Anita Baker Unveils First Full Tour Since 1995

Come February, Anita Baker will be hitting the road for her first full-fledged tour in almost three decades. The Live Nation-produced trek – which celebrates the 40th anniversary of her debut album, The Songstress – kicks off on Feb. 11 at Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, Florida.

An announcement notes that the 15-city tour also marks the first time Baker has performed her hits live since winning back the rights to her masters.

The tour features stops at arenas from coast to coast including Atlanta’s State Farm Arena; New Orleans’ Smoothie King Center; Belmont, New York’s UBS Arena; Chicago’s United Center; Houston’s Toyota Center and Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena. The last show on the books is Dec. 23 at the Bay Area’s Oakland Arena.

“Looking forward to some crazy, lovely, hang time with my fans, on tour in 2023!! … Gonna bring some new music and some special guests, too,” Baker said in a statement.

Baker has won eight Grammy Awards during her career including Best R&B Song for her 1986 break-out hit single “Sweet Love.” As a 1986 New York Times article points out, “Like Sarah Vaughan, Anita Baker is a contralto, although she has developed a high soprano head voice that extends her register to at least three octaves.” Her discography includes four platinum albums and two gold albums.

While Baker has not played a full tour since 1995, the singer has continued to play one-off performances throughout that time. This year has featured a string of residency dates at The Venetian Theatre in Las Vegas, while 2019 saw Baker traveling a bit including two sold-out nights at New York City’s Radio City Music Hall Feb. 13-14, 2019, that grossed a total of $1.1 million, according to reports submitted to Pollstar’s Boxoffice.

Tickets for Baker’s upcoming tour dates go on sale Nov. 17 at 10 a.m. local via Live Nation.

Anita Baker 2023 Tour Dates
02/11 – Hard Rock Live – Hollywood, FL*
02/14 – State Farm Arena – Atlanta, GA
02/17 – Smoothie King Center – New Orleans, LA
05/10 – Prudential Center – Newark, NJ
05/12 – UBS Arena – Belmont, NY
05/14 – CFG Bank Arena – Baltimore, MD
06/30 – United Center – Chicago, IL
07/02 – Pine Knob Music Theatre – Detroit, MI
11/18 – Greensboro Coliseum Complex – Greensboro, NC
11/22 – FedExForum – Memphis, TN
11/24 – Hard Rock Live at Etess Arena – Atlantic City, NJ*
12/15 – Toyota Center – Houston, TX
12/17 – American Airlines Center – Dallas, TX
12/22 – Crypto.com Arena – Los Angeles, CA
12/23 – Oakland Arena – Oakland, CA

*Not a Live Nation date