Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds is one of the most celebrated creative forces in music history. As a recording artist, songwriter, and producer, he has earned 11 Grammys® and created 26 number-one R&B hits. His smooth, sexy, and soulful voice has touched audiences for over five decades, during which he released three consecutive multi-platinum albums: Tender Lover (1989), featuring the #1 “Tender Lover”; For the Cool in You (1993), included “Never Keeping Secrets” and “When Can I See You”; and The Day (1996) featuring “Every Time I Close My Eyes.” Return of the Tender Lover (released December 2015) introduced a free-spirited Babyface putting his stamp on a contemporary sound he describes as “unapologetic R&B.” This album followed the critical and commercial response to his and Toni Braxton’s 2014 Grammy®–winning album Love, Marriage & Divorce.
While the world was in quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic, Edmonds, along with producer Teddy Riley, set a record for Instagram, attracting over four million viewers during a live episode of the "Swizz Beatz & Timbaland's Verzuz Beat Producer Battle series. The event, on April 23, attracted fans from around the world, music artists, film & television celebrities, and pop culture icons.
Babyface was featured on guitar & vocals in a performance with Boyz II Men during the season finale of Saturday Night Live on May 9. The group performed "A Song for Mama" (penned and produced in 1997 by Edmonds) with each member at a different location during the stay-at-home order, a first for SNL.
As co-founder with L.A. Reid of LaFace Records in 1989, Babyface nurtured the careers of such megastars as TLC, OutKast, Usher, and Toni Braxton. His extensive songwriting and production credits from the 1990’s to present has resulted in landmark achievements. Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds became a music industry icon by producing and writing hits for Whitney Houston, Eric Clapton, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Boyz II Men, Mariah Carey, Beyoncé, and P!nk. That hit list boasts such smashes as Madonna’s “Take a Bow,” Clapton’s “Change the World,” and Boyz II Men’s “I’ll Make Love to You.” As one of the most sought after producers in music, he collaborated with Bruno Mars, Kat Graham, Johnny Mathis, Barbra Streisand, Celine Dion, Ledisi, Colbie Caillat, Jennifer Hudson, Ariana Grande, After 7, and Toni Braxton, as well as wrote and produced music for the Adam Sandler film Sandy Wexler and was the theme composer and producer for the BET miniseries “New Edition Story.”
The prolific music man counts more than 200 top 10 R&B and over 50 top 10 pop hits (including 16 No. 1’s). His music catalogue of singles and albums has tallied hundreds of millions of streams and sales worldwide, forever changing the history of popular music.
Industry awards and honors include the Soul Train Music Awards, BMI Awards, NAACP Image Awards, American Music Awards and BET Walk of Fame Award. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2013 and was inducted into the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame in 2017.
Babyface is a passionate philanthropist, active in supporting Carousel of Hope which benefits the Children’s Diabetes Foundation, Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes, Larry Ruvo’s “Keep Memory Alive,” and Stand Up for Cancer. He has also lent his support to FasterCures, VH-1 Save the Music, United Negro College Fund, the David Foster Foundation, and the Mike Milken Prostate Cancer Foundation.