As a shy youth, wrote songs to express his emotions. Edmonds later played with funk megastar Bootsy Collins, who tagged him "Babyface" while he was still a teen, and the nickname has stuck with him throughout his life. He also played in the groups Manchild, then in the light-funk and R&B group The Deele (which also included Antonio "L.A." Reid), with whom he would later form a successful partnership. In 1988, both Babyface and Reid left the group.

In the late 1980s, he was responsible for contributing to the creation of new jack swing and was responsible for writing music for the likes of Bobby Brown, Karyn White, Pebbles and Paula Abdul. In 1989, Edmonds co-founded LaFace Records with Reid. Two of the label's first artists Toni Braxton and TLC achieved massive success.

Edmonds was also instrumental in forming the popular late-90's R&B group, Az Yet.

Edmonds is also behind some of the biggest successes in contemporary music. “I’m Your Baby Tonight”, produced for Whitney Houston, is his first #1 hit in the US. He also wrote and produced Boyz II Men's "End of the Road" and "I'll Make Love To You", both of which established records for the longest stay at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. He co-wrote, co-produced, and provided backing vocals on Madonna's 1995 7 week-#1 hit "Take a Bow", he shared billing with Eric Clapton on the chart-topping Grammy winner "Change the World" from the Phenomenon soundtrack. He also wrote and produced the #1 hit "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)" for Whitney Houston as well as the rest of the critically acclaimed 10 million selling Waiting to Exhale soundtrack in 1995, which spawned additional hits for Houston, Brandy and Mary J.Blige. Additionally, he has produced and written music for many artists including Toni Braxton, Michael Jackson, Paula Abdul, Pebbles, Bobby Brown, Whitney Houston, Brandy, Mary J.Blige, Tamia, Janet Jackson, Shola Ama, Whitney Houston, Sisqo, Dru Hill, Céline Dion, Katharine McPhee, Mariah Carey, Vanessa L. Williams, En Vogue, Eric Clapton, Madonna, Aretha Franklin, Japanese singer Ken Hirai, Pink, Sheena Easton, Marc Nelson and Phil Collins among others, and he has received an amazing three consecutive Grammy Awards for Producer of the Year, in 1995–1997.