Anita Baker
Acting
Biography
Anita Denise Baker (born January 26, 1958) is an American jazz and soul singer known for her rich contralto voice and her success during the quiet storm era of the 1980s. She rose to prominence with a series of acclaimed albums and hit ballads, earning multiple Grammy Awards and widespread critical recognition. Baker was born in Toledo, Ohio, and raised in Detroit, Michigan, after being taken in by a foster family. Following the death of her foster parents, she was raised by her foster sister. She began singing in Detroit nightclubs as a teenager and was discovered by bandleader David Washington, who helped her join the funk group Chapter 8. The group released its self-titled album in 1979, but after being dropped by its label, Baker briefly stepped away from the music industry before launching a solo career. Her debut solo album, "The Songstress" (1983), produced several successful singles, including "Angel", which became a notable R&B hit. Greater commercial success followed with "Rapture" (1986), which established her as a major recording artist. The album included widely popular songs such as "Sweet Love" and "Caught Up in the Rapture", and sold millions of copies worldwide. It also earned her Grammy Awards and solidified her reputation for emotive ballad performances. Baker continued her success with "Giving You the Best That I Got" (1988), which topped the Billboard 200 and earned additional Grammy Awards. Her subsequent album, "Compositions" (1990), incorporated more jazz influences. After a brief hiatus in the early 1990s, she returned with "Rhythm of Love" (1994), featuring songs such as "Body and Soul" and "I Apologize", the latter winning a Grammy. In the following years, Baker continued recording and performing, releasing albums including "My Everything" (2004) and "Christmas Fantasy" (2005). She also toured extensively and received an honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music. Although she announced her retirement in 2017, she later returned to live performances. Over the course of her career, Baker has received eight Grammy Awards and achieved multiple platinum and gold-selling albums. In 2021, she regained ownership of her master recordings after resolving a long-running dispute with her record label. In 2023, she was ranked among the greatest singers of all time by Rolling Stone, reflecting her lasting influence on soul and R&B music.
Known For
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under The Tonight Show franchise from 1962 to 1992. It originally aired during late-night. For its first ten years, Carson's Tonight Show was based in New York City with occasional trips to Burbank, California; in May 1972, the show moved permanently to Burbank, California. In 2002, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson was ranked #12 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
A late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels. The show's comedy sketches, which parody contemporary culture and politics, are performed by a large and varying cast of repertory and newer cast members. Each episode is hosted by a celebrity guest, who usually delivers an opening monologue and performs in sketches with the cast, and features performances by a musical guest.
Saturday Night Live
ABC Daytime's morning chatfest, currently featuring Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin, Sara Haines, Alyssa Farah Griffin, and Ana Navarro discussing the most exciting events of the day. Hot topics in the news, the best experts in their field, celebrity interviews and general entertainment are all part of The View.
The View
Jimmy Kimmel Live! is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and broadcast on ABC.
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
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The Ellen DeGeneres Show
The Tony Danza Show was a daytime variety talk show that premiered on September 13, 2004 in syndication and was distributed by Buena Vista Television.
The Tony Danza Show
Today is a daily American morning television show that airs on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It was the first of its genre on American television and in the world, and is the fifth-longest running American television series. Originally a two-hour program on weekdays, it expanded to Sundays in 1987 and Saturdays in 1992. The weekday broadcast expanded to three hours in 2000, and to four hours in 2007. Today's dominance was virtually unchallenged by the other networks until the late 1980s, when it was overtaken by ABC's Good Morning America. Today retook the Nielsen ratings lead the week of December 11, 1995, and held onto that position for 852 consecutive weeks until the week of April 9, 2012, when it was beaten by Good Morning America yet again. In 2002, Today was ranked #17 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest Television Shows of All Time.
Today
Christmas in Washington is an annual Christmas television special that currently airs on the U.S. TNT network.
Christmas in Washington
Celebrating Sammy Davis Jr 's 60th anniversary in show business, including musical,comic and dancing performers.
Sammy Davis, Jr. 60th Anniversary Celebration
Breakfast with the Arts is a television program that aired on A&E from 1991 until 2007. In its first decade the program focused on classical music, dance, opera, jazz, the visual arts, theater, and film. American television audiences first heard live performances and interviews with Juan Diego Florez, Deborah Voigt, Richard Bona, Michel Camillo, Janet McTeer, Pierre Laurent Aimard, and Susan Graham on Breakfast with the Arts. Other notable guests included Catherine Deneuve, Kenneth Branagh, Michael Caine, Vanessa Redgrave, Kirk Douglas, Yoko Ono, Plácido Domingo, Daniel Barenboim, Michael Tilson Thomas, Jeremy Irons, Kate Mulgrew, Audra McDonald, Uta Hagen, Arturo Sandoval, Dave Brubeck, Terence Blanchard, Ron Howard, and Robert Altman. Later the programming was broadened to include rock music. Guests included country musician Bonnie Raitt, rock band Los Lobos, pop artist Avril Lavigne, actress Lauren Bacall, and pop singer Natasha Bedingfield. The host for the first 12 years was Peabody Award winning broadcaster Elliott Forrest; later episodes were hosted by Karina Huber. TV personality Timberly Whitfield also served as a correspondent and interviewed celebrities for the program.
Breakfast with the Arts
VH1 Divas Celebrates Soul was the third of three concerts in the series not aired live. It was taped on December 18, 2011 at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City, and aired the next evening on VH1, paying tribute to the places that helped create or contributed to soul music: Chicago, Detroit, London, Philadelphia and Memphis. Anita Baker, who was going to sing with Jill Scott, had to drop out moments before the concert after disagreements with producers, allowing Marsha Ambrosius and Ledisi to step in and perform in their places during the Detroit medley. Kelly Clarkson twisted her ankle on the way into the concert, though she still performed as planned.
VH1 Divas Celebrates Soul
The R&B songstress captured live in concert in 1986 performing selections from her sultry and sexy Rapture album. Features Baker's gorgeous voice wrapping itself around seven of the eight album tracks (only 'Sweet Love' is missing from this show) plus 'You've Changed'. Immortal.
Anita Baker: Rapture Live
A concert in Japan in May of 1992
Earth Voice Concert 1992
A 1987 live concert by the American R&B recording artist Anita Baker, who performs all of the songs from her multi-platinum album "Rapture". The performance was recorded live at the Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C.