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Rita Coolidge music biography continued...

as a youngster in the choir of the church where her father was minister. She moved to Memphis after studying art in college, intent on giving music a try before settling into teaching. There, she eventually got work as a backup singer to with Delaney & Bonnie. She subsequently moved to Los Angeles, where her clear, pure voice got her work as a backup vocalist for several stars ranging from Eric Clapton to Joe Cocker. In 1973, she married country singer/songwriter Kris Kristofferson, and recorded a duet album with him titled Full Moon, which topped the country charts. A tune from the album called "From the Bottle to the Bottom" won a Grammy for Best Country Vocal by a Duo or Group. The following year, the couple released a follow-up, Breakaway, whose "Lover Please" won them another Grammy in the same category. Coolidge finally broke through as a solo artist with 1977's Anytime, Anywhere, a collection of well-chosen covers with a strong R&B flavor. Powered by the hit singles "(Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher and Higher" (a Jackie Wilson cover that went to number two pop), "We're All Alone" (Top Ten), and "The Way You Do the Things You Do" (a Top 20 Temptations cover), Anytