Key Takeaways
- Anita Baker teased her long-awaited return to R&B by posting a one-minute clip of new music titled “Forever” with the caption “Forever... is coming,” offering no release date or further details.
- The lush, slow-burning teaser marks her first new material since 2004’s My Everything and 2005’s Christmas Fantasy, ending a two-decade drought of full-length releases from the singer behind “Sweet Love” and “Caught Up in the Rapture.”
- Baker’s cryptic rollout fits her “Mysterious One” reputation and comes after years of tour drama, including a public fallout with Babyface, viral clashes with concertgoers over filming, and blunt online pushback against rumors about her career.
Anita Baker is done keeping fans waiting. The eight-time Grammy winner teased her return to R&B over the weekend with a one-minute clip of new music—and only three words of explanation.
“Forever... is coming,” Baker wrote on X, pairing the preview with a close-up photo and musical-note emoji. No release date. No rollout. Just enough to put the Queen of R&B back in the conversation.
The teaser captures Baker in the lane she helped build: rich vocals, grown-up romance and a sleek, slow-burning arrangement. She did not say whether “Forever” is a standalone single, the first taste of an album, or something else entirely.
The mystery is on-brand. Baker’s fiercely private persona once earned her the nickname “The Mysterious One,” and even her latest announcement—which was paired with a video clip teasing about a minute of new music—leaves fans to fill in most of the blanks.
Baker’s last studio album, My Everything, arrived in 2004, followed by Christmas Fantasy in 2005. That means listeners have gone more than 20 years without a new full-length collection from the singer behind “Sweet Love,” “Caught Up in the Rapture,” “Giving You the Best That I Got” and “Body and Soul.”
The preview also gives Baker a chance to pull the focus back to her music after several years of tour drama and heated social-media exchanges. During her 2023 Songstress Tour, Babyface missed a New Jersey show after technical problems delayed the schedule.
When his supporters blamed Baker, she fired back and told him to “tell Kenny’s crazed narcissist fan base to leave me alone.” She later removed Babyface from the tour’s remaining dates, citing online harassment and threats.
That was hardly Baker’s only viral concert moment. She has stopped performances to confront front-row attendees over flash photography and recording, sometimes directing security to remove fans. Abrupt cancellations—including an Atlanta show called off shortly before it was scheduled to begin—also drew complaints from ticket holders seeking clearer answers.
Baker has been just as direct online, shutting down stories about supposed feuds with Maxwell and the late Luther Vandross while warning commentators against spreading what she described as misinformation about her career and business dealings.
