Soul Singer ANITA BAKER Returns to Perform On Stage at Academy of Music, June 2
MARCH 16, 2012
Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts Presents
in Association with Bowery Presents
Tickets on Sale Friday, March 16
Eight time Grammy Award® winning composer, producer, mother, and all-around superstar Anita Baker performs for one night only An Evening with Anita Baker at the Academy of Music, Saturday, June 2 at 8 p.m. With her soaring alto, powerhouse vocals, Baker will perform a program of signature hits that celebrates the re-release of Giving You The Best That I Got (February 28, 2012), the 1988 follow up to Rapture that put Baker at the top of the charts and irrevocably charted her course as the R&B soul singer of our time. Tickets go on sale to the public on Friday, March 16 at noon.
Tickets for Anita Baker are available for $45 to $115, and can be purchased by calling 215-893-1999, online at kimmelcenter.org, or at the Kimmel Center Box Office located on Broad and Spruce streets, Philadelphia, Pa. (open daily from 10am to 6pm, later on performance evenings).
Detroit, Michigan-bred Anita Baker was raised in a musical hotbed, performing for her church at the age of 12 and later in groups throughout Detroit, before fronting “the hottest band in the land!,” Chapter 8, which produced the hit “I Just Wanna Be Your Girl” in the early 80s. Baker later embarked on a solo career and recorded the classic album, The Songstress (Beverly Glen Records), including tracks entitled “Angel” and “No More Tears.”
In 1986, she began a decade-long collaboration with Elektra Entertainment, which resulted in a series of album releases including her solo sophomore release, Rapture, for which she was also executive producer. Rapture sold over five million records worldwide and garnered her first two Grammy® Awards in the categories of Best R&B Female Performance on an album and Best R&B Song, "Sweet Love.” Under Elektra Entertainment, Baker released three additional classic albums: Giving You The Best That I Got, Compositions, and The Rhythm Of Love. Slowly, Baker was building her own canon of signature songs encompassing, “Watch Your Step,” “Been So Long,” “Lead Me Into Love,” “Talk To Me,” “Body and Soul” and “I Apologize.”
After a 10 year hiatus, Anita Baker released her sixth studio album, My Everything (2004), her first album with Blue Note Records. Baker is quoted as saying, “As the boys grow up and branch out… I wanted my day job back.”
My Everything debuted at No. 4 on the U.S. Billboard, selling 132,000 copies in its first week and has been certified Gold by the RIAA. My Everything solidified Anita Baker’s place in the music industry as a soulful singer, songwriter, and producer with the ability to create aural, visceral, and affecting experiences. Titled hits such as, “You’re My Everything” and “I Can’t Sleep” (originally by the Yellowjackets), showcased the clarity and fullness of Baker’s alto. My Everything also featured a collaboration with the artist Babyface on the duet, “Like You Used to Do.”
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KIMMEL CENTER, INC., a charitable, not-for-profit organization, owns, manages, supports and maintains The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, which includes Verizon Hall, Perelman Theater, Innovation Studio and the Merck Arts Education Center. Kimmel Center, Inc. also manages the Academy of Music, owned by the Philadelphia Orchestra Association, and the University of the Arts Merriam Theater. Our mission is to operate a world class performing arts center that engages and serves a broad audience which includes providing arts in education, community outreach and a rich diversity of programming. The 2011/2012 season is sponsored by Citi. For additional information, visit kimmelcenter.org.
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