Tamar Braxton Biography

Tamar Braxton is an American singer, television personality, one of the members of the Braxtons group and a solo singer.

Early Life

Tamar Estine Braxton-Herbert was born in Severn, Maryland on March 17, 1977, as the youngest of six siblings. She began singing early on and was part of the church choir where her father was the pastor.

The Braxtons

Tamar and her sisters Toni, Traci, Towanda, and Trina were signed to Arista Records in 1989 and released the single Good Life. It was not as successful as expected and the age difference between the sisters was the deciding factor of Artista dropping them. Nonetheless, Toni was signed to LaFace Records and took her sisters as background sisters since the label did not want another female group. The Braxtons, minus Toni and Traci, persevered and released the album So Many Ways under Atlantic Records. The LP was moderately successful, and a remix of Diana Ross’ The Boss was at the top of the club charts on Billboard.

Solo Career

Tamar left the group and decided to pursue a solo career. After the release of two singles, her debut album, named at the time Ridiculous, was canceled and shelved. The record was eventually renamed and released as Tamar in 2000. The single If You Don’t Wanna Love Me entered the Top 30 R&B chart. However, that was the only small success and consequently, Braxton was dropped from her label.In the following years, Tamar continued by giving background vocals and co-writing on various of Toni’s albums. She was briefly signed to Tommy Mottola’s Casablanca Records but left after the company was going through business changes. Next, she took on reality TV and appeared on the series Braxton Family Values and Tamar & Vince. 

Success

In 2012 she signed to Epic Records and began working on her second album, Love and War. The lead single of the same name was released and was Tamar’s biggest success as a solo artist. The One and All The Way Home were the next singles followed by the LP in 2013. It debuted at number 2 on Billboard 200 and was nominated for 3 Grammy awards. The album opened the doors for Tamra and she managed to maintain a good image. Her 3rd album, Calling All Lovers, was issued in 2015, followed by her participation in the 21st season of Dancing with the Stars. Tamar had to leave the show due to lung health related issues. She and her sisters joined forces and released the Christmas album called Braxton Family Christmas. Tamar’s latest single If I Don’t Have You was nominated for a Grammy for Best R&B Performance. Surprisingly, in 2016, she was fired from the successful TV talk show The Real but was offered a new show of her own. In April 2017 she left Epic Records and signed to eOne Music, releasing the single My Man from her upcoming album.

Photo credit: The Shade Room