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Singer Traci Braxton dead at 50

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While she did not achieve the exposure and financial accolades of her big sister Toni, Traci Braxton enjoyed her own personal success as a performer on radio, TV, and music. This multifaceted entertainer succumbed to esophageal cancer on Saturday, March 12. A family statement was issued shortly afterwards:

“It is with the utmost regret that we inform you of the passing of our sister, Traci. Needless to say, she was a bright light, a wonderful daughter, an amazing sister, a loving mother, wife, grandmother and a respected performer. We will miss her dearly.”

Traci was the third born in a family that included sisters Toni, Towanda, Trina, Tamar and brother Michael, to Michael, Sr., a Methodist pastor, and their  opera singer mother, Evelyn. Like many singers in the R & B canon, the siblings’ musical grooming was consummated in the church choir.

Aspiring to the professional realm, their 1990 Arista Records single “Good Life” while not a hit, garnered attention from songwriting hitmakers “L.A.” Reid and “Babyface” Edmonds, leading to Toni’s chart topping career, abetted by her siblings support as backup singers.

In 2011 the family secured an opportunity to launch their own reality television series “Braxton Family Values,” on the WE (“Women’s Entertainment”) tv channel, which ran for seven seasons and subsequent spin-offs.

The show highlighted Michael Jr.’s daughter Lauren’s 2019 death from a fentanyl/heroin overdose and Tamar’s 2020 suicide attempt. The second season had Traci dealing with the possibility of her husband’s infidelity.

By 2013, Traci embarked upon a solo venture as a talk show host with “The Traci Braxton Show” on internet radio station BLIS.FM (104.3), and her 2014 solo debut “Crash & Burn.” A second album “On Earth” was released in 2018.

Braxton’s IMDb credits include the upcoming racial injustice drama “CHAAW.”

Traci Renee Braxton-Surratt is survived by her husband Kevin Surrat, a son, Kevin Surrat Jr., grandson Kevin III, her siblings, and her parents.

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