Deborah Cox; the Billboard-chart-topping R&B singer and Grammy nominee who hits have ranged from the incredible ballad "Nobody's Supposed To Be Here" to singing all of the late, great Whitney Houston's songs in the Angela Basset produced biopic.
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These days, Deborah is busy with roles in Broadway musicals, a new album, and more collaborations than we can keep count of. But it wasn't always like that.
As a young girl growing up in Toronto Housing in Flemingdon Park, she envisioned performing on stage in front of large audiences.
“That was my escape,” the multi-talented artist said after accepting an award last year. “On the one hand, it seemed unattainable, but watching my mom persevere under difficult circumstances gave me determination. Everything wasn’t perfect and there was no manual to try to figure things out. It was just a matter of being relentless and not taking no for an answer.”
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Making the determination to be a singer, she and her husband lived in a one-bedroom apartment sending out demo tapes and facing rejection after rejection. All artists face rejection at some point in their career, but it's you handle it that determines if you sink or swim.
But Cox faced it head-on and rose to the occasion and eventually landed one of her first breaks as a background singer for five-time Grammy Award winner Celine Dion.
So how does this busy, married mother of three still stay healthy and sane? It comes down to the one word that describes her real first love: family.
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On Keeping Her Children Healthy
"My children eat totally organic. Only because my son has a lot of food allergies – gluten, nuts, wheat, dairy and fish. His diet consists of rice-based and corn-based stuff, and soy. It’s really tough traveling, because we can’t eat out. His food has to be specially prepared. We do a lot of brown rice and pasta. Once I found out he was allergic to pretty much everything, we became strictly organic. I am meticulous about the things he eats because I know he has all these special diet needs and I want to make sure that its taken care of."
On Eating Healthy On The Road
"The key is really making sure that you have wholesome foods in your diet. I think that’s the only way I’ve been able to survive this long and I’ve never gotten sick. I’ve always managed to get fresh fruits and vegetables. We’re able to go to organic places like Whole Foods and get wholesome foods to eat. You miss a home-cooked meal when you’re living out of hotels. Between room service and restaurants, it can be hard to find good foods [but] I try to make an effort to get that kind of stuff in that diet and I find that it’s been working."
"I like to use a lot of seafood because sometimes I like to give my system a break from any meat. I find with a schedule like this where we...
... do so many shows it’s important to get the right amount of protein so that you feel satisfied to get on with your day but not too stuffed. With shrimp and fish and salmon, they are perfect ways to get that protein in but you don’t overeat."
How She Manages Family While Being Away
"When I’m on tour, my husband and my mother-in-law are here and I know the kids are well taken care of. I know if they get sick it is probably something they caught at school because we’re very conscious of what we eat at home. We eat a certain way – the whole family. I know that their meals are being properly prepared, I know they’re getting their vitamins, I know what’s going on and I know their grandmother takes very good care of them, as well."
In the end, Deborah wants her legacy to be simple: "I want people to know hey, you can still be a mommy and still have values and still raise your kids and still be a working mom; whether you’re in the music business or not. Remind women they were born queens."
