Thirty years ago, Babyface earned his first two career Grammys, Best R&B Song (“End Of The Road“) and Producer Of The Year (Non-Classical). He shares the latter win with L.A. Reid.
Since then, the iconic singer, songwriter and producer tacked on nine more trophies, two in the former category and three in the latter. He also holds the record for the most captures in the last category. Here is a rundown of the years in which he won:
- Producer of the Year (Non-Classical), 1993
- Producer of the Year, 1996
- Producer of the Year, 1997
- Producer of the Year (Non-Classical), 1998
In November 2022, Babyface earned his 50th nomination, which will be handed out at the 65th Grammy Awards. His song, “Keep On Fallin’,” featuring Ella Mai, is up for Best Traditional R&B Performance.
It marks his first recognition in this category, which awards “new vocal or instrumental traditional R&B recordings.”
“Keeps On Fallin’” interpolates Tevin Campbell’s 1993 juggernaut “Can We Talk,” which Babyface co-wrote and co-produced with Daryl Simmons. The chart-topping track was the first official single from Campbell’s sophomore album, I’m Ready.
Babyface received his sixth Best R&B Song nomination for “Can We Talk” at the 36th Grammy Awards, where he won Album of the Year for his contribution to The Bodyguard (Original Soundtrack Album), which features most vocals from Whitney Houston.
Babyface’s recent nomination comes eight years after he won Best R&B Album for Love, Marriage & Divorce, a duets album on which Toni Braxton joins. The album debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 and No. 1 on Billboard’s Top R&B Albums chart.
Love, Marriage & Divorce included the No. 1 collaboration “Hurt You” and two top 20 singles, “Where Did We Go Wrong?” and “Roller Coaster.”
Before winning Best R&B Album in 2015, Babyface had been nominated earlier in 1998 for The Day, his fourth studio album released in 1996.
Also, Babyface’s 2x multi-platinum album, which featured the hit single “Every Time I Close My Eyes,” was nominated for Album of the Year.
Moving back to Babyface’s “Keep On Fallin‘,” the song led the campaign for his Capitol Records debut Girls Night Out. He and Mai gave the first televised performance of the song at the 2022 BET Awards, where Mai also performed music from her then-newly released Heart On My Sleeve.
Late summer, “Keep On Fallin‘” soared to No. 2 on Billboard’s Adult R&B Airplay chart the week that ended Sept. 24, 2022. It also gained the pair a chart-topper at R&B radio.
Hosted by Trevor Noah, the 65th Grammys Awards will air live Sunday, Feb. 5, 2023, at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT on CBS and stream live and be on demand on Paramount+.
In other-related Babyface news, he’s going on the road with Anita Baker as a special guest for her headlining 2023 tour. It kicks off Feb. 11 at Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, Florida.
The following day (Feb. 12), Babyface will perform “America the Beautiful” at the Super Bowl LVII pregame show.
Rihanna headlines the Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show, while award-winning actress and singer Sheryl Lee Ralph will sing “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”
Listen to “Keep On Fallin’” by Babyface and Ella Mai below.