Anita Baker Announces Her Retirement From Music
R&B singer-songwriter Anita Baker has announced her retirement from music.
Last week the artist took to Twitter to address rumors of upcoming new music or touring, writing "Lot of rumors out there. No Tour. No CD," and "I still love to write and record music, it's part of my DNA. But I'm on a different road."
She also mentions her upcoming birthday (January 26) in another tweet, and declares that retiring has always been a goal that she wanted to accomplish. Most of the tweets were accompanied by pictures, one of which shows Baker at a beach relaxing and viewing the waves, as well as walking in the sand.
Baker's last full length release was 2005's Christmas Fantasy, which found the singer covering an assortment of classic Christmas songs such as "I'll Be Home For Christmas," "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" and "My Favorite Things."
However, her most recent release in terms of new music, was back in 2012 when she remade Tyrese Gibson's "Lately." The track was supposed to serve as the first single from her forthcoming Only Forever album (which was originally titled 21st Century Love), but unfortunately the project never became a reality.
Baker was also scheduled to perform at the Prince Tribute that occurred in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in October of last year. She was expected to share the stage with a number of artists associated with the legendary Purple One, but ended up canceling her appearance at the last minute.
The artist did share some kind words shortly after Prince's passing though, referring to the Purple Rain mastermind as her "sensei" in an interview with Ebony.
"He taught me so much and asked nothing in return," Baker said. "He was ahead of his time and could see beyond all barriers and false boundaries. He saw a place where art could support the artist who created it via ownership and licensing."
