Traci Braxton, sister of Toni Braxton and Braxton Family Values star, dies at 50
Traci Braxton, the singer, reality TV star, and younger sister of Toni Braxton, died Saturday following a battle with cancer. She was 50.
Braxton's husband Kevin Surratt confirmed her death in a statement, saying, "We have come to a time where we must inform the public that after a year of privately undergoing a series of treatments for esophageal cancer our beloved Traci Braxton has gone on to glory."
A statement on behalf of the Braxton family added, "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."
Paul Archuleta/Getty Traci Braxton, seen here in 2019, died March 12 at age 50.
Born in 1971, the third of the six Braxton children, Traci Braxton began singing with her sisters — Toni, Towanda, Trina, and Tamar — at an early age. As Towanda told the New York Daily News in 1996, "See, Tamar was, like, in the bathroom using the toilet, and she kept yelling out, 'Somebody get me some toilet paper!' So someone sat on the edge of the bathtub and started singing, 'Some-bo-dy ge-et me some to-o-ilet pa-per.' After awhile, it was me, Toni, Trina, Tamar, and Traci, standing in the middle of the bathroom, harmonizing our new song. The first song we ever wrote and the first time we harmonized together."
The sisters would later perform as the musical group the Braxtons in the late 1980s, but they ultimately released only one single as a quintet, 1990's "Good Life," before Toni was signed as a solo act. The other sisters then became backup singers on her first U.S. tour, and appeared in the music video for her single "Seven Whole Days."
Traci Braxton later appeared alongside her sisters and their brother Michael on the WE tv reality series Braxton Family Values from 2011 to 2020. She went on to release two solo albums, 2014's Crash & Burn and 2018's On Earth, and also recorded the single "Broken Things" with Toni, Towanda, and Trina in 2018.
According to her website, Braxton "contributed much of her adult life to social work for children with disabilities," and supported various charities and nonprofit organizations that help women and children facing health and societal problems.
Braxton is survived by her husband, their son Kevin Jr., her siblings, and her mother.
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