Toni Braxton Reveals She Nearly Had Massive Heart Attack After Believing Chest Pains Were Just Grief

55-year-old singer Toni Braxton is lucky to be alive after narrowly avoiding a “widow-maker” heart attack. The “Un-Break My Heart” singer sat down for a pretty revealing interview with Today this week.

She told hosts, Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager, that she had been feeling a pain in her chest for quite some time, but she believed the feeling was due to grief. For those who don’t know, her sister Traci died back in March of 2022. They were very close, so the death has been hard on Toni.

“I was having this pain in my chest and I thought it was because I was so sad because we had lost one of my sisters,” she was quoted as saying during the interview.

But the pain didn’t go away, and her doctor recommended she schedule a check-up with a cardiologist. She initially refused because aside from the pain in her chest, she felt pretty normal.

Finally, he called me up and said, ‘Go.’ I got you an appointment for tomorrow. Go. Shortly after that, I was told I would have had a massive heart attack, and I would not have survived.

Doctors discovered she had an 80-percent blockage in the largest artery of her heart that would have likely triggered a massive heart attack down the line.

Two days after the discovery was made, she had emergency surgery and a stent was inserted to improve bloodflow.

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. If all I have to do for my lupus and my kidney health is pee in a cup, I can pee in a cup. How many times do you need me to pee? If all I gotta do is get my arm pricked for some blood? Oh yes, I can do that. How many vials do you need?

For those who aren’t aware, Toni was diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus back in 2008, so she’s no stranger to health complications.

Toni tells us she can’t tour or sing like she wants to at the moment, but she’s slowly getting reacquainted with the studio and promises she’ll be back at full strength for her next live shows.

Here’s to hoping she stays happy and healthy!