Keyshia Cole

Keyshia Myeshia Cole (née Johnson; born October 15, 1981) is an American R&B singer. Born and raised in Oakland, California, she began her career as a backing vocalist for MC Hammer before ultimately signing with A&M Records, under whom she released her debut studio album, The Way It Is, in 2005. The record was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and earned two nominations at the 2006 Soul Train Music Awards. Riding on the album's success, Cole would begin filming a reality television series for BET documenting her career, family and personal life called Keyshia Cole: The Way It Is; the show ran for three seasons, and became one of the most-watched programs in the network's history. In 2007, Cole released her second studio album, Just Like You, which spawned three number-one R&B singles — "Let It Go" (featuring Missy Elliott and Lil' Kim), "I Remember" and "Heaven Sent" — and earned her four Grammy nominations. The album reached number two on the Billboard 200 and was certified platinum by the RIAA. Her third album, A Different Me (2008), was met with generally positive reviews and became the second of her career to debut atop of the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart as well as number two on the Billboard 200. Another commercial success, the album was certified platinum by the RIAA. Cole's fourth album, Calling All Hearts (2010), included the singles "I Ain't Thru" (featuring Nicki Minaj) and "Take Me Away". Her fifth studio album, Woman to Woman (2012), peaked at number 10 on the Billboard 200. It spawned the single "Enough of No Love" (featuring Lil Wayne), which peaked within the top-ten of the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. That same year, she starred in the reality series Keyshia & Daniel: Family First. Further label changes saw the release of Point of No Return (2014) under Interscope and 11:11 Reset (2017) under Epic. Dubbed by critics as the "Princess of Hip-Hop Soul", Cole is best known for her soulful voice. Her work has earned her several awards and accolades, including an ASCAP Award and a Billboard Music Award. From 2019 to 2020, she hosted the Fox Soul syndicated television talk show One on One with Keyshia Cole.