Toni Braxton says she's retiring from music

Toni Braxton says she's retiring from music

Winter/Getty

Toni Braxton is retiring from music to concentrate on an acting career.

Toni Braxton wants to “Breathe Again” after spending two decades as a successful recording artist.

“For what I do I have to love it,” the 45-year-old singer confessed to theGrio. “I have to feel that excitement and it’s gone.”

Fans can “Un-Break” their hearts because the eight-time Grammy winner isn’t leaving showbiz altogether, instead turning her focus on acting.

But even when acting she doesn’t stray far from music. Braxton stars as a single mother who is the lead singer of a small gospel choir and falls for an Orthodox Jewish man in Lifetime’s “Twist of Faith,” which aired Saturday.

RELATED: LADIES IN RED: STARS WEAR RED FOR CHARITY FASHION SHOW

Her obvious love for music isn’t completely gone as she further explained, “I’m just not going to do any albums anymore; maybe touring occasionally here and there because I love performing, but not as much as I did in the past. But no new projects.”

Now she wants to be considered a professional actress and even though the third season of her hit reality TV show “Braxton Family Values” is set to air March 14  on We, she doesn’t want to be regarded as a reality star.

“I hate to have reality star behind my name,” Braxton said. “That’s just not what I wanted to be when I grew up.”

A mother of two boys who are growing up on television, Braxton’s 9-year-old autistic son, Diezel, even has a small role in the Lifetime film she stars in.

PHOTOS: COMEBACK KIDS

“We had originally talked about him playing my son in the movie but I thought it was just too much for him,” she explained. “He’s autistic, high functioning, but still I thought it was too much for his first endeavor.”

Dealing with health issues of her own, Braxton, who was diagnosed with lupus in 2008, has embraced her new career goals but the decision hasn’t been an easy one.

“I’m not sure what’s going on in my life,” she told “Good Morning America” on Friday, Feb. 8. “Maybe a female mid-life crisis? My heart isn’t in it anymore. I hate to say that.”

Braxton walked the runway for the annual Heart Truth Red Dress Collection fashion show to fight heart disease on February 6.