Subscribe
Hellobeautiful Featured Video
CLOSE

Who is Michel’le Toussaint? Michel’le Toussaint is among the singers featured on “R&B Divas: LA,” a reality show TV One debuted in July 2013. Recording under the name Michel’le, this native of Compton, California, first found fame in the late ‘80s, when she linked up with the World Class Wreckin’ Cru (featuring a young Dr. Dre) and sing on that group’s 1987 hit “Turn Off the Lights.”

She went on to release a pair of solo albums but has been inactive since the early ‘00s. On “R&B Divas: LA”—which also featured Dawn Robinson, Lil’ Mo, Claudette Ortiz, Kelly Price, and Chante Moore—her story arc will center on her return to the business and struggles as a single mother.

Who is Michel’le Toussaint? Born in 1970, she’s arguably better known for her pair of high-profile relationships than she is for her music. When she released her self-titled debut album in 1989, she was dating Dr. Dre, which explains why he produced the entire record. They wound up having a son, Marcel, together, but they broke up soon after Dr. Dre left Death Row Records. Michel’le subsequently married and had a daughter with Death Row Records CEO and founder Suge Knight, who famously served jail time in the ‘90s for assault and battery. Michel’le and Suge divorced in 2002, and as the singer’s official TV One “R&B Divas: LA” bio states, she’s looking to “reenter the dating scene.”

Moving forward, the question, “Who is Michel’le Toussaint?” may well yield the answer “a reality TV star,” as “R&B Divas: LA,” a spin off of an earlier Atlanta-based program, opened to strong ratings and has been earning a fair amount of press. It’s been more than two decades since Michel’le’s biggest hit, 1990’s “No More Lies,” hit No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100, but now that people are once again asking “Who is Michel’le Toussaint,” it could signal a rebirth for a woman strong enough to have survived love affairs with both Dr. Dre and Suge Knight.

The grand return of the Melanin Awards amplifies and honors the finest Black-owned beauty brands with honest reviews, and discusses the evolution of beauty in Hip-Hop culture.