The Indianapolis-born Kenneth Brian Edmonds, simply known as Babyface, has wowed us over the years as one of the world’s most prolific musicians, singers, songwriters, and producers. He has written and produced over 26 No. 1 R&B hits throughout his career, won 11 Grammy Awards and has just become the recipient of the Legend Award at the 2015 Soul Train Music Awards.
Aside from crafting his own hits, he has also helped to mold many of the industry’s best R&B and soul artists for the last few decades. The Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, was full of excitement as this year’s ceremony was hosted by R&B songstress Erykah Badu, and aired on Centric and BET on November 29, 2015.
Before Babyface took the stage, a montage of the veteran entertainer’s career highlights was shown with testimonials from many prolific performers such as Usher and Toni Braxton. Another major treat was the presentation of the award from his long-time friend and business partner Antonio “L.A.” Reid. Reid was almost on the verge of happy tears as she said, “This is beautiful.” “I feel deeply honored to have had a front-row seat to the evolution of this true musical giant.”
Once on stage, Babyface thanked Reid for being his friend, brother and partner over the years. The real excitement came after the speech as he reenacted some his best musical moments onstage. He then sat at a piano to play the opening chords to the 1993 hit “Can We Talk?” by Tevin Campbell. Just as the crowd started to dance and sing along, Campbell graced the stage to perform his beloved single. He was then followed by fellow R&B hitmaker/actress Brandy as she performed an impromptu version of “Sittin’ Up in My Room,” from the hit 1995 movie soundtrack Waiting to Exhale.
Soon after, Fantasia showcased her gospel tinged vocals with her rendition of “Exhale (Shoop Shoop)” from the late great Whitney Houston. As the audience sang along with her, the R&B songstress then showed even more passion with her version of Karyn White’s 1988 hit “Superwoman”.
After Fantasia left the stage, Bobby Brown‘s hit“Every Little Step” played. As the crowd danced along, Brown himself then graced the stage. As the crowd went wild, Bobby then breaks into an impromptu version of his hit “Roni.” What gave this performance its extra spark, was the fact that Babyface sang the last part of the song with him. If you think that performance was the icing on the cake, think again. Once Boyz II Men‘s graced the stage for their soul-filled performances of “I’ll Make Love to You” and “End of Road”, the crowd went into a frenzy.
To close this enchanted set, Babyface blessed the crowd with his still popular 1989 slow jam “Whip Appeal”. Accompanied by two female dancers in sexy silver ensembles, he melodically belted his hit song while gliding across the stage ever so smoothly, with crowd gleefully cheering him on. With his extensive and still growing catalogue, Babyface has proven that he is indeed an eternal soul legend.
