Babyface And Tracey Edmonds Talk About Their Love Of Music, Film And Family

Jet, Dec 27, 1999

Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds and his wife Tracey are one of Hollywood's busiest couples, successfully juggling music, movie and television production as well as parenthood.

Babyface, as he's known to fans, is one of the most sought-after producers in music, having worked with Aretha Franklin, Toni Braxton, Faith Evans, Whitney Houston, Boyz II Men and TLC. Under Edmonds Entertainment, Tracey produced Soul Food and Hay Plenty. She is busy working on the television pilot version of Soul Food and has numerous movies in development.

But, as the new millennium approaches, the Edmonds are quick to point out that even though they've been extremely blessed on a professional level, nothing will approach the importance they place on family. Their first priority is to their 3-year-old son Brandon and to their own relationship.

"Doing it all is a tremendous amount of work," Tracey recently told JET. "You just try to be as organized as you can.

"Thank goodness for the Internet and e-mail. The good thing is that we have everything under one roof at Edmonds Entertainment, one building. We've got a playroom for Brandon. We spend a lot of time working, but we're able to pop down and see Brandon and play with him. And when we get home, we just shut everything off and not even talk about business and focus on spending quality family time enjoying each other. So, when we come home, we shoot water guns. We read Brandon his books, play Pokemon and watch Godzilla and all the dinosaur documentaries with him."

Even though Brandon does play Pokemon, Babyface quickly pointed out that since he's only 3, he hasn't reached the obsessive age where he frantically trades the cards. "He's not crazy about it yet," he said. "He's just a little too young to get into the card trading craze. He'll catch the next one whatever it is."

For his third Christmas, Brandon's parents bought him a My Pal robot, a car and some software for the computer games he plays. "He can work a mouse, knows how to click on and work his games," Tracey said. "Kids are so advanced these days."

Babyface is currently working on an album that he hopes will be released early spring of 2000. He's not restricting his recording activities to producing. He recently recorded a duet with Academy Award-winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow. They teamed up for a new rendition of the Temptations 1970s hit Just My Imagination.

Tracey pointed out that Edmonds Entertainment has in development a movie tiffed In a New York Minute, a film about a dyslexic cat burglar. They also are working on a movie that will star Garth Brooks as his alter ego Chris Gaines. Also, they're working on a movie based on Babyface's first singing group. Their independent film division has released a gay comedy called Punks that's been accepted by the Sundance Film Festival in Utah.

Fortunately, Babyface said he is able to shut down his businessman mode when the day ends unless he has a tight deadline. "I can pretty much be through with it when I want to. It varies for me. There are times when there's a crunch zone where I can't really shut it down and I'll be working really late trying to get some deadline projects done."

So, after relaxing with Brandon and Tracey, he sits in a bathtub at the Beverly Hills home and soaks until he's about as wrinkled as a prune. With a laugh, he said, "It's not right until you're wrinkled."

Tracey likes the water, too. But, instead of soaking in the tub, she'll stand under a shower and let the water hit her body. "I like having water run off me. I like having a half hour to myself relaxing."

Because family is so important to them, the Edmonds now make certain that they take vacations quarterly, either the three of them or with extended family. They recently returned from a 15-day trip to Thailand, which included water rafting and riding elephants. They are spending the holidays in Lake Tahoe skiing.

"It's so beautiful up there," Tracey pointed out. Babyface added that he's hoping to get his son out on the slopes this time.

Because their son is now 3, they've been hearing those almost inevitable questions about having a second child. They've thought about it and just might have another addition.

"What's so important to us is to be really good parents to Brandon and make sure we have the time to be there for him. So, we're just focusing on Brandon right now," Tracey said.