Anita Baker says ‘farewell’, but Rotterdam says ‘hello’, because with her Farewell Tour the singer will now be visiting the NN North Sea Jazz Festival for the first time. Baker was born in Ohio but went to live with foster parents in Detroit. She started her career at the end of the 1970s with the funk band Chapter 8. After that, Baker returned to Detroit where she worked several jobs, until a former employee of a record label convinced her to start a solo career. Her first album The Songstress appeared in 1983, its successor Rapture, from 1986, was an instant success, from which the hit single Sweet Love remained her biggest hit in the Netherlands. Two years later Giving You The Best That I Got became her biggest hit in the US. Since that time Baker has won eight Grammy’s, as well as four American Music Awards and seven Soul Train Music Awards.
