Rita Coolidge

Infobox musical artist
Name = Rita Coolidge

---

Img_capt =
Img_size =
Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = Rita Coolidge
Born = birth date and age|1945|5|1|mf=y
Origin = Lafayette, Tennessee
Instrument = Vocals
Genre = Pop, Adult Contemporary, Country, Native American
Occupation = Singer
Years_active = 1969–Present
Label = A&M Records
Associated_acts = Eric Clapton, Leon Russell, Kris Kristofferson
URL = [http://www.ritacoolidge.com Rita Coolidge Official Site]

Rita Coolidge (born May 1, 1945, in Lafayette, Tennessee) is a Grammy Award-winning American singer. She is of Cherokee Native American and Scottish descent. [ [http://www.allthingscherokee.com/articles_culture_guess_010102.html All Things Cherokee: Article - Guess Who's a Cherokee - Rita Coolidge ] ] [ [http://www.musicianguide.com/biographies/1608003484/Rita-Coolidge.html Rita Coolidge Biography ] ]

Early career

Rita Coolidge's early career was as a backing vocalist, for artists such as Joe Cocker, Eric Clapton, and Leon Russell.

Coolidge's first single was recorded in 1968, after she was discovered by former Elvis Presley Chief Personal Aide and close friend, Marty Lacker, who started a record company, Pepper Records, for a major Memphis bartering company. Lacker produced a few records for Rita and one, "Turn Around And Love You", became a regional hit in Los Angeles and the West Coast. She then went on to work with Leon Russell and both became members of Joe Cocker's Mad Dogs and Englishmen tour. Her performance of "Superstar" on the Cocker/Russell "Mad Dogs and Englishmen" album helped her gain attention.

The Delta Lady

She became known as "The Delta Lady" and inspired Leon Russell to write a song of the same name for her. It was during this time that she met Kris Kristofferson, and the two married in 1973. With him, she recorded several duet albums which sold well, and earned them a Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal in 1974 for "From the Bottle to the Bottom", and in 1976 for "Lover Please".

olo career

She had several solo hit singles during the late 1970s with cover versions. Her first hit, "(Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher and Higher," a cover of the Jackie Wilson song, was also her highest seller, reaching number two on the U.S. charts in 1977. She followed that with Boz Scaggs's "We're All Alone" which reached number seven later that same year.

Other hits were "One Fine Day" (written by Carole King and a hit for the 1960s girl group the Chiffons, "Words" (The Bee Gees), "I Don't Want to Talk About It" (written by Danny Whitten), "The Way You Do the Things You Do" (The Temptations), "I'd Rather Leave While I'm in Love" (Carole Bayer Sager), and "You." In 1980 Coolidge also was the voice of Melissa Raccoon in the Christmas Raccoons, and reprised this role for a subsequent special The Raccoons on Ice in 1981. Both of these specials served as a predecessor to the critically-acclaimed Canadian animated series, The Raccoons.

She scored her last hit in 1983, with "All Time High" for the James Bond film "Octopussy". Another movie song, although not a hit, was the love theme from the movie "Splash", entitled "Love Came For Me".

In 2004, Coolidge released an anthology of her complete career, entitled "Delta Lady — The Rita Coolidge Anthology".

In 2006, Coolidge released a jazz CD, "And So Is Love". That same year, she toured the United Kingdom on the "Once in a Lifetime Country Tour" with Don Williams and Kenny Rogers.

Walela

In 1997, Coolidge was one of the founding members of Walela, a Native American music trio, that also includes Coolidge's sister Priscilla and Priscilla's daughter Laura Satterfield. The trio released studio albums in 1997 ("Walela") and 2000 ("Unbearable Love"), a live album and DVD ("Live in Concert") in 2004 and a compilation album ("The Best of Walela") in 2007. Walela means hummingbird in Cherokee.

Personal life

Her marriage to Kristofferson resulted in one daughter, Casey, and ended in 1980. Before her marriage to Kristofferson, Coolidge had romantic liaisons with Stephen Stills and Graham Nash; her leaving Stills for Nash has been cited as a contributing factor behind Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's initial breakup in 1970. [Zimmer, Dave, and Diltz, Henry (1984). "Crosby Stills & Nash: The Authorized Biography (First edition)", St. Martin’s Press, ISBN 0-312-17660-0.] David Crosby memorialized this situation in his song "Cowboy Movie" (from the album "If I Could Only Remember My Name", 1971); Coolidge is the "sweet little Indian girl" of the song. Stills has referenced his relationship with Coolidge in his work as well; he refers to her by the nickname "the Raven" in his song "Sit Yourself Down" ("Stephen Stills", 1970) and similarly named one side of his first album with Manassas ("Manassas", 1972) in her honor.

She graduated from Andrew Jackson Senior High located in Jacksonville, Florida in 1963.

She now lives in a small town located in southern California.

She is a member of Alpha Gamma Delta sorority. [ [http://alphagammadelta.org/AboutAGD/AccomplishedAlphaGams.html#Entertainment Accomplished Alpha Gams] , Alpha Gamma Delta sorority.]

Discography

ingles

*^A B-side of "Fever"

Albums

References

External links

* [http://www.ritacoolidge.com RitaCoolidge.com]
* [http://www.onamrecords.com/gallery/view/Rita%20Coolidge Rita Coolidge on A&M Records]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0128995 Records discography] sequence
prev=Sheena Easton
For Your Eyes Only, 1981
next=Duran Duran
A View to a Kill (song), 1985
list="James Bond" title artist
Octopussy (All Time High), 1983