[youtube id=”pQflBV1UgVY”]Regina Belle was at a peak when her album Stay With Me came out in 1989. She had debuted with her first album two years prior with All By Myself which had the Peabo Bryson duet “Without You” that would become the love theme to the movie Leonard Part 6. Her sophomore record would become the album that made her a recognizable voice in the mainstream because of “Baby Come To Me.” Narada Michael Walden co-wrote Belle’s signature song with Jeffrey Cohen and he also produced it. Belle breathed elegance and soul into the smoky torch song which is not to be confused with the song sung by James Ingram and Patti Austin. She credited Phyllis Hyman as a huge influence on her sound that is equally influenced by gospel, R&B and jazz. Stay With Me had two no. 1 hits with “Baby Come To Me” and “Make It Like It Was.” Belle had wowed critics and fans with her first album but her sophomore album put her in the commercial spotlight that would get even bigger when she and Bryson recorded “A Whole New World” for the Aladdin soundtrack. “Baby Come To Me” was a breakthrough moment for Belle’s career and a major contribution to the sublime R&B of the ’80s that had some of the best singers ever. Regina Belle’s 11th studio album The Day Life Began was released in 2016.Â
