1958–1982: Early life, career beginnings and Chapter 8 Anita Baker was born on January 26, 1958, in
Toledo, Ohio. When she was two, her mother abandoned her and Baker was raised by a
foster family in
Detroit, Michigan. When Baker was 12, her foster parents died and her foster sister raised her afterwards. By the time Baker was 16, she began singing R&B at Detroit nightclubs. After one performance, she was discovered by bandleader David Washington, who gave her a card to audition for the funk band,
Chapter 8. Baker joined Chapter 8 in 1975 and the group toured until securing a deal with
Ariola Records in 1979. The group's first album,
Chapter 8, was released that year and featured the singles "
Ready for Your Love", a duet between Baker and bandmate Gerald Lyles, and the Baker-led "I Just Want to Be Your Girl." After Ariola was bought out by
Arista Records in 1979, Chapter 8 was dropped by the label who were convinced that Baker, as the group's lead singer, did not have "star potential." Baker returned to Detroit, working as a waitress and a receptionist until, in 1982, Otis Smith, a former associate of Ariola, convinced Baker to start a solo career under his Beverly Glen label.
1983–1988: The Songstress, Rapture and Giving You the Best That I Got Baker released her debut solo album,
The Songstress, in May 1983. The follow-up, "
Just Because", reached the top 20 on the pop chart while also becoming an R&B chart-topper, while a third single, "Lead Me Into Love", became a top ten R&B hit. The album resulted in three more Grammy Awards for the singer.
1990–2002: Compositions, motherhood, Rhythm of Love and tour In 1990, Baker released
Compositions, which had Baker more involved in the songwriting and production process, Taking a hiatus after the end of the
Rhythm of Love Tour to care for her two sons, Baker returned to the studio in 2000. In May 2001, she filed a lawsuit against Zomba Recording and its Dreamhire division for alleged damage to her recordings by a hired 24-track tape machine. Due to a label restructuring, Baker was let go from Atlantic that November without releasing any material with the company. During this hiatus,
Rhino Records released the compilation,
The Best of Anita Baker (named
Sweet Love: The Very Best of Anita Baker in the UK) in June 2002. The album eventually was certified platinum by the
RIAA, denoting sales in excess of 1,000,000 units in the US.
2004–2008: My Everything, Christmas Fantasy and tour That year, Baker returned to live performing, signing with
Blue Note Records in March 2004. That September, Baker released the album,
My Everything. The album peaked at number four on the Billboard 200 and number-one on the R&B charts, eventually being certified gold. In 2005, Baker released
Christmas Fantasy, winning a Grammy nomination for the song, "Christmas Time Is Here". In May 2005, Baker was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music from
Berklee College of Music. Starting in 2007, Baker embarked on a two-year concert tour titled
An Evening with Anita Baker. She occasionally sang the American national anthem at sports events. "I met Anita at the
Grammy Awards in 2007," said
Mary J. Blige. "I told [her] how much she meant to me. She said, 'I'm glad that you picked up the ball where I left off.' That meant a lot."
2010–present: New music, tour, brief retirement, and comeback Baker had been working on a new album featuring the single, "Only Forever", since 2010. In August 2012, Baker released her version of
Tyrese's hit, "
Lately". The song made headlines for Baker after the song was played every hour, on the hour, throughout the day on urban adult contemporary radio, making her the first artist to make this kind of debut. Though Blue Note set release dates for the album in October and December 2012, Baker decided she still needed to work on the album, causing delays. The album never materialized. In February 2013, Baker returned to the national spotlight, performing "Lately" and "Same Ole Love" on
Jimmy Kimmel Live!. That same month, she appeared at the Grammys where "Lately" was nominated for a
Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance. In January 2017, Baker confirmed she had retired. She emerged from retirement in 2018. In March 2021, Baker entered into a conflict with
Elektra Records over rights to her master recordings, which she claimed were supposed to return to her after the expiration of her contract, according to
copyright law. She asked fans to stop buying and streaming her music until the rights to her music were given to her. In September 2021, she announced that the dispute had been settled and that she owned her masters. Baker performed "
The Star-Spangled Banner" at
Philadelphia's
Lincoln Financial Field prior to the
2022 NFC Championship Game between the
Eagles and
San Francisco 49ers. In 2023,
Rolling Stone ranked Baker at number 92 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time. ==Personal life==