Anita Baker Plays Hard Rock Live Tonight

With a sound like warm melted butter in songs that defined the "quiet storm" slow-jam genre, the voice of Anita Baker ruled the airwaves during the '80s and early '90s. From the moment the Detroit native released Rapture in 1986, Baker became a mainstay on R&B radio. Songs like "Caught...

By Jonathan Cunningham

July 24, 2008

[
        {
          "name": "GPT - Billboard - Slot Inline - Content - Labeled - No Desktop",
          "component": "16971022",
          "insertPoint": "2",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "2"
        },{
          "name": "Editor Picks",
          "component": "15769925",
          "insertPoint": "4",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "1"
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "16575154",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "GPT - Rectangle 2x - Slot Auto-select - Labeled",
          "component": "15782206",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "16575154",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "GPT - Leaderboard to Tower - Slot Auto-select - Labeled",
          "component": "15782207",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        }
      ]

With a sound like warm melted butter in songs that defined the "quiet storm" slow-jam genre, the voice of Anita Baker ruled the airwaves during the '80s and early '90s. From the moment the Detroit native released Rapture in 1986, Baker became a mainstay on R&B radio. Songs like "Caught Up in the Rapture," "No One in the World," and "Sweet Love" catapulted to the top of the adult contemporary charts, and her follow-up album, Giving You the Best That I Got, established her among the definitive soul singers of the decade. By the mid-'90s, the eight-time Grammy Award-winning, platinum-album selling artist walked away from it all. Baker took a ten-year hiatus to care for her dying parents. It was a trying time for the songstress — in 1996, her mother died in her arms. Her father passed away in 1998. It took Anita Baker time to heal from these grievous losses, but in 2004, she returned to the recording studio. Older and wiser, her voice still holds the warmth and resonance that it did 20 years ago.

Anita Baker perfoms on Thursday, July 24, at the Seminole Hard Rock Live, 1 Seminole Way, Hollywood. 8 p.m. $57-$87. Call 954-523-3309, or visit www.hardrocklivehollywoodfl.com.

Here's one of her most popular tunes, "Sweet Love" a track that basically captures the quiet storm genre on its own.

Here's another fan favorite, "Body and Soul."

-Patrice Elizabeth Grell Yursik

KEEP NEW TIMES FREE... Since we started New Times, it has been defined as the free, independent voice of South Florida, and we'd like to keep it that way. Your membership allows us to continue offering readers access to our incisive coverage of local news, food, and culture with no paywalls. You can support us by joining as a member for as little as $1.