Baker, Anita

Source:

 African American National Biography

Baker, Anita

(26 Jan. 1958– ),

singer and performer, was born in Toledo, Ohio, but relocated with her family at an early age to Detroit, Michigan, where she was raised and attended school. Unfortunately, reliable details concerning her early life are difficult to come by, and Baker herself has sometimes offered contradictory information (even the exact date of her birth is subject to some debate). What is known is that Baker's birth mother—only sixteen years old at the time—gave her up to a woman named Mary Lewis, who may or may not have been a blood relative but who later went on to become Baker's legal foster mother. After Lewis died when Baker was only thirteen, Baker was raised by an adoptive sister named Lois Landry. Growing up in a religious family, she sang in the church choir. Sometime later, her talent brought her to the attention of David Washington, whose rhythm and blues group Chapter 8 was a local favorite. Baker dropped out of high school to join the ensemble, which eventually landed a recording contract with Ariola Records. Chapter 8 had a pair of modest hits with their 1980 debut, but shortly thereafter Ariola went under and was bought by Arista Records, which was highly critical of Baker's singing voice and refused to offer Chapter 8 a contract.

Dispirited, Baker returned to Detroit, where she worked a number of odd jobs, including as a waitress and office receptionist. In 1982 she was contacted by a former executive and producer from the defunct Ariola, Otis Smith. Smith was forming his own label, Beverly Glenn, and he wanted to enlist Baker, promising he could turn her into a recording star. Baker, for her part, was dubious. For one thing, she recalled keenly the sting of her rejection at the hands of Arista. For another, she had finally landed a job with decent pay and good benefits. Smith promised to match her salary, however, and Baker at last agreed to sign a contract with the fledgling venture.

Baker's first album with Beverly Glenn, The Songstress, appeared in 1983. Coproduced by Smith himself, the album proved a small hit on the rhythm and blues charts, sold fairly well for an album from an unknown label, and (no doubt most importantly) brought Baker and her talent to the attention of the broader recording industry. Soon, however, her relationship with Beverly Glenn soured, and Baker left the label, singing with Elektra Records in 1985. For her second album, she enlisted a former Chapter 8 bandmate as producer and mixed contemporary rhythm and blues with gospel and jazz to produce what would become her signature sound. The album, Rapture, yielded numerous hits (including the Top-Ten “Sweet Love”), sold eight million copies, and brought Baker a pair of 1987 Grammy Awards, including one for Best Rhythm & Blues Song for “Sweet Love.” The following year, 1988, Baker married an admirer, Walter Bridgforth, whom she'd met on one of her frequent trips to and from Detroit. The couple had two children but divorced in 2007.

Her next album, 1988's Giving You the Best That I Got, likewise became a hit, selling five million copies worldwide and yielding numerous hit singles. Bolstered by confidence and now a reliable hit-maker, Baker took a more active role in her next album, 1990's Compositions. Though Michael Powell remained producer, Baker oversaw the album's production and wrote many of its songs. Compositions brought Baker her seventh Grammy Award. Exhausted from her touring and performing schedule and having suffered a pair of miscarriages, Baker went on professional hiatus. She did not reappear until 1994 with her album Rhythm of Love (this one produced without her long-time associate Powell). The record hit number three on the Billboard Top 200 and won Baker her eighth Grammy, this one for Best Female Rhythm and Blues Vocal Performance.

A dispute with Elektra led to her departure. She signed with Atlantic Records in 1996 but failed to produce an album and was released from her contract. Again on hiatus, Baker remained more or less out of the public eye until 2004, when she signed with the Blue Note label to record a pair of albums. My Everything, her first album in a decade, appeared that same year. The album went gold and landed in the Top 200 at number four. The next year, 2005, she recorded an album of Christmas songs.

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