Tracey Edmonds

Tracey married Kenneth Edmonds, better known as “Babyface,” in 1992, after dating him for two years. They had two sons named Dylan and Brandon. The couple got divorced in 1995.

Following her divorce, Tracey had dated actor Eddie Murphy and sportsperson Deion Sanders.

Tracey Edmonds was born on February 18, 1967, in Los Angeles, California, to scholar parents George and Jacqueline McQuarn. She grew up in an upper middle-class African–American family.

As a child, Tracey showed extraordinary academic abilities. She had the goal of becoming a doctor and knew that she would have to study hard for that.

After graduating high school at the age of 16, Tracey wanted to take a break for a while to decide what she wanted to do in life. Meanwhile, she joined a pre-medical college at ‘Stanford University.’ She graduated in psychobiology.

Her parents separated before she went to college. Although her impeccable academic performance had earned her a scholarship, that did not cover all the costs of studying in a high-profile university such as ‘Stanford.’

Following her graduation, she was knee-deep in debt because of student loans. By then, she had become less interested in pursuing her early interests of becoming a psychologist or a doctor. She had to make enough money to support her family and soon began working as a broker.

In 1990, she met a musician and singer named Kenneth Edmonds. This was a life-changing event for Tracey. He was an established name in the music industry and gave Tracey ideas about how starting a music-publishing company could turn out to be a highly profitable venture. She thus started her company, ‘Yab Yum Entertainment.’

One of the very first artists who got signed under the label was Jon B. Soon, several more musicians joined in and the company prospered. By that time, she had married Kenneth and they became co-partners of the company.

Tracey’s aspirations were not limited to being the owner of a successful music label and she desired to venture into film production, too. This led to the formation of the ‘Edmonds Entertainment Group’ in 1993. The company was initially involved in various aspects of film production. Apart from being equipped with the brains to run a successful business, Tracey also had a good knowledge of the art of filmmaking.

She produced her first film, ‘Soul Food,’ in 1997. The film was a major critical and commercial success. All the characters in the film were black. It showed the African–American community in a good light.

The film ended up winning highly positive reviews and several awards, including the ‘NAACP Image Award’ for ‘Outstanding Motion Picture’ and the ‘Acapulco Black Film Festival’ award for the ‘Best Film.’

Her work has earned her many awards such as the ‘Ebony Magazine Outstanding Women in Marketing & Communications Entrepreneur Award,’ the ‘Volunteers of America Legacy of Leadership Award,’ the ‘National Organization for Women's Excellence in Media Award,’ and the ‘Alliance for Women in Media's Gracies Award for Best Host in Entertainment & Information.’