She began singing for TV commercials at age 12, and entered various talent shows with the help of her mother. She performed in nightclubs, and began to write music around the same time. Cox entered the music industry in the early 1990s, performing as a backup vocalist for Celine Dion for six months.
In 1995, label executive Clive Davis signed Cox to Arista Records, and she released her self-titled debut album the same year.
After middling success, Cox released a non-album single for the soundtrack to the 1997 movie "Money Talks", titled "Things Just Ain't The Same". A dance mix of that song topped the U.S. dance charts and was included on her second album, "One Wish" in 1998. The first single from that album, "Nobody's Supposed to Be Here", spent 14 weeks at #1 on the Hot R&B charts in the USA, as well as eight consecutive weeks at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album went platinum, becoming Cox's biggest-selling album to date. Cox then recorded a new song, "Absolutely Not", for the soundtrack to Dr. Dolittle 2. Remixes of the song repeated the success of One Wish's singles on the dance charts, and the Chanel mix of "Absolutely Not" was included on her third album.
Cox's third album "The Morning After" was released in November 2002 on J Records.
On February 17, 2004, she made her Broadway debut in the Elton John-Tim Rice musical Aida, returning to recording only to release a dance remix of "Easy As Life" as a single.
Cox also has been involved in a number of movies and soundtracks. In 2000, she played Niko Rosen in Love Come Down. In 2001, her hit song "Absolutely Not" was featured in Dr. Dolittle 2. In 2005, in the movie Blood of a Champion she played the role of Sharon, and again in 2005, her voice was featured in the movie Hotel Rwanda in the song "Nobody Cares".
She released a dance single titled "House Is Not a Home" on Nervous Records in January 2006. Later in the year, the song "Definition of Love" was used in the movie Akeelah and the Bee, but was not released as a single.
Between 2005 and 2006 Deborah recorded her fourth album, called "Destination Moon". It is a tribute to jazz singer Dinah Washington and was released on June 19, 2007.
Cox contributed the song "This Gift" to the soundtrack of the 2008 movie "Meet the Browns" and was part of Cyndi Lauper's True Colors Tour 2008.
She has also starred in "A Good Man is Hard to Find" along side Golden Brooks and Darius McCrary.
In early 2008, Cox and Stephens created the Deco Recording Group, her very own independent label, which is distributed through Image Entertainment.
Her fifth R&B studio album, "The Promise", was released on November 11, 2008. The first single "Did You Ever Love Me" was released to radio on August 26, 2008 and peaked at #69 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Chart. The song "Beautiful U R" has been released digitally to iTunes and Amazon.com on September 16, 2008. It has recently reached #3 on the Canadian Radio Chart becoming her most successful single in nearly ten years. It also peaked at #3 on the Canadian Hot AC Chart (January, 2009 Chart) and hit #1 on the US Dance chart becoming her tenth song to do it.
The song was certified gold for digital downloads in January, 2009. "Saying Goodbye" was sent to Urban/AC radios in February, while "The Promise" is scheduled to be released as a single in July. Cox joined forces with Kenny Lattimore for the "Timeless Promise Tour" in July 2009.
In April 2009, she was featured on the single "Leave The World Behind". The house track was produced by four DJs — Axwell, Steve Angello, Sebastian Ingrosso and Laidback Luke. It peaked at #40 on the US Dance chart.
In September 2009 it was announced she would be joining Kelly Price and Tamia to form the super group The Queen Project. In a February 2012 interview with Seattle Gay News, Cox confirmed that those plans were on hold, due to scheduling issues. "Each of us has moved on and we are all doing our own projects now." She also noted that she is currently working on a dance album. "My fans have been hounding me about another 'remixed' album."
In December 2011 Deborah achieved her 11th number 1 with "If It Wasn't For Love".
On September 7, 2012 Cox gave her inaugural performance as Lucy the female lead in a revival of the musical Jekyll & Hyde starring Constantine Maroulis: after premiering in La Mirada CA this production toured North American for twenty-five weeks playing at twenty locales, then began previews for its Broadway run April 5, 2013 officially opening its planned limited engagement Broadway run of thirteen weeks on April 18, 2013. Despite Cox herself receiving good reviews, the production did not enjoy strong Broadway box-office and subsequent to its non-showing in the 2013 Tony Awards list of nominees announced April 30, 2013 Jekyll & Hyde was announced to be playing its final show May 12, 2013. Cox had a new track "Higher" issued in the autumn of 2012, and in May 2013 stated she was planning to record a dance version of the Jekyll & Hyde number "Someone Like You". Also, in April 2013 Cox stated that a projected Broadway musical in which she'd play Josephine Baker, which had been workshopped in 2011, was still planned, the production being dependent on an available venue.
In 2014, she was one of the performers at the opening ceremonies of WorldPride in Toronto, alongside Melissa Etheridge, Tom Robinson and Steve Grand.
