Entertainment

Anita Baker's first CD in 10 years

Anita Baker - File

New York (AP):

AFTER 10 YEARS IN musical seclusion due to family turmoil, Anita Baker is returning to the spotlight.

The Grammy-winning Rhythm and Blues songstress has signed a deal with Blue Note Records to produce at least two albums, and expects to release her first project before the end of the year.

"I'm so excited," the singer told The Associated Press in an interview on Wednesday. "I do see that there is a demand for what I do, and my fans are still there."

With a deep, sensuous voice that recalled Sarah Vaughan and a classic soul sound, Baker became one of R&B's premier artists in the late '80s and early '90s with hits like Sweet Love, Rapture and Giving You the Best That I Got.

But she dropped off the music scene nearly a decade ago after releasing the album Rhythm of Love in 1994. At the time, Baker, who is married, had two young sons (now 10 and 11 years old); a mother suffering from Alzheimer's; and a father dying of bone cancer.

"I couldn't focus on the music at all. I tried, but each time I tried, that door was closed to me," she said. "My parents were dying, and I couldn't write."

So she took a break to take care of her family in Detroit, where she lives. Baker never considered hiring anyone to take care of her family so she could continue her career.

"She took care of me, she didn't hand me off to someone else," Baker said of her mother. "I'm really happy in retrospect that I did it that way, because she breathed her last in my arms."

Baker's father died in 1998; her mother died in 2000. After her mother's death, she felt she could pursue her career again.

"It was almost like I was given permission when she passed."