Anita Baker (born January 26, 1958) is an eight-time
Grammy Award-winning, multi-Platinum rhythm and
blues and soul singer and songwriter, renowned for her soaring alto vocal range.
Biography
Early career
Born in Toledo, Ohio and raised in
Detroit, Michigan, Anita Baker began singing in a
Baptist church choir at the age of 12. Years later, at the age of 16 and while part of the band Humanity, Baker was approached by
bass player David Washington of Chapter 8 to audition for the group.
In 1975, Baker subsequently joined Chapter 8, the most popular group of Detroit at the time. Together, they spent a couple of
years playing in and around Detroit, and eventually got a record deal with Ariola. The
self-titled album came out in fall 1979, with two singles hitting the R&B charts: "Ready for Your Love" and "I Just Wanna Be
Your Girl". The label Ariola Records later ran into financial trouble and the company was purchased by Arista. Arista's executives refused to renew Chapter 8's record deal while Baker was a part of the group.
After being rejected, Baker went back home to Detroit and got a job as a receptionist for a local law firm.
Solo career
In 1981, Otis Smith, the man behind Chapter 8's contract, formed his own label Beverly Glen. Remembering Baker's vocals, he got her telephone number from a Chapter 8 member and called her
in late 1982. Baker refused the job at first due to her duties as a receptionist. However, she agreed to sign with the label and
try again with a music career. It would prove to be a smart move.
In 1983, Baker released her debut album The Songstress. This album was a
moderate success, which paved the way for a host of bigger things to come; two of the album's singles, "Angel" and "No More
Tears", became smash hits on the R&B charts. By the spring of 1984, Baker had 5 chart hits and was close to a gold record.
However, there was no answer when she asked Beverly Glen about a new album.
1986 - 1989: The critical and commercial success
In 1985, Baker got a major label contract with Elektra Records, a division of
Warner Music Group. She released her second album, Rapture in 1986. Choosing her friend from Chapter 8, Michael J.
Powell, as her producer, they created a masterpiece. It was this album which established Anita Baker as a world-wide
musical tour de force and a household name. It was also this album that afforded her the opportunity to stretch her skills; she
wrote "Been So Long", "Watch Your Step" and "Sweet Love". "Sweet Love", "Caught Up In the Rapture", "No One In The World", and
"Same Ole Love" became major R&B and Adult Contemporary chart hits during 1986 and 1987, with "Sweet Love" becoming a top ten
pop hit as well. By the time "Rapture" had completed its chart run, it had sold 6
million copies worldwide and also earned Baker two Grammys.
In November 1986 when she was returning to Detroit to receive the key of the city, she got engaged to Walter Bridgforth Jr.
whom she'd met on an earlier trip home in January. They were married on Christmas Eve 1987.
In 1987, Baker collaborated with The Winans on the single "Ain't No Need To Worry" and
this single lead Baker to her third Grammy award. At the same time, she also worked on her follow-up album Giving You The Best That I Got in between a busy performance schedule. This album was released in October
1988. She worked with Michael J. Powell again, and the album became a critical and commercial
success, which sold another 4.5 million copies worldwide. It features such hits as "Just Because" and the title track, which
became Baker's biggest pop hit, reaching number three on the Billboard Hot 100 while going to number one R&B and Adult
Contemporary. Critics noted that, single-handedly, through her first two albums, "Anita Baker has set a new standard and helped
redefine the sound of contemporary music recorded by female vocalists in the '80s and the '90s."
Compositions
Image:Compposter.jpg
A poster used to promote Anita’s fourth studio album, Compositions (1990).
Baker returned to the studio in 1990 for her third Elektra album Compositions. On it, Anita wanted to be more involved in song writing and wished to experiment with jazz.