Cox provided vocals for the 2015 Whitney Houston biopic, Whitney, directed by Angela Basset. The same year, she released the deep house-influenced "Kinda Miss You", as well as the ballad "More Than I Knew" as singles. In 2016, Cox played the lead role of Josephine Baker in the Broadway-bound musical Josephine, which chronicled the singer's life between the years of 1939 and 1945, and starred as Rachel Marron in the North American Tour of the musical The Bodyguard based on the 1992 film of the same name. In support of the musical, Cox released the EP I Will Always Love You on Deco and Broadway Records, containing cover versions of seven Whitney Houston originals as well as Houston's cover of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You."[31] In June 2017, she released an uptempo dance single "Let the World Be Ours Tonight" during LGBTQ pride season on Radikal Records and Galactic Media. It marked her 13th single to top Billboard's Dance Club Songs.
In June 2019, she performed at Stonewall 50 – WorldPride NYC 2019. In November 2019, Cox released the Rico Love-produced single "Easy Way" through Deco Entertainment. The song is expected to lead her seventh studio album, which is expected to be released in late 2020. In February 2020, Cox starred opposite Roger Guenveur Smith in the BET+ television thriller Influence, an adaption of Carl Weber's same-tited 2018 novel, portraying a big-name celebrity singer accused of killing her husband. Also in 2020, she appeared as a guest host in an episode of Canada's Drag Race and started webseries titled COXtales with Deborah Cox during the global COVID-19 pandemic. Deborah Cox was added to the BET series First Wives club during Season 2, playing the musician "Regina". In addition, she stars in a minor role as Wendy on the limited HBO TV series, Station 11.
Hurt So Much
Deborah Cox Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Some were good some were bad
I found that if you hold on too tight
You might lose everything you have
Didn't think my heart could easily break
When you fall in love that's a chance you take
Now I know from these lessons that I learned from loving you
I know that everybody makes mistakes
I hope you still believe it's not too late
'Cause I don't care about what people think or say
I'd rather take a chance with you
I'd rather be in love than be alone
But I never knew that love could hurt so much
I found it in my heart to forgive
But it's hard to forget
'Cause everyday the vision creeps in
Of you and somebody else
All my girls told me to let you go
But I they're wrong
I still love you so
I'll hold on
'Til I gain back the trust I had in you
[Chorus]
It's killing me but I'll get over it
But I made my commitment to you
Even though it's gonna leave a scar
It could never change what's in my heart
I'll do whatever to stay together
The lyrics of Deborah Cox's song Hurt So Much describe the experience of falling in love and suffering its consequences. The song begins by acknowledging that love can bring both good and bad experiences, and that holding on too tightly can lead to losing everything. The singer goes on to describe how they didn't think their heart could break so easily, but now they understand that love involves taking chances. The chorus then expresses the singer's hope that their love can overcome the mistakes that have been made, and that they can be together despite what others might say.
The second verse of the song continues to explore the singer's experience of heartbreak. They describe how they have forgiven their partner, but find it hard to forget the pain that has been caused. The singer's friends advise them to let go of the relationship, but the singer insists on holding on until trust can be regained. The chorus is then repeated, with the singer expressing their commitment to their partner despite the difficulties they are facing.
Overall, the lyrics of Hurt So Much capture the emotional complexity of love and heartbreak. The song recognizes that love can bring both joy and pain, and that forgiveness and trust are essential components of a successful relationship. The singer ultimately chooses to hold on to their love, even in the face of doubt and uncertainty.
Line by Line Meaning
Heard a million stories about love
I've heard so many stories about love
Some were good some were bad
Some of these stories were good and some were bad
I found that if you hold on too tight
I realized that holding on too tight can sometimes cause you to lose everything
You might lose everything you have
It's possible to lose everything that you have
Didn't think my heart could easily break
I never thought my heart could break so easily
When you fall in love that's a chance you take
Falling in love is always a chance you take
Now I know from these lessons that I learned from loving you
Now I understand the lessons I learned from loving you
[Chorus:]
Chorus - Everybody makes mistakes, so I hope that you also believe it's not too late to try again
I don't care about what people think or say
I don't care what other people think or say
I'd rather take a chance with you
I'd rather take a chance on love with you
I'd rather be in love than be alone
I'd prefer to be in love even if it means I'm not alone
But I never knew that love could hurt so much
I never imagined that love could hurt so much
I found it in my heart to forgive
I was able to find it in my heart to forgive you
But it's hard to forget
But it's difficult to forget
Everyday the vision creeps in
Every day the memory of you and someone else creeps into my mind
Of you and somebody else
The memory of you with someone else
All my girls told me to let you go
My friends told me to let you go
But I they're wrong
But I don't think they are right
I still love you so
I still love you so much
I'll hold on
I'll keep holding on to our relationship
'Til I gain back the trust I had in you
Until I regain the trust I once had in you
It's killing me but I'll get over it
It's hurting me a lot, but eventually, I'll get over it
But I made my commitment to you
I made a commitment to be with you
Even though it's gonna leave a scar
Even though it might leave a wound
It could never change what's in my heart
It can never change how I feel about you
I'll do whatever to stay together
I will do anything to keep our relationship together
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: DEBORAH COX, JAMES HARRIS III, JAMES WRIGHT, JAMES QUENTON WRIGHT, JAMES SAMUEL III HARRIS, TERRY LEWIS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind