Anita Baker

Anita was born January 26, 1958 in Toledo, Ohio and grew up in Detroit, Michigan. She began singing in church choir when she was 12 and at 16 sang in a local group along with high school friends. In 1975 she successfully auditioned for the group Chapter 8, having been approached by bass player David Washington, and spent the next few years playing in and around Detroit, eventually signing with Ariola, releasing an album in 1979. However, when Ariola was bought out by Arista, the group's contract was not renewed.

Anita returned to Detroit, finally working with a law firm as a receptionist. In 1981, Otis Smith, who was the man behind Chapter 8's contract, formed his own label, Beverly Glenn. He contacted her in 1982 and offered her a deal which at first she refused, but when Smith increased the amount of his original offer, and the contract was approved legally, she accepted, releasing the album "Songstress" in 1983. In 1986 she signed with Elektra, and at the same time was an executive producer on "Rapture", her debut album for the label, which sold over 6 million records worldwide. She won two Grammy awards: Best R&B Female Performance for the album "Rapture" and Best R&B Song for "Sweet Love".

In 1987, Anita began work on her follow-up album "Giving You The Best That I Got" in between a busy performance schedule. This album was also awarded three Grammies: one in1989 for Best R&B Female Performance, one in 1990 for Best R&B Song ("Giving You The Best That I Got") and one for Best R&B Song ("Just Because"). She took a more involved role in the song-writing for her third album, Compositions, also moving towards experimenting with jazz. The album contained 7 self-penned songs and was mostly cut live; the album won her a 7th Grammy award for Best R&B Female Performance.

On Christmas Eve 1988, she married Walter Bridgforth, Jr, whom she had met two years earlier in her home of Detroit and in January 1993, gave birth to a son, Walter Baker Bridgforth. Five months later Anita started working on her next project, "Rhythm of Love" and produced most of the album, which was mainly recorded in her home due to another pregnancy, writing 5 out of the 12 songs. In September 1994 (after the birth of her second son, Edward Carlton Bridgforth earlier that year) the album was released and attracted an 8th Grammy for Best R&B Song ("I Apologize") in 1995.

She began working on a new album in 2000, but had to start over from scratch due to defective recording equipment that made the original tracks unsalvageable. In 2004 it was announced that she had signed with Blue Note and still working on her new album. In the meantime, the Atlantic imprint Rhino released Night of Rapture: Live, a 1987 concert originally available on video. Baker finally returned to the studio in 2003 and issued My Everything, her first album in 10 years. Two years later she released her first holiday album, Christmas Fantasy.

During her career, she has appeared with other artists such as The Winans, Howard Hewitt, and James Ingram, and since December 2002 has began to tour again on a limited basis.