1. Keyshia Myeshia Cole is an American singer, songwriter, television personality and actress.
73 Facts About Keyshia Cole
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Keyshia Cole Myeshia Johnson was born in Oakland, California on October 15,1981.
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Keyshia Cole is the biological daughter of Francine "Frankie" Lons, who struggled with alcohol and crack cocaine addiction, and boxing trainer Virgil Hunter, who was notably absent from her upbringing.
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Keyshia Cole has biological and adopted siblings; including her brothers Sean and Sam, her younger sister Elite Noel, and her older sister Neffeteria "Neffe" Pugh.
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At an early age, Keyshia Cole discovered a passion for music.
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Tragically, Shakur was fatally shot in a drive-by shooting the same night he asked Keyshia Cole to write a hook for his upcoming project at the time.
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Keyshia Cole initially attended Fremont High School in Oakland before transferring to and graduating from Tracy High School in Tracy, California, in the class of 2000.
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At the age of 17, Keyshia Cole departed from her foster home in Oakland to live with her then-boyfriend after her adoptive mother rejected her artistic ambitions.
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Keyshia Cole was initially poised to join a short-lived girl group called Grip while working with producer Damon Elliott.
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Keyshia Cole ultimately declined the group deal and went on to record songs with Elliott.
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In June 2006, Keyshia Cole was featured on " Give It Up to Me" by Sean Paul from the soundtrack of the romantic dance film Step Up.
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In March 2007, Keyshia Cole was featured on Diddy's single "Last Night", taken from his fourth album Press Play.
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On September 25,2007, Keyshia Cole released her second album Just like You, to generally favorable reviews from music critics.
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Keyshia Cole received a variety of accolades for the album, including four Grammy Award nominations and three BET Award nominations.
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Additionally, Keyshia Cole was scheduled to make a cameo on Missy Elliott's album, Block Party, which was originally intended to be released that year.
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Shortly after the tour ended, Keyshia Cole embarked on her first headlining concert tour, A Different Me Tour, which began on May 13 and concluded on June 21,2009.
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In November 2009, at the Soul Train Music Awards, Keyshia Cole earned a nomination in the Best Collaboration category for "Trust".
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Keyshia Cole's second headlining concert tour, the Woman to Woman Tour, began in March 2013, in support of Woman to Woman.
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In October 2013, Keyshia Cole released the music video for the album's third and final single, "I Choose You", directed by Ethan Lader.
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In March 2014, Keyshia Cole debuted the title and first two singles for her sixth studio album Point of No Return, "Rick James", which features American rapper Juicy J, and "Next Time ".
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In September 2015, Keyshia Cole independently released the London on da Track-produced song "Don't Waste My Time" and her own remixed version of Drake's "Hotline Bling".
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That same year, Keyshia Cole made two guest appearances on hip-hop albums.
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Keyshia Cole was featured alongside J Cole on "Black Heaven", a track from Boosie Badazz's Touch Down 2 Cause Hell, and appeared on "Nothing to Me" with rapper E-40 from G-Eazy's When It's Dark Out.
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On November 11,2016, it was revealed that Keyshia Cole had finished recording her then-upcoming seventh studio album and had signed a record deal with Epic Records.
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On January 27,2017, Keyshia Cole released the lead single "You".
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On November 17,2019, Keyshia Cole performed a freestyle at the 2019 Soul Train Music Awards cypher.
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In June 2020, it was reported that Keyshia Cole had signed a management deal with talent management company Primary Wave, shortly after revealing that she had reunited with longtime friend and record producer Ron Fair, with whom she worked with for her first four albums.
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On December 2,2020, Keyshia Cole announced via her Instagram Live, while singing a few of her previous records, that she would soon be competing in a match.
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On February 5,2021, Keyshia Cole released the standalone single "I Don't Wanna Be in Love", under her independent record label, Hearts and Stars, created with the support of BMG.
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In March 2021, Keyshia Cole announced her intention to retire from the music industry after the release of her upcoming eighth studio album.
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At the Lights On Festival in Concord, California on September 18,2021, Keyshia Cole performed live for the first time since the death of her biological mother.
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On January 11,2022, Keyshia Cole signed a global deal with the Creative Artists Agency.
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In March 2022, Keyshia Cole was profiled and interviewed by Tami Roman for her own episode in the TV One documentary series, Uncensored.
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In support of her Lifetime-original biographical film, Keyshia Cole: This Is My Story, in which she starred in and executive produced, Cole released the standalone single "Forever Is a Thing" on June 23,2023.
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Keyshia Cole: This Is My Story, which premiered on June 24,2024, was inspired by the death of Cole's biological mother, along with other major events in her life and career.
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On September 12,2023, Keyshia Cole performed "Last Night" alongside Diddy during his Global Icon set at the MTV Video Music Awards.
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In December 2023, Keyshia Cole featured on the soundtrack to the film The Color Purple and on the Gag City Edition of Nicki Minaj's fifth studio album Pink Friday 2.