Baker wrote seven of the songs on this album, including the hits "Talk to Me", "Fairy Tales", "No One To Blame", and "Whatever It
Takes" (written with Gerald Levert) and "Soul Inspiration". The album was mostly cut live, meaning that the rhythm section was
playing as Baker sang. The album was produced by Michael J. Powell and included musicians Greg Philinganes, Nathan East, Paulinho
da Costa, Vernon Fails, Ricky Lawson and Stephen Ferrone. Baker's involvement in the whole recording process gave the album a
personal touch and for the effort she received her 7th Grammy award.
Though the three singles from Compositions all failed to reach Top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart ("Talk to
Me" came closest to the top 40, at #44 pop), they still became Top 20 hits on the R&B Singles Chart and were also moderate
Adult Contemporary hits. Compositions peaked at #5 on the Billboard 200 Albums
Chart, #3 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, #4 on the Billboard Top Contemporary Jazz Albums, and still was certified
Platinum by RIAA.
After almost five years of touring, performing, and recording non-stop, Anita took a break, only entering the studio to record
the jazz standard "Witchcraft" with Frank Sinatra for his 1993 Duets album.
Rhythm of Love
In January 1993, Baker gave birth to her first child, a boy named Walter Baker Bridgforth. Five months later Baker started
working on her 5th album, and during the recording sessions she became pregnant again. In May 1994, with most of the album
completed, Baker gave birth to a second son, Edward Carlton Bridgeforth.
Her fifth album, Rhythm of Love, was issued in September of 1994. After she ended the
partnership with Michael J. Powell, Anita produced most of the album. However, this time many
famous producers like George Duke, Arif Mardin,
Barry Eastmond and Tommy Lipuma also contributed to the album.
Rhythm Of Love was mainly recorded in Baker's home due to her pregnancy, and she wrote 5 out of 12 songs. She selected "My
Funny Valentine" to be the last song, a song that proves that Anita should do an all jazz album in many fans' opinion.
This album sold exceptionally well selling 1-million copies in its first week; peaked at #3 on the Billboard 200 Albums Chart and #1 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. The first single, "Body and
Soul," became Baker's first top 40 pop hit in over five years. It was certified double platinum by RIAA and received her 8th Grammy for the second single "I Apologize" for best
R and B vocal performance female in 1995.
Turned back home with family
After the Rhythm Of Love album, Baker spent most of her time with her family. She appeared in a jazz-influenced
soundtrack to the Billy Crystal directed 1995 film Forget Paris. For this movie,
Baker paired with popular Pop/R&B crooner James Ingram to record "When You Love Someone", which is produced by David Foster,
and was also written with Foster, Carole Bayer Sager and Ingram. The song was nominated for a grammy award however lost out in
its category. She also recorded the theme song to the NBC television hit show "Mad About You" with its star Paul Riser. The vocal
performance of the shows theme was jazzy and slower than the original. The song was put on a "Mad About You" CD which may still
be purchaseable. She also did a jingle for a cadilac commercial "making whoopee" for the cadilac at that time.
Tragedy occurred in 1996 with Baker losing her mother, and again in 1998 with her father also passing away. The daughter of
her father (Anita refers to this man as her earth father as they are not her birth parents. She refers to her birth mother as
that, her birth mother. She does not know who her father is) died of a heart attack at the stress of trying to come up with a
schedule to take care of the sick parents. At the same time she lost her mother, she had a disagreement with Elektra Records, the record company she was with at the time about the delay of her new album. In the end,
she won the case against Elektra and signed with Atlantic Records, another division of
Warner Music Group, with whom she parted ways with after not being able to produce an
album because of the stress and strain and pain of her life.
The allegedly ruined new album
In August 2000, Baker began to record her long-awaited new album. However, in May 2001, she had filed a lawsuit in federal
court against an audio equipment rental company she said ruined some tracks recorded for her new album. She alleged that a
24-track tape machine she rented produced random popping noises. The company sent a technician to Baker's studio to repair the
equipment, but Baker said the technician determined that the recorded material could not be salvaged because no system could
remove the popping noises. According to the lawsuit, she said it cost her more than $500,000 to rent the equipment, hire
producers, songwriters, musicians and vocalists, and pay their travel and housing expenses. She was seeking more than
$200,000.
