Keyshia Cole

Keyshia Miesha Cole was born in 1981 in Oakland, California. Her mother was African-American and her father was Italian-American. However, Keyshia's father is dead and her mother suffered a drug addiction that forced Keyshia to be adopted when she was two.

Keyshia started her music career at a young age, doing recordings with MC Hammer when she was twelve. Throughout the 2000s, Keyshia slowly expanded her musical career, singing on Messy Marv's "Nubian Queen" remix in 2001 and appeared on the soundtrack for Me & Mrs. Jones in 2001. Keyshia Cole finally took a full-fledged dive into the music industry after she found out her boyfriend of the time had cheated on her, causing Keyshia to move to Los Angeles. There, she met Ron Fair, A&M president, and signed a solo deal.

With a deal at A&M, Keyshia Cole put out her debut album, The Way It Is, in 2005. The album went gold and scored success with its singles "I Should Have Cheated" and "Love." The former reached #4 on the R&B charts while the latter reached #19 on the Hot 100 and went platinum.

In 2007, Keyshia followed up with her second album, Just Like You. The album went platinum and like the first, featured several successful singles. "Shoulda Let You Go" reached #6 on the R&B charts while "Let It Go" topped the R&B charts, reached #7 on the Hot 100 and went platinum. The album's third and fourth singles "I Remember" and "Heaven Sent" both topped the R&B charts.

In addition to her music, Keyshia Cole has done well with a BET reality television show, Keyshia Cole: The Way It Is. The show is focused in on Keyshia's life and plays on the drama that she experiences. It's the #1 series on BET and set record ratings for the channel.

Today, Keyshia Cole lives in Atlanta, Georgia with her mother, sister Elite, sister Neffeteria, and her three daughters and son.