In 1985, Baker got a major label contract with Elektra Records, a division of Warner Music Group. She released her second album, Rapture in 1986, produced by her friend from Chapter 8, Michael J. Powell This album reafforded her the opportunity to stretch her skills; she wrote "Been So Long", "Watch Your Step" and "Sweet Love". "Sweet Love", "Caught Up In the Rapture", "No One In The World", and "Same Ole Love" became major R&B and Adult Contemporary chart hits during 1986 and 1987, with "Sweet Love" becoming a top ten pop hit as well. By the time "Rapture" had completed its chart run, it had sold 8 million copies worldwide and also earned Baker two Grammys.

In November 1986 when she was returning to Detroit to receive the key of the city, she got engaged to Walter Bridgeforth Jr. whom she'd met on an earlier trip home in January. They were married on Christmas Eve 1987.

In 1987, Baker collaborated with The Winans on the single "Ain't No Need To Worry" and this single led Baker to her third Grammy award. At the same time, she also worked on her follow-up album Giving You The Best That I Got in between a busy performance schedule. This album was released in October 1988. She worked with Michael J. Powell again, and the album became a critical and commercial success, which sold another 5 million copies worldwide. It features such hits as "Just Because" and the title track, which became Baker's biggest pop hit, reaching number three on the Billboard Hot 100 while going to number one R&B and Adult Contemporary. Critics noted that, single-handedly, through her first three albums, "Anita Baker has set a new standard and helped redefine the sound of contemporary music recorded by female vocalists in the '80s and the '90s."

Anita Baker's promotional tour for her "Rapture" album, was titled "A Night of Rapture". The tour was performed around the world from 1987-1988.

On June 11, 2002, Rhino Records UK released "Sweet Love: The Very Best of Anita Baker" a compilation of hits in the United Kingdom from 1983-2002. On June 18, 2002, Rhino Records released "The Best of Anita Baker" in the United States, a compilation of hits from 1983-2002. The UK edition included some songs that were not included in the US version, and vice-versa.

Two years later, in March 2004, Blue Note Records announced that they had signed Baker to an exclusive recording contract that would result in at least two albums. Bruce Lundvall, president/CEO of EMI Jazz & Classics, signed her after she approached him to record for Blue Note. At the same time Rhino Records released A Night Of Rapture: Live, a compilation that contains nine live tracks and three multimedia videos recorded in the late 1980s.

In September, after a decade, Anita Baker finally released her long-awaited original album My Everything. Co-Produced by Barry J. Eastmond and Baker herself, she wrote or co-wrote nine of this album's 10 tracks, including a duet with Babyface, "Like You Used To Do." Though she had been out of the limelight for so long, this album became a critical and commercial success. It debuted at #4 on the Billboard 200 Albums Chart and #1 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. The album was certified gold by the RIAA for sales of 500,000 copies.

In October 2005, she released her first Christmas album, Christmas Fantasy. Once again produced by Baker and Barry J. Eastmond, the album mixes traditional Christmas carols ("God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen"), standards ("I'll Be Home for Christmas"), re-imagined classics ("Frosty's Rag"), Broadway show tunes ("My Favorite Things"), and three new songs by Baker and Eastmond ("Moonlight Sleighride", "Family of Man", and "Christmas Fantasy"). She received a Grammy nomination for Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance in 2007 for the song "Christmas Time Is Here." To date, Baker has four Platinum albums and three Gold albums.

In 2007, Anita Baker appeared on Dave Koz's album, At The Movies. She sang "Somewhere" from the broadway musical, West Side Story.

Anita Baker is currently touring during summers and weekends, to accommodate her sons' (Walter Jr. & Eddie) school schedule. During her July 12, 2008 performance at DTE Energy Music Theater, Anita Baker stated they were recording that performance and were going to release a new DVD and/or CD Live Collection. At the end of the show, they stated the live collection would be released in early 2009. In 1988, Anita Baker released A Night of Rapture: Live on VHS, it was re-released in June 2007 on a DVD format.

Anita Baker's current tour is titled "An Evening with Anita Baker".