Last year, Anita Baker announced her retirement from the music business. After 30 years in the game, eight Grammy Awards, seven albums, and six world tours, it was well-deserved. However, as a fan, I was deeply saddened by the news.
Baker’s music will always have a special place in my heart. Her song, “Angel,” gave me the courage to ask Jennifer Dooley to dance at our eighth-grade dance. As we awkwardly moved side to side to side to the song, I could hear Jennifer softly singing the lyrics as her head rested on my shoulder.
When I got to high school, I listened to her classic album, Rapture constantly. Songs from that album such as “Sweet Love,” “You Bring Me Joy,” and “Caught Up in the Rapture,” were staples on the mixtapes I created to hand out to girls I liked. Our senior class selected “No One in the World” as our official class song.
Compositions and Rhythm of Love helped guide me through my college relationships and helped me to relax when things got stressful. But the song that had the biggest impact on my life was “Ain’t No Need to Worry,” Baker’s collaboration with The Winans. The song is uplifting, inspiring, and fills me with hope every time I hear it.
Ain’t no need to worry,
what the night is gonna bring,
it’ll be all over in the morning.Troubles come, but they do past,
heartaches, hurts, oh but, they don’t last always.
Sometimes we feel pain,
but there are things that we can change, just pray.
But I’m not the only one Baker has inspired with her music. Many of today’s popular artists count her as an inspiration, and a new generation of fans regularly keep her name trending on Twitter, view her videos on Youtube, and stream her music on Spotify.
Now all of her fans have a reason to rejoice. In a Twitter post, Baker announced a Farewell Concert Series.
The tour will commence March 14, 2018, in Jacksonville, March 16th in Orlando, and March 18th in Miami with additional dates to be posted as they go on sale.
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Frederick J. Goodall is the Editor-in-Chief of Mocha Man Style, media spokesperson, event host, photographer, and a top social media influencer in Houston, TX. He likes to write about fashion, cars, travel, and health.