Toni Braxton Recalls Near-Fatal Heart Attack, Says Doctors Warned She May Never Tour Again

R&B singer Toni Braxton has lived with lupus for over 15 years. But during a health scare that nearly turned fatal, the 56-year-old credited her late sister, Traci, as her protector.

Per People, during the Braxton Family Values season seven premiere on Friday (August 9), the "Un-Break My Heart" singer called her family to a meeting where she discussed the health scare.

The experience turned out to be a widowmaker heart attack, which occurs when the left anterior descending artery has a LAD blockage, per Adventist Health. As the life-threatening heart attack has a 12 percent survival rate, Braxton was understandably concerned about her well-being. At the time, Braxton had to cancel the remaining shows of her 2-year Las Vegas residency, Love & Laughter, due to the emergency.

Braxton told her family, including her mother, Dr. Evelyn Braxton, 76, and sisters Trina, 49, and Tamar, 47, about the heart attack at dinner, sharing that doctors fortunately “caught it just before it happened.” She underwent the procedure last September, after 80 percent of the main artery in Braxton’s heart was blocked.

A tearful Braxton then told the three women that she considers her late younger sister to be her guardian angel, recounting what the medical staff stressed about her health. In March 2022, Traci Braxton died at 50 years old following a battle with esophageal cancer.

“They told me your sister was watching over you because...you should be dead today. You should not be alive,” the 7-time Grammy winner said.

Braxton acknowledged that she’ll require a stent to be placed in her heart, an “extremely scary procedure” that could threaten her career as a live performer.

“That's a very scary procedure itself, but when my doctor told me I might not ever be able to do a tour again. Okay? I heard it before, but this was different,” Braxton said. “They say you may never be able to do another tour because you could have a heart attack.”

She continued, “It’s crazy anxiety. I just think about it all the time…It’s really messed up that I’m scared every day. If I have a heart attack, I won’t survive. I can’t handle even that feeling.”

Braxton, who was diagnosed with lupus in 2008, has struggled with the condition for years, and last April, she credited a health screening for saving her life.

“Had I not gotten that test, my life would've been different,” Braxton told People. "I look at it like it was a blessing in disguise for me because now, putting off tests? Oh no, I will not put off tests.”