Towanda Braxton
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Towanda Braxton-Carter | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Towanda Chloe Braxton |
| Born | September 18, 1974 |
| Origin | Severn, Maryland United States |
| Genre(s) | R&B |
| Occupation(s) | Singer |
| Years active | 1992–present (solo) 1989–1991 (group) |
| Associated acts | The Braxtons, Toni Braxton |
Towanda Braxton-Carter is a younger sister of R&B singer Toni Braxton and a singer of the now defunct R&B group, The Braxtons.
Towanda Braxton was born on September 18, 1974 in Severn, Maryland to Michael and Evelyn Braxton. The fourth oldest of the Braxton's six children, Towanda started singing at a young age. Evelyn, herself an opera singer, recognized her children's talents. Evelyn quickly started training her girls, and eventually enrolled them in singing lessons. The Braxton children also would eventually enter in their church choir, where Michael Braxton was pastor.
Brought up in a strict Christian household, secular music was initially frowned upon, causing the children to sneak and sing along to Soul Train when the parents were out of the house.
In January of 2005, allegations against Braxton-Carter stemmed from checks stolen from Safeco regional headquarters in Gwinnett County, Georgia, according a police report filed in the incident. She faced criminal charges in the county, and was charged with forgery and theft-by-receiving. She had been an employee of Safeco, an insurance firm, but quit months before the alleged thefts took place.
On November 11, 2005, Towanda gave birth to a baby boy. She and her husband, Andre Carter, named him Braxton Montelus Carter; the baby arrived at 12:36 p.m. and weighed in at 6 lbs., 2 ounces.
Towanda is still making music. She is currently working with Orlando Calzada, who won a Grammy for his work on the Destiny's Child album Survivor.
She is also a member of the Zeta Phi Beta sorority, and joined the organization when she attended Bowie State University, and has been a member since 1995.
Towanda was also in the spotlight in 2004, as she was a cast member on the daytime television reality series Starting Over.
During her time on the show, she was the last of the original six women who had first entered the house (the first Starting Over house in Los Angeles; as the previous season was in Chicago) to have graduated.
She was close to all her housemates but she was closest to Kim Bookout and Jennifer Bernhardt; (these three called themselves the "Sisterhood", by virtue that all three had to have fierce conversations with someone they loved, and they all had Iyanla Vanzant as their life coach) and her roommate, Josie (the holdover from the previous season). Most often she was watching; playing with or helping take care of Josie's young daughter, Chloe. In fact, Towanda was so close to Chloe, that she nicknamed her "Munchkin".
