album reached the top of the
Billboard independent chart. On March 23, 2018, Braxton and sister, Towanda, guest-starred in their sister Toni's music video "
Long as I Live". In the same year, Braxton appeared on
Hip Hop Squares. On March 28, 2018, Braxton was featured on
Todrick Hall's song "National Anthem", from his album
Forbidden. That same year, Braxton co-starred in the stage play
Redemption of a Dogg opposite
Snoop Dogg. In Parallel, she was featured on the song "Lions And Tigers And Bears", from the Todrick Hall musical
Straight Outta Oz. In 2019, Braxton appeared as a contestant in the
second season of the American
reality television series
Celebrity Big Brother. The show premiered on
CBS on January 21, 2019, and concluded on February 13, 2019. Braxton won the competition, becoming the first African-American person to win a season of
Big Brother in the
United States. In
Big Brother tradition, she appeared on the American television soap opera
The Bold and the Beautiful, portraying a character named Chef Chambre. Braxton taped her episode on February 20, 2019, and it aired on March 29, 2019.
2020–present: Television ventures, films and return to music Braxton starred alongside
Vivica A. Fox and
Darius McCrary in the film
True To The Game 2, which premiered on April 10, 2020. In support of the film, she debuted a new song, "Crazy Kind of Love", which was produced by
Hitmaka and officially released on March 20, 2020. In April 2020, it was announced that Braxton would be hosting a reality television series for
VH1, titled
To Catch A Beautician; the series premiered in June 2020. In July 2020, Braxton and We TV parted ways, with the network stating that it "will work with her representatives to honor her request to end all future work for the network." Braxton's podcast,
Under Construction w/ Tamar Braxton, premiered on streaming services in November 2020, and was nominated at the
53rd NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Lifestyle/Self-Help Podcast. The We TV docu-series
Tamar Braxton: Get Ya Life!, in which she starred, premiered in September 2020. In early 2021, Braxton announced that she had begun recording music again (after announcing retirement in 2017) and would be releasing two albums back-to-back, with the first album's release slated for early 2022. She has since been featured on several songs for other artists, such as Mr.P and Elijah Blake. On November 30, 2022, Braxton starred in the
Jamie Foxx-produced Christmas TV movie
Hip Hop Family Christmas Wedding, alongside
Keri Hilson,
Ne-Yo,
Terrence J,
MC Lyte,
Redman, and
Cassie Ventura. On March 17, 2023, Braxton released the single "
Changed", which samples
SWV's "
Rain". "Changed" was one of the top 10 R&B songs of that year and debuted at No. 15 on the Billboard R&B Digital Song Sales chart. The song peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard R&B Digital Song Sales chart. It also peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Adult R&B Airplay chart. On July 23, 2023, she starred in the TV movie
A Mother’s Intuition. On September 21, 2023, she voiced the character Star in the acclaimed animated series
Young Love for seven episodes. On November 9, 2023, she acted in the
BET Christmas TV movie
Christmas Angel. On March 15, 2024, Tamar released "Notice Me". Upon release, the song peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard R&B Digital Song Sales chart and No. 10 on R&B/Hip Hop Digital Song Sales chart. ==Artistry==