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In 2024, Cole headlined The Love Hard Tour; joined by co-headlining act Trey Songz and featured acts Jaheim and K Michelle.
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In October 2024, Keyshia Cole featured on the deluxe edition of Elijah Blake's fourth studio album Elijah and Hunxho's second studio album Thank God.
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Keyshia Cole possesses the vocal range of a soprano, in which the Los Angeles Times has described her as a "raspy soprano" capable of communicating "pain and anguish" with equal force.
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Keyshia Cole has openly acknowledged that she never took formal vocal lessons and she credits her hardships for forging the power and authenticity in her voice.
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Keyshia Cole has cited Blige as one of her greatest influences, and throughout her career she has been compared to or described as a "direct musical descendant" of Blige.
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Keyshia Cole has mentioned Faith Evans, Toni Braxton, and Chante Moore as major musical influences and has acknowledged the impact of Aaliyah and Alicia Keys.
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In June 2005, Keyshia Cole appeared in a Southpole apparel advertising campaign published in Vibe, modeling pieces from the brand's women's collection.
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In 2008, Keyshia Cole partnered with Luster Products to endorse their relaunched Pink Brand Smooth Touch hair care line.
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On July 26,2013, Keyshia Cole posted images of more shoes from the collection.
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Keyshia Cole brings fresh ideas to the table, and knows what girls want.
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In December 2021, Keyshia Cole partnered with hair grooming company Red by Kiss, launching a line of bonnets and headscarves.
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On October 29,2008, Keyshia Cole was honored with the Dr Betty Bahiyah Shabazz Award by the Black Cotton Foundation, a nonprofit organization in the New York metropolitan area, alongside former Black Panther Party leader Ericka Huggins.
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In January 2015, Keyshia Cole donated $15,000 to the family of Oscar Grant, an unarmed African-American man who was fatally shot by a police officer in Oakland, California.
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Keyshia Cole is a devout Christian, crediting her adoptive mother's insistence on regular church attendance and Bible study with creating a spiritual foundation for her.
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Keyshia Cole has openly recounted promising God to stop using marijuana once she secured a recording deal and has stated that any future partner "must have a strong relationship with God" to be compatible with her faith-centered values.
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Keyshia Cole became romantically involved with rapper and record executive Birdman in January 2014.
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On September 19,2014, Keyshia Cole was arrested and charged with misdemeanor battery after allegedly assaulting a woman at Birdman's condominium home in Los Angeles, California; which led to him cutting ties with Keyshia Cole soon after.
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Mercadel claimed that Keyshia Cole threw objects at her, punched her in the face, pulled her hair, and slashed her with fingernails.
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Between November 2005 to October 2007, Keyshia Cole was discreetly involved in a romantic relationship with rapper Jeezy.
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Keyshia Cole began dating NBA player Daniel Gibson in May 2009, announcing their engagement and her pregnancy in January 2010.
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In March 2014, Keyshia Cole confirmed during an interview on The Breakfast Club that she and Gibson were separated, succeeding the rumors that Gibson had cheated on Keyshia Cole with a stripper.
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On May 3,2019, Keyshia Cole announced that she was expecting her second child, with her then-boyfriend Niko Khale.
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Keyshia Cole gave birth to her second son, Tobias Khale, on August 1,2019.
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In October 2020, Khale confirmed that he and Keyshia Cole had ended their relationship.
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On March 16,2025, Keyshia Cole confirmed that she and Hunxho had broken up.
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The reason for this was that Keyshia Cole's mother claimed an unknown Italian man was Keyshia Cole's biological father.
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In May 2016, Keyshia Cole met her biological father, Virgil Hunter, after a paternity test confirmed their connection.
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On November 14,2021, Keyshia Cole announced that her adoptive father, Leon Keyshia Cole, Jr.
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Keyshia Cole went so far as to mention Cole as a vocalist she thinks she can surpass vocally.
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Amid rumors that Keyshia Cole had thrown eggs at the car of rapper Bow Wow, Lil' Mo dubbed Keyshia Cole a "thot" on an episode of her podcast, The Lil' Mo Show, on March 11,2016.
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Keyshia Cole negatively tweeted about Michelle Williams' Super Bowl XLVII halftime show performance on February 4,2013, when she performed onstage alongside fellow Destiny's Child members, Kelly Rowland and Beyonce.
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Keyshia Cole said that Williams' accusation that Keyshia Cole had utilized an auto-tune microphone at a prior Soul Train Music Awards performance was the reason behind it.
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Later that month, both Williams and Keyshia Cole publicly made amends over the situation.
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In March 2013, Keyshia Cole posted a rant on her Twitter page, in which she criticized Beyonce for her audio track "Bow Down ".
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Keyshia Cole responded to this by tweeting that it was fine for him to not work with her again.
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Keyshia Cole has been credited as an influence or inspiration by Ahzie, Celestia, Cocona, Chxrry22, Giveon, Hyejin, Kanii, Lay Bankz, Layton Greene, Mariah Angeliq, Ray BLK, Rayven Justice, Riley Lanezz, Tiana Kocher, and Queen Naija.