Tamar Braxton

In tandem with her work as an actress and television personality, Tamar Braxton is an accomplished singer and songwriter who specializes in deeply passionate contemporary R&B. She debuted in 1990 as one-fifth of the sibling group the Braxtons, and a decade later launched her solo career with Tamar (2000). While that album was heavy on pop-flavored material, it also displayed Braxton's knack for the kind of cathartic ballads that would typify her subsequent commercial successes. She turned a corner with Love and War (2013), a number two album that led to three Grammy nominations. Calling All Lovers (2015) returned her to the Top Ten and featured the Grammy-nominated "If I Don't Have You." Since releasing Bluebird of Happiness (2017), Braxton has devoted more time to television and film roles, but her musical activity has picked up with typically wholehearted singles like "Changed" (2023) and "Notice Me" (2024).

The Severn, Maryland-born Tamar Braxton entered the music industry with her five-member sibling group, the Braxtons, which featured older sisters Traci, Trina, Towanda, and, most notably, Toni. The quartet released one single, the number 79 Billboard R&B single "Good Life," for Arista in 1990. They were dropped from the label, but Toni was subsequently signed by LaFace and featured her sisters as part of her backing group. Minus Toni and Traci, the Braxtons signed to Atlantic and released So Many Ways in 1996. A Masters at Work remix of their Diana Ross cover, "The Boss," topped Billboard's club chart.

Braxton eventually left the group to establish a solo career on the Dreamworks label. After a false start, she released a self-titled album in 2000 that placed two singles on the charts, including the Top 40 R&B hit "If You Don't Wanna Love Me," co-written by Christopher "Tricky" Stewart and Xscape's LaTocha Scott. She continued to perform background vocals for Toni's albums and was briefly signed to Casablanca, though the association did not pan out. Braxton took part in the reality series Braxton Family Values and Tamar & Vince and signed to Epic for another shot at solo fame. Her December 2012 single "Love and War" peaked at number five on the R&B/Hip-Hop chart and preceded her album of the same title, released the following September. It debuted at number two on the Billboard 200. Only two months later, she released the holiday album Winter Loversland. Three Grammy nominations followed shortly thereafter. Love and War was up for Best Contemporary R&B Album, and the title song -- which Braxton co-wrote -- was nominated for Best R&B Performance and Best R&B Song.

As she maintained her reality television profile and other small and big-screen work, Braxton recorded her third proper studio album, Calling All Lovers, which entered the Billboard 200 at number five in October 2015. The set boasted a pair of Top 20 R&B/hip-hop hits with the slow jam "Let Me Know" (featuring Future) and the pleading ballad "If I Don't Have You." The latter became Braxton's second recording nominated for a Grammy in the Best R&B Performance category. She then started her own label, Tamartian Land, and returned in September 2017 with Bluebird of Happiness. A Top 20 album, it was led by "My Man," a number 21 R&B/hip-hop single inspired by one of her relationships and the divorce of her parents (a result of her father's infidelity). Over the next several years, Braxton released the occasional single, including 2023's "Changed" (another number 21 R&B/hip-hop hit) and 2024's "Notice Me." A duet with Eric Benét on "Something We Can Make Love To" arrived shortly after the latter. ~ Andy Kellman, Rovi