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.
Who Do You Love
Deborah Cox Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
For the first time since you've been gone, babe
No friends to understand, to lend a helping hand
To ease the greatest pain I've ever known
How you walk away so easily
Still remains a mystery to me
Don't you remember that you promised me
But you went away, baby, and It's such a shame
How could you turn you back on me, oh
[Chorus:]
If you really don't want me, if you don't want me
If you really don't need me, if you don't need me,
If you really don't love me, tell me who do you love?
If you really don't want me, if you don't want me
If you really don't need me, if you don't need me
If you really don't love me, then who do you love?
I gave you babe everything, a man could ever need,
I was there whenever you would call, baby,
But somehow your feelings changed, and you don't act the same
I guess you're not the man that I once knew at all
How you walk away so easily
Still remains a mystery to me
Don't you remember that you promised me
Yes, you promised me, that you'd never leave, boy
Now the love is gone, babe
Tell me what went wrong
How could you leave me hanging on, oh baby
[Chorus]
I once was blind, but baby, now I'm seeing
That I'm not the one, who can fill your every need
I painted a picture so clear, it's reality
Now I know, yes, I know that, you're not the one for me
Ohhhhh, baby...
[Chorus]
How you walk away so easily
Still remains a mystery to me
Don't you remember that you promised me
Yes, you promised me, that you'd never leave, boy
How could you walk away from me?
Baby, if you promised you'd never leave
Been so long since you've been gone
The greatest thing I've ever known
[Chorus]
The lyrics to Deborah Cox's song "Who Do U Love" are about heartbreak and the pain of being left by someone who promised never to leave. The singer of the song is struggling to deal with the end of the relationship, sleeping alone for the first time since the breakup and feeling like there is no one there to help ease her pain. She can't understand how her partner could have walked away so easily, breaking their promise and leaving her with a sense of betrayal and confusion.
The chorus of the song amplifies these feelings, as the singer pleads with her ex to tell her who he does love if he doesn't want, need, or love her anymore. She gave him everything and was always there for him, but somehow his feelings changed and he is no longer the man she thought she knew. The pain of the breakup is evident throughout the song, with the singer struggling to come to terms with the end of the relationship and longing for some kind of explanation or closure.
Overall, the lyrics to "Who Do U Love" are a powerful exploration of the aftermath of a relationship ending, with the pain of heartbreak and the sense of betrayal highlighted throughout the song.
Line by Line Meaning
Last night I slept alone, I stayed at home
I spent the night by myself, without you.
For the first time since you've been gone, babe
It's the first time I've been alone since we've ended.
No friends to understand, to lend a helping hand
Without you, I have no one who truly cares about my situation.
To ease the greatest pain I've ever known
I'm experiencing the most intense emotional pain I've ever felt.
How you walk away so easily
I can't understand how you could leave me so effortlessly.
Still remains a mystery to me
I don't comprehend how you could do this to me.
Don't you remember that you promised me
You said you wouldn't do this to me.
Yes, you promised me, that you'd never leave, boy
You made a commitment to never abandon me, but you did anyway.
If you really don't want me, if you don't want me
If you truly don't want me in your life,
If you really don't need me, if you don't need me,
And you don't require my presence,
If you really don't love me, tell me who do you love?
Then who exactly do you love?
I gave you babe everything, a man could ever need,
I provided you with all the love and support a man could ever want.
I was there whenever you would call, baby,
I was always available for you, whenever you needed me.
But somehow your feelings changed, and you don't act the same
Your emotions towards me switched and you don't treat me the same way anymore.
I guess you're not the man that I once knew at all
You've changed drastically since the beginning of our relationship.
Now the love is gone, babe
We no longer have the love that we used to share.
Tell me what went wrong
Please explain why our love ended.
How could you leave me hanging on, oh baby
I can't believe you left me without any explanation or closure.
I once was blind, but baby, now I'm seeing
I didn't realize what was happening before, but now I understand the truth.
That I'm not the one, who can fill your every need
I'm not the person who can fulfill all your desires and wishes.
I painted a picture so clear, it's reality
I created a vision of our future, and now it's come true.
Now I know, yes, I know that, you're not the one for me
I've come to the realization that we're not meant to be together.
How could you walk away from me?
Why did you walk away from our love?
Baby, if you promised you'd never leave
You swore that you wouldn't abandon our relationship.
Been so long since you've been gone
It's been a while since you've left me.
The greatest thing I've ever known
The most significant event in my life.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: IAN HUNTER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind