Anita Baker was born on this day in 1958. The soul and jazz singer-songwriter was raised in Detroit, Michigan and was already performing in nightclubs by the time she was sixteen. She began her professional career in the mid-1970s as part of the funk band Chapter 8, and released her debut album The Songstress in 1983. It produced her first top ten single when "Angel" reached number five on the R&B charts.
Her second album Rapture, released in 1986, initially saw slow sales, but eventually became one of her most iconic releases. It produced her first pop hit when the ballad "Sweet Love" hit number eight on the Billboard Hot 100.
Here, she performs the unforgettable tune on an airing of Later... with Jools Holland in 2004. Decades after its release, it seems as if Baker only got more and more confident singing the tune.