Due to the delay of new album, Atlantic Records parted ways with her in December
2001. Rhino Records released her compilation The Best Of
Anita Baker on June 18, 2002, and the international
version had different tracks and title, . On
May 3, 2004 this compilation was certified gold by RIAA.
Back to music industry
Two years later, in March 2004, Blue Note Records announced that they had signed
Baker to an exclusive recording contract that would result in at least two albums. Bruce
Lundvall, president/CEO of EMI Jazz & Classics, signed her after she approached him to
record for Blue Note. At the same time Rhino Records released A Night Of Rapture: Live, a compilation that contains nine live tracks and three multimedia videos
recorded in the late 80's.
In September, after a decade, Anita Baker finally released her long-awaited original album My
Everything. Co-Produced by Barry J. Eastmond and Baker herself, she wrote or co-wrote
nine of this album's 10 tracks, including a duet with Babyface,
"Like You Used To Do." Though she had been out of the limelight for so long, this album became a critical and commercial success.
It debuted at #4 on the Billboard 200 Albums Chart and #1 on the Billboard Top
R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. The album was certified gold by the RIAA for sales of 500,000 copies.
In October 2005, she released her first Christmas album, Christmas Fantasy. Once again
produced by Baker and Barry J. Eastmond, the album mixes traditional Christmas carols ("God Rest
Ye Merry Gentlemen"), standards ("I'll Be Home For Christmas"), re-imagined classics ("Frosty's Rag"), Broadway show tunes ("My
Favorite Things"), and three new songs by Baker and Eastmond ("Moonlight Sleighride", "Family of Man", and "Christmas Fantasy"),
all tied together with Baker's warm, rapturous voice. She received a Grammy nomination for Best Traditional R&B Vocal
Performance in 2007 for the song "Christmas Time Is Here." To date, Anita Baker has four Platinum albums and three Gold
albums.
The Babyface lawsuit
On April 15, 2006, Grammy-winning singer-producer Kenneth
"Babyface" Edmonds had filed a breach of contract lawsuit against Baker, claiming she owed him more than $250,000.
According to the lawsuit, filed in Superior Court, Baker broke two oral agreements with Edmonds, who co-wrote, produced and
performed on the song "Like You Used To Do" on her 2004 album My Everything. The lawsuit
claimed Baker refused to pay Edmonds producers royalties equaling at least $100,000 from an estimated than 500,000+ albums sold.
He also alleged that he and Baker had an agreement to play four concerts together, but that Baker canceled two shows and refused
to pay $150,000 for those dates.
Spokesman Cem Kurosman from Baker's label, Blue Note Records, declined to comment,
saying the label had no knowledge of the lawsuit.
Discography
Albums
| Album information |
The Songstress
- Released: June 9, 1983 (November 8, 1991 re-issued by Elektra)
- Label: Beverly Glen / Elektra
- Chart Peak: US Pop #139, R&B #16
- RIAA Certification: Gold
- Singles: "No More Tears", "Will You Be Mine", "Angel", "You're The Best Thing Yet", "Feel The Need"
|
Rapture
- Released: March 22, 1986
- Label: Elektra
- Chart Peak: US Pop #11, R&B #2, Jazz #24, UK #13
- RIAA Certification: 6x Platinum
- Singles: "Watch Your Step", "Sweet Love", "Caught Up In The Rapture", "Same Ole Love (365 Days A Year)", "No One In The
World", "You Bring Me Joy"
|
Giving You The Best That I Got
- Released: October 16, 1988
- Label: Elektra
- Chart Peak: US Pop #1, R&B #1, UK #9
- RIAA Certification: 4x Platinum
- Singles: "Giving You the Best That I Got", "Just Because", "Lead Me Into Love", "Good Love"
|
Compositions
- Released: June 21, 1990
- Label: Elektra
- Chart Peak: US Pop #5, R&B #3, Contemporary Jazz #4, UK #7
- RIAA Certification: Platinum
- Singles: "Talk To Me", "Soul Inspiration", "Fairy Tales"
|
Rhythm Of Love
- Released: September 13, 1994
- Label: Elektra
- Chart Peak: US Pop #3, R&B #1, UK #14
- RIAA Certification: 2x Platinum
- Singles: "Body And Soul", "I Apologize, " "It's Been You"
|
Sweet Love: The Very Best Of Anita Baker
- Released: May 25, 2002
- Label: WEA International
|
| The Best Of Anita Baker
|
| A Night Of Rapture: Live
|
My Everything
- Released: September 7, 2004
- Label: Blue Note
- Chart Peak: US Pop #4, R&B #1
- RIAA Certification: Gold
- Singles: "You're My Everything", "How Does It Feel", "Serious"
|
| Christmas Fantasy
|
Singles
| Year |
Title |
Album |
US Pop |
US R&B |
US AC |
UK |
| 1983 |
"No More Tears" |
The Songstress |
- |
49 |
- |
- |
| 1983 |
"Will You Be Mine" |
The Songstress |
- |
87 |
- |
- |
| 1983 |
"Angel" |
The Songstress |
- |
5 |
- |
- |
| 1983 |
"You're The Best Thing Yet" |
The Songstress |
- |
28 |
- |
- |
| 1984 |
"Feel The Need" |
The Songstress |
- |
67 |
- |
- |
| 1986 |
"Watch Your Step" |
Rapture |
- |
23 |
- |
- |
| 1986 |
"Sweet Love" |
Rapture |
8 |
2 |
3 |
13 |
| 1986 |
"Caught Up In The Rapture" |
Rapture |
37 |
6 |
9 |
51 |
| 1987 |
"Same Ole Love (365 Days A Year)" |
Rapture |
44 |
8 |
6 |
100 |
| 1987 |
"No One In The World" |
Rapture |
44 |
5 |
9 |
- |
| 1987 |
"Ain't No Need To Worry (with The Winans)" |
Decision / The Best Of Anita Baker |
- |
15 |
- |
- |
| 1988 |
"Giving You The Best That I Got" |
Giving You The Best That I Got |
3 |
1 |
1 |
55 |
| 1989 |
"Just Because" |
Giving You The Best That I Got |
14 |
1 |
4 |
93 |
| 1989 |
"Lead Me Into Love" |
Giving You The Best That I Got |
- |
4 |
32 |
- |
| 1989 |
"Good Love" |
Giving You The Best That I Got |
- |
10 |
- |
- |
| 1990 |
"Talk To Me" |
Compositions |
44 |
3 |
4 |
68 |
| 1990 |
"Soul Inspiration" |
Compositions |
72 |
16 |
11 |
- |
| 1991 |
"Fairy Tales" |
Compositions |
- |
8 |
27 |
- |
| 1994 |
"Body & Soul" |
Rhythm Of Love |
36 |
4 |
25 |
48 |
| 1994 |
"I Apologize" |
Rhythm Of Love |
74 |
8 |
- |
- |
| 1995 |
"It's Been You" |
Rhythm Of Love |
- |
32 |
- |
- |
| 1995 |
"When You Love Someone (with James Ingram)" |
Forget Paris (OST) / Sweet Love: The Very Best Of |
- |
71 |
39 |
- |
| 2004 |
"You're My Everything" |
My Everything |
74 |
25 |
40 |
- |
| 2004 |
"How Does It Feel" |
My Everything |
- |
41 |
- |
- |
| 2005 |
"Serious" |
My Everything |
- |
83 |
- |
- |
| 2005 |
"Christmas Fantasy" |
Christmas Fantasy |
- |
- |
- |
- |
References
External links
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)