Cilla Black

She is worth an estimated £15 million (2003) and she owns luxury homes in Buckinghamshire, West London, Marbella and Barbados. Their second son Diezel Ky was born in 2003. One of them, Robert, succeeded his father as her manager. She and her husband, Keri Lewis, also had their first child, a son Denim Cole Braxton-Lewis, that same year. They had 3 sons. Braxton has also appeared on Broadway in two Disney shows, "Beauty & the Beast" and "Aida". She was married to her manager Bobby Willis for over 30 years until his death in the late 1990s. In 2001, Braxton made her acting debut in the film Kingdom Come.

In 2003 she released a music career retrospective New Beginnings. Her recent albums; The Heat in 2000, Snowflakes, a 2001 Christmas themed album, and More Than A Woman in 2002, while successful, have not matched the phenomenal sales of her earlier work. In 1993 she was awarded an OBE. Braxton's career suffered a major downturn in 1998 when she declared bankruptcy following a legal dispute with her record company. She remains an extremely popular personality in the UK. Braxton's second album, Secrets (including her 'signature ballad' Un-Break My Heart written by Diane Warren), was released in 1996 and was another major success, leading to Braxton winning the 1997 Billboard Award for Female R&B Artist of the Year. She hosted the popular television programme Blind Date (1985 - 2003), Surprise, Surprise (1984 - 1999) and Moment of Truth (1998 - 2001). The album was a critical and popular success and Braxton won a Grammy as Best New Artist.

Black continued recording and became a popular TV personality in the 1970s, hosting her own long-running variety series, and her TV work began to eclipse her musical fame. This single attracted the attention of producer Antonio "L.A." Reid which led to Braxton performing for the soundtrack of the movie Boomerang in 1992 and releasing her first album, Toni Braxton in 1993. Her last Top Ten hit was "Something Tells Me" in 1971. She and her four sisters (Traci, Trina, Towanda and Tamar) performing as "The Braxtons", released their first single The Good Life in 1990. After Epstein's death and a disastrous appearance in the flop film Work Is a Four-Letter Word, Black's pop career began to decline. Braxton attended Bowie State University to obtain a teaching degree but decided to pursue a musical career. She branched into acting with 1964's Ferry Cross the Mersey, which also featured another member of Epstein's management stable, Gerry & The Pacemakers. Epstein remained her manager after dropping most of his other acts, but she decided to leave him in 1966 for Robert Stigwood; before she could, however, Epstein died of a drug overdose. Braxton's first performing experience was singing with a church choir.

Frequently using songs composed by close friend Paul McCartney -- including her 1968 hit Step Inside Love -- Cilla's chart success continued until the end of the Sixties. Her father was a clergyman and the Braxton children were raised in a strict religious household. The other song most often associated with her is the Bacharach-David song Alfie, the theme from the Michael Caine film of the same name. Produced by the notoriously perfectionistic Burt Bacharach and recorded at Abbey Road Studios, Cilla cited the Alfie recording session as one of the most demanding of her pop career. She was born on October 7, 1967, in Severn, Maryland, the oldest of six children. It is one of the best-remembered songs of her career and also gave Cilla her first major chart success in the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Europe. Toni Braxton is an American R&B singer. Her next single and her second #1 hit, You're My World, was an English version of the Italian popular song Il Mio Mondo. "Hit The Freeway (Fte Loon)" (2003) #29 UK.

It launched her on an extraordinarily successful pop career and she went on to score twenty consecutive Top 40 hits on the British single and EP charts, including eleven British Top Ten singles and two consecutive #1 singles in 1964. "Christmas In Jamaica" (2002). It had already been a hit for Dionne Warwick but Cilla's 1964 version shot to #1 in Britain and became the biggest selling single by a female artist in the history of British popular music. "Just Be A Man About It" (2000). Her second single was the Burt Bacharach-Hal David composition "Anyone Who Had a Heart". "Spanish Guitar" (2000) #2 US. The single peaked at a modest #35, making it a failure, relatively speaking, compared to most of Epstein's other artists. "He Wasn't Man Enough For Me" (2000) #5 UK.

Epstein signed Cilla to Parlophone records and introduced her to George Martin, who produced her debut single, "Love of the Loved" (written for her by Lennon and McCartney), which was released only three weeks after she signed with Epstein. "How Could An Angel Break My Heart (Fte Kenny G)" (1997) #22 UK. But after seeing her again at the Blue Angel jazz club, Epstein signed Cilla up as his only female client on September 6, 1963. "I Love Me Some Him" (1997). The first audition was not successful, partly because of nerves, and partly because the Beatles (who backed her) played the songs in their vocal key rather than re-pitching them for Cilla's voice. "I Dont Want To" (1997) #9 UK. Cilla was introduced to Epstein by John Lennon who persuaded him to audition her. "Un-Break My Heart" (1996) #2 UK #1 US.

Although her first name was often shortened to "Cilla", her stage name came about by accident when local music paper Mersey Beat misprinted her name as Cilla Black, but she liked the sound and decided to use it professionally. "You're Makin' Me High" (1996) #7 UK #1 US. She became close friends with the Beatles and after their breakthrough to international success in 1963, their manager Brian Epstein took over the management of a number of other musicians from Liverpool. "Love Shoulda Bought You Home" #33 UK. During this period she also worked as waitress at the Zodiac coffee lounge, where she met her future husband and manager Bobby Willis. "You Mean The World To Me" (1994) #30 UK. Ideally placed to promote herself to local musicians, she impressed The Beatles and others with her talent and began her stage career with impromptu performances at the Cavern. "Another Sad Love Song" (1994 Re-issue) #15 UK.

In the early 1960s, determined to break into show business, she got a job as a part-time as a cloakroom attendant at the famous Cavern Club in Liverpool, where the Beatles regularly played. "Seven Whole Days" (1994). A naturally gifted singer, as a child Cilla was encouraged to sing by her family. "Breath Again" (1994) #2 UK #2 US. Cilla Black (born Priscilla Maria Veronica White on May 27, 1943) is a British singer and entertainer, and was the second-biggest star to emerge from the Liverpool scene after the Beatles. "Another Sad Love Song" (1993) #51 Uk. Ultimate Toni Braxton (2003) #23 UK.

More Than A Woman (2002). The Heat (2000) #3 UK #2 US. Secrets (1996) #10 UK #2 US. Toni Braxton (1994) #4 UK #1 US.