Anita Baker's Top 10 Hits on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Chart

1/18/2017 by Trevor Anderson

Anthony Barboza/Getty Images

Anita Baker photographed in the 1980s.

R&B diva Anita Baker quietly announced her retirement on Twitter on Jan. 12. In an effort to quell rumors of new music, she wrote, in part, "Lotta rumours out there. No Tour. No CD. #Retired."

Baker's announcement appears to wrap a multi-decade career that lifted her to critical and commercial success. The singer-songwriter, best known for her sultry alto vocals and a string of hits that fused contemporary R&B with elements of jazz and blues, arrived in 1983 with her debut album, The Songstress, and became a household name with her second effort, 1986's Rapture. The set soared to No. 1 on the Top Black Albums chart (known today as Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums) and scored Baker a pair of Grammy Awards.

With her industry footprint established, her next project, Giving You the Best That I Got, built on her Rapture breakthrough, becoming her first No. 1 album on the all-genre Billboard 200. It also yielded her biggest hit on the Billboard Hot 100, the No. 3-peaking title cut, her second of two top 10s on the chart, following her breakthrough single, 1986's No. 8-peaking "Sweet Love."

Baker continued releasing albums in the 1990s and 2000s, earning three more top five albums on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums: 1990's Compositions (No. 5), 1994's Rhythm of Love (No. 3) and 2004's My Everything (No. 4).

In honor of Baker's renowned career, here are her top 10 hits, ranked by chart peak, on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, including several of her best-known and celebrated tracks:

10. "I Apologize"
Chart Peak: No. 8
Peak Date: Feb. 4, 1995