Babyface

. Multi-Instrumentalist James Arthur Payne tours with the band, fills in vocal, keyboard, guitar, and harmonica parts, and is a fan favorite. In 1999, a 25-mile stretch of Interstate Route 65 that runs through Indianapolis was renamed Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds Highway. Original drummer, Cary Bonnecaze, left the band after the release of Deluxe. Original lead guitarist, Joel Rundell, committed suicide in 1990. In the mid-1990s, Edmonds and his wife, Tracy Edmonds, expanded into the business of motion pictures, setting up Edmonds Production Company and producing films such as Soul Food (1997) and Josie and the Pussycats (2001). In addition to vocalist and guitarist Kevin Griffin, the current members of Better Than Ezra are bass guitar player Tom Drummond and drummer Travis McNabb. Blige, Mariah Carey, Eric Clapton, Madonna, Toni Braxton and Aretha Franklin, among others, and has received an amazing three consecutive Grammy Awards for Producer of the Year, in 1995-1997. Better Than Ezra's independence and survival in a business that has chewed up and spat out many bands they used to jockey for chart position with seems to indicate that the band will be around to satisfy their fans' rapacious appetite for their music for many years to come.

Edmonds has produced and written music for many artists, including Boyz II Men, TLC, Céline Dion, Mary J. It is in large part due to this relentless touring schedule and the fan base it engenders that Better Than Ezra has managed to continue to produce new music, and remain extremely viable well past what many critics projected to be their shelf life. Having performed as both a member of R&B group The Deele and as a solo artist, Edmonds is also known as a prominent producer in the music industry and as the co-founder of successful R&B/hip hop label LaFace Records with Antonio "L.A." Reid. Many of their fans follow the band religiously and attend scores of their performances. Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds (born April 10, 1958 in Indianapolis, Indiana) is an R&B and pop singer, songwriter, keyboardist, record producer, film producer, and entreprenuer. Part of the reason why is that the band has an extremely loyal fan base (who refer to themselves as "Ezralites") that have never cared whether radio plays the band or not. 2004: A Love Story. But unlike the majority of their contemporaries, Better Than Ezra has managed to avoid dropping off of the musical map or throwing in the towel.

2003: Cool in Love. At least commercially (and in terms of mainstream radio play), the band has experienced slightly diminishing returns with each successive release. 2001: Face2Face. Like many bands in the then-burgeoning alt-rock movement of the mid-'90s, Better Than Ezra enjoyed their period of greatest chart success in the time following their debut major-label release ("Deluxe"), which spawned their highest-charting hits. 1998: Christmas with Babyface. Upcoming releases include a Greatest Hits collection (Warner Brothers, March 15th, 2005), and a new album entitled "Before the Robots" (Artemis Records, April 15th, 2005.). 1997: Babyface MTV Unplugged NYC (live). late 2004 saw the band simultaneously releasing an official live concert DVD, as well as an official live album, both entitled "Live at the House of Blues - New Orleans" (Sanctuary Records).

1996: The Day. The band also released the B-Sides and rarities collection "artifakt" on its own "Ezra Dry Goods/Fudge" label in 2000. 1993: For the Cool in You. Subsequent album releases include "Friction, Baby" (Elektra, 1996), "How Does Your Garden Grow?" (Elektra, 1998), and "Closer", (Beyond Records, 2001). 1991: A Closer Look. That same year, "Good" became a major pop hit, reaching the #1 position on the Billboard chart. 1989: Lovers'. It was released on 2 different labels, the independent Swell Records first, and later national label Elektra Records.

1989: Tender Lover. In 1994 they released their first album Deluxe in 1995. In 1989 the band released a cassette-only album, Surprise. By 1988 Better Than Ezra had released a demo cassette tape, Chime Street Studio Demo Tape. The band was formed in 1987 by Kevin Griffin while he and the other original members were attending college at Louisiana State University.

Better Than Ezra are an alternative rock trio based in New Orleans, Louisiana. For help, see How to Edit a Page and the Style and How-to Directory. After the article has been cleaned up, you may remove this message. This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of article quality.