Keyshia Cole

Keyshia Cole was born on October 15, 1981 but she hardly tasted the love of her biological parents for she was then adopted by Yvonne Cole at the age of five. Her love of singing has started since childhood, especially with the influence coming from his brother Sean Cole who was said to be very close friends to the late Tupac Shakur. At the age of 12, she even convinced MC Hammer to give her an experience of recording for the first time. Four years later, the passion still hadn't burnt off. Instead, it was fueled by the painful fact she discovered about her boyfriend. After she caught him cheating with another girl, the 16-year-old took her car, left Bay Area where she was raised to seek a better future in Los Angeles.

It wasn't long until her charisma reached the ear of A&M Records executive Ron Fair who then introduced her to Jimmy Iovine. She was then signed to the label in December 2002 and started working on a debut album. Her story wasn't always as sweet as it sounded. In the first attempt to launch her career, the first single from her album called "I Changed My Mind" didn't receive the kind of success that she had expected. Even her second single "(I Just Want It) to Be Over", which was released in April 2005, was not enough to lift up her name. The album was then re-worked before finally put on shelves in June 2005. It was apparently a wise decision because from then on, her singles continuously gained high chart positions, starting with "I Should Have Cheated" that peaked at #4 in Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart and followed by her most successful single at that time "Love". The latter song was the piece that she used as an ammo to win Iovine's heart before she was signed. She claimed to always knew that it would someday be the song that would bring her the kind of success she pictured.

"The Way It Is" went gold within 17 weeks and reached platinum status 8 weeks later. With such reputation, Keyshia Cole was no longer considered a newcomer. Many offers poured down the line including a reality show with BET called "Keyshia Cole: The Way It Is". The six-episode series proved to be high rated that executives decided to shoot the second season of the show, focusing on Cole's recording sessions for second album and her mother being released from jail. MTV also offered her a slot to make an appearance in their movie "How She Moves" as herself. All the while, she kept her mind straight in music path. A second album "Just Like You" was released on September 25, 2007. She earned a supporting act slot in R. Kelly's "Double Up" tour to promote this album but the best was yet to come. In December 2007 when the 50th Grammy nominations were announced, Cole was told that she snatched not only one but two at a time. She was on for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for "Let It Go" and Best Contemporary R&B Album for "Just Like You". A year later, she gained a couple more nominations at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards, in the categories of Best Female R&B Vocal Performance and Best R&B Song.

As her music career took off, her venture in reality series ended. "Keyshia Cole: The Way It Is" concluded on December 16, 2008 with Cole completing her third studio album "A Different Me". The new effort was released on December 16, 2008, debuting at number 2 on Billboard Hot 200 chart with 322,000 copies sold in the first week. First single "Playa Cardz Right" and its follow up "You Complete Me" contributed to the success of the album that eventually received platinum certification from RIAA. She was no longer an opening act or a featured artist on tour. Cole headlined her own tour called "A Different Me" in summer 2009 and began to work on her fourth studio album.

Cole took a small break from the showbiz in 2010 when she gave birth to Daniel Hiram Gibson Jr., her first child with fiance Daniel Gibson. It did not take long for her to emerge from the maternity leave as she recorded a collaboration with B.o.B on "Airplanes (Part II)". After that, she kicked off the promotion of her new album by releasing "I Ain't Thru", featuring Nicki Minaj, in October 2010 as the first single. However, it failed to gain big interest for the album "Calling All Hearts", resulting in an opening sale of 128,000 copies. Cole parted ways with her management company Imani Entertainment shortly after that while continuing to promote the album on late night shows and radios.

Cole and Gibson tied the knot on May 21, 2011, in a private ceremony in Las Vegas, Nevada. The honeymoon was short for she had to start hitting the road with R. Kelly for Love Letter Tour. Later that year, Cole announced that she was going on a different direction for her fifth studio album because she would no longer release it under A&R Executive Ron Fair. At the same time, she announced a new BET TV show "Keyshia & Daniel: Family First" which was filmed as a docu-series. Beside following her family's day to day routine, the show also took a peek at the making of her new album, "Woman to Woman".

Cole began with the single "Enough of No Love" which featured Lil Wayne in July 2012. The song debuted at number 56 on Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Chart and climbed all the way to number 7. The album was released on November 19, 2012 with another single "Trust and Believe" coming a month prior. "Woman to Woman" debuted at number ten on the US Billboard 200 chart, with first week sales of 96,000 copies.