The cost was the label's control over her finances. Braxton signed a contract that gave LaFace enormous leverage over her career and earnings. She filed for bankruptcy twice despite selling over sixty million albums worldwide. The disconnect between her commercial success and her financial reality became a cautionary tale for the industry and forced her to spend years untangling deals that should never have been signed.
Un-Break My Heart is the one. The song spent eleven weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and won a Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Braxton's vocal is restrained throughout the verses, holding back the full power until the bridge where she finally releases it in a cathartic climax that still gives chills decades later. She won seven Grammys across her career and performed on Broadway in Beauty and the Beast.
Her voice never lost its depth, but the industry never learned how to treat her fairly or compensate her properly for the millions she helped them earn.
