Keyshia Cole

Background

Keyshia Myeshia Cole, née Johnson, was born on October 15, 1981, in Oakland, California, and is the biological daughter of boxing trainer Virgil Hunter and Francine “Frankie” Lons. At the age of two, she was adopted by family friends Leon and Yvonne Cole, who gave her the surname Cole. She was introduced to the music industry at the age of 12 with her brother Sean who is also known as Nutt-So, where she met and recorded with M.C. Hammer. Cole joined the East Oakland Youth Development Center (E.O.Y.D.C.), a local youth group when she was 16 years old. During this time, Cole worked with Bay Area musicians including D’Wayne Wiggins of Tony Toni Tone and Messy Marv.

On March 23, 2004, Cole’s debut song, ‘Never,’ featuring Eve, was released. It did not chart, although it was the closing track on her debut album, “The Way It Is.” ‘(I Just Want It) To Be Over,’ her second single from the album, was released in April 2005 and peaked at number one on the Bubbling Under Hot 100. “Just Like You,” Cole’s second album, was released on September 25, 2007. The album opened at number two on the Billboard 200 list in the United States, selling 281,000 units in its first week. Since then, “Just Like You” has sold 1.7 million copies in the United States alone. Cole was nominated for several awards for the album, including four Grammys. “A Different Me,” Cole’s third studio album, was released on December 16, 2008, and went on to sell over one million copies in the United States and was certified platinum by the R.I.A.A. Her reality/documentary series “Keyshia: The Way It Is” began on B.E.T. in October 2008 with a 10-episode season.

Cole returned to the music industry on June 27, 2010, releasing “ Calling All Hearts,” her fourth studio album, on December 21, 2010. Since its release, the album has sold over 500,000 copies. She also appeared on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” where she sang the promotional track ‘Long Way Down.’ “Point of No Return,” Cole’s sixth studio album, was released on October 7, 2014. In December 2016, Cole secured a new record deal with Sony’s “Epic Records.” Cole released the lead track ‘You’ with Remy Ma and French Montana from her seventh studio album on January 27, 2017. On October 20, 2017, the album “11:11 Reset” was released and sold 15,000 copies in its first week. Cole’s Verzuz match against Ashanti was rescheduled when Ashanti tested positive for COVID-19 before the event, the in-person competition was scheduled for December 12, 2020, however, it was postponed owing to Ashanti’s positive test.