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.
Never Gonna Break My Heart Again
Deborah Cox Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You never knew how much you hurt me, baby
You never cared how much I cried
Baby, I gave my heart to you, you just walked away
Now you've come back and now you wanna stay
But you're never gonna make me cry again, again
Like you did, then
No, you're never gonna make me cry
No, you're never gonna break my heart again
What made you think that I'd forgive you, baby?
What made you think that I'd forget?
Thought you could walk back in my world
But I've closed the door
I can't let you in, baby, anymore
And you're never gonna make me cry again, again
And you're never gonna break my heart again
Like you did, yeah, then
No, you're never gonna make me cry
No, you're never gonna break my heart again, oh
You've had your last one more chance
There's no more for you, baby
So don't knock on my door
You're not welcome no more
And you're never gonna make me cry again, ho no
Oh, you're never gonna break my heart again
Like you did, baby, no, no, no, no
Never gonna make me cry, make me cry again
And you're never gonna break my heart again
Just like you did, baby, then, yeah
No, you're never gonna make me cry
You're never gonna break my heart again
Never gonna break my heart
Never gonna break my heart
Oo, my heart
I've closed the door
You're not welcome anymore, baby
Oh baby, oh baby
Never gonna break my heart
Never gonna break my heart
Oo, my heart
I've closed the door
You're not welcome anymore, baby
The lyrics to Deborah Cox's song "Never Gonna Break My Heart Again" express the pain and resentment of a woman who has been hurt multiple times by a man who keeps walking in and out of her life. The first stanza paints a picture of a woman who has given her heart to a man who doesn't care about her feelings, who walks away whenever he pleases, only to return whenever it suits him. The second verse questions the man's audacity to think he could just waltz back into her life after all the hurt and pain he has caused her. The woman has finally closed the door and made it clear that she won't take him back, no matter how many chances he asks for. The chorus reinforces this by declaring that the man will never make her cry or break her heart again.
Line by Line Meaning
No baby, no baby, yeah
The singer is trying to make a point, indicating a strong affirmative response that she will not let herself get hurt again.
You never knew how much you hurt me, baby
The singer is saying that her lover never understood how much he hurt her with his actions.
You never cared how much I cried
The singer expresses that her lover never really cared about how she felt or how he made her feel.
Baby, I gave my heart to you, you just walked away
The artist states that she had given her heart to her lover only for him to just walk away from her.
Now you've come back and now you wanna stay
The artist acknowledges that her lover has returned and now wants to reconcile with her.
But you're never gonna make me cry again, again
The singer affirms that she is stronger and will not allow her lover to make her cry again.
And you're never gonna break my heart again
The singer is determined that her lover will not break her heart again.
Like you did, then
The artist refers to the past and how her lover broke her heart previously.
What made you think that I'd forgive you, baby?
The artist is questioning why her lover would think that she would forgive him so easily after hurting her.
What made you think that I'd forget?
The artist is questioning her lover's thought process on why he would think that she would forget what he did to her.
Thought you could walk back in my world
The singer reflects on how her lover believed he could just come back into her life.
But I've closed the door
The artist says that she has closed the door on her lover, indicating that she has moved on and will not let him back in her life.
I can't let you in, baby, anymore
The singer has gotten over the hurt and pain and cannot allow her lover back into her life anymore.
You've had your last one more chance
The singer is telling her lover that he has run out of chances and that he cannot hurt her again.
There's no more for you, baby
The singer has made it clear that there is no more opportunity for reconciliation between them and that her lover cannot come back into her life.
So don't knock on my door
The artist warns her lover not to try and come back into her life, indicating that she has moved on.
You're not welcome no more
The artist makes it clear to her lover that he is no longer welcome in her life.
Never gonna make me cry again, ho no
The singer is confident that her lover will never make her cry again and asserts that she is stronger now.
Oh, you're never gonna break my heart again
The singer reiterates to her lover that he will never have the power to break her heart again.
Just like you did, baby, then, yeah
The artist references the past and reminds her lover of how he broke her heart before.
Never gonna break my heart
The artist affirms that her heart will never be broken again by anyone, including her lover.
Oo, my heart
The artist's heart is the subject of the song, being the thing that her lover tried to break but she is determined to protect.
I've closed the door
The singer reiterates that she has closed the door on her lover and has moved on with her life.
You're not welcome anymore, baby
The artist tells her lover that he is not welcome in her life anymore and that she has moved on.
Oh baby, oh baby
The singer is lamenting her lost love but is determined to move forward.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: DIANE EVE WARREN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind