Toni Braxton Hospitalized for Chest Pain in Las Vegas

Toni Braxton is on the mend and in "good condition" following a health scare. The 40-year-old "Un-Break My Heart" singer was admitted to Las Vegas' St. Rose Dominican Hospital for chest pains Monday night. The six-time Grammy winner, in Vegas headlining a five-nights-a-week show, "Toni Braxton: Revealed," at the Flamingo Hotel and Casino’s vintage 720-seat Flamingo Showroom., is currently listed in good condition and was expected to be released later Tuesday. Her two-year run at the Flamingo began in August 2006. Though several reports have erroneously claimed that Ms. Braxton was taken to the hospital immediately after a performance, there was no “Revealed” scheduled for Monday. (The show is dark on Sundays and Mondays.) Officials for Flamingo Las Vegas Hotel-Casino and Harrah's Entertainment Inc. also clarified that Ms. Braxton was not at the casino at the time.

While there hasn't been any further details released on her present ailment, Toni Braxton has previously admitted suffering from a condition called pericarditis, a viral inflammation of the lining of the heart, which she was diagnosed with four years ago. In a January interview with Newsweek, Braxton said she periodically suffers from heart flutters and high blood pressure. Since her disclosure, Toni Braxton has since been named a spokeswoman for the American Heart Association.

Known for her husky alto voice, in addition to winning six Grammy Awards, Toni Braxton has sold over forty million records worldwide. Her number-one hit "Un-Break My Heart" is the second biggest single by a female artist ever. With her 1993 self-titled debut album she topped the Billboard charts and continued that streak with her second studio album "Secrets" which spawned the number one hit "Un-Break My Heart". In addition to performing in her successful Las Vegas act, Toni is in the studio working on her sixth studio album. Her father was a clergyman, and the Braxton children were raised in a strict religious household. She attended Bowie State University (an HBCU school) to obtain a teaching degree but decided to pursue a musical career. Toni and her four sisters (Traci, Trina, Towanda, and Tamar) began performing as The Braxtons in the late 1980s and were signed to Arista Records in 1989. Their first single, "Good Life", was released in 1990.[2] Though the song was not successful, it attracted the attention of Antonio "L.A." Reid and Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds. With Braxton's low register sounding similar to that of Anita Baker, Reid and Babyface recruited her to record a demo of "Love Shoulda Brought You Home", a song that they had written for Anita Baker for the soundtrack of Eddie Murphy's film, Boomerang. Baker, who was pregnant at the time, didn't record the song but suggested that Braxton record it. Her recording was later included on the soundtrack along with "Give U My Heart" - a duet by Braxton and Babyface. Braxton, meanwhile, was signed to Reid and Edmonds' Arista-distributed imprint, LaFace Records, and immediately began recording her solo debut album.

In 1998, she filed for Chapter 7 protection from a reported $3.9 million debt. All of her personal household possessions were tagged and marked for sale to pay off her creditors, including her prestigious awards. The humiliating and highly publicized bankruptcy taught her a lesson, she says. In the middle of the bankruptcy proceedings, Braxton was able to pursue her acting dreams when she was offered the role of "Belle" in Disney's musical, Beauty and the Beast, a role she played on Broadway on September 1998 through February 1999. Toni Braxton was the first Black woman to play a Disney character leading role on Broadway.

On May 19, 2006, the Flamingo Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas announced that Braxton would replace Wayne Newton as the casino’s new headlining act starting August 3, 2006. The show, "Toni Braxton: Revealed", will be performed six nights a week and run through March 2007. Later she confirmed that she was extending her show through August 2007. The show has become the first headlining show from a Black performer in Vegas to enter the top 10 Vegas show's charting. Due to the success of the show Toni extended her show through August 2008.

Toni Braxton met musician Keri Lewis in 1997, when the group Mint Condition (which he was a member of at that time) opened up for her while she was on tour. On April 21, 2001, they married. On December 2, 2001, she gave birth to their first child, a son named Denham Cole Braxton-Lewis. The couple's second son, Diezel Ky Braxton-Lewis, born March 31, 2003, was recently diagnosed with autism. The couple currently lives in the in Las Vegas. As well as being a spokeswoman The American Heart Association she is also a spokeswoman for Autism Speaks.