Deborah Cox  

Since the release of her self-titled debut album in 1995, Canadian R&B singer/songwriter Deborah Cox has produced and released another five albums, won three Juno Awards and two Soul Train Awards (while being nominated for a myriad of others), attained an impressive 11 number-one hits on Billboard’s Hot Dance Club Play chart, and is known for being tied with songstress (and wannabe “actress”) Mariah Carey for having the longest-running top single on Billboard’s R&B 100.

Deborah Cox was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on July 13, 1974. She actually got her start in professional music working as one of French-Canadian singing sensation Celine Dion’s back-up singers. Then, in 1995, after signing on to Arista Records, Cox released her debut album, Deborah Cox (September 12), which included the singles “Sentimental” and “Who Do U Love” and went certified gold. Her follow-up album, One Wish, came almost exactly three years later, including hits such as “Things Just Ain’t the Same”, “It’s Over Now”, and “Nobody’s Supposed to Be Here”, the latter of which tied with Mariah Carey’s “We Belong Together” for being the longest-running number-one song on the R&B chart (14 weeks); in fact, this record wasn’t broken for almost another eight years, when Mary J. Blige came out with “Be Without You”, a single that went 15 weeks on the charts. One Wish went certified platinum.

Her third album, The Morning After, under J Records, didn’t come out until late 2002, after which Cox released a remix album (Remixed) in 2003 and a collection album (Ultimate Deborah Cox) a year later.

Of course, where would a singing superstar be without an attempted career in acting? Thankfully, Deborah Cox does not disappoint. In 2000, Cox appeared in an episode of T.V. series Nash Bridges and also played the character Niko Rosen in the film Love Come Down, opposite Larenz Tate. She also decided to give Broadway a try (hey, why not, right?), and appeared in Elton John and Tim Rice’s musical, Aida in 2004. The following year, she played Sharon in Blood of a Champion. Cox’s sultry voice has also been featured on the soundtrack of a number of films, including Dr. Dolittle 2 (starring Eddie Murphy), Hotel Rwanda, starring Don Cheadle, and Akeelah and the Bee, co-starring Laurence Fishburne and Angela Bassett.

Cox released her fourth studio album (sixth in total), Destination Moon, in June 2007. The album is said to be a tribute to the late jazz and blues singer Dinah Washington, who was (and is) known as the “Queen of the Blues.”

Cox is married to Lascelles Stephens, a music producer, with whom she has two young children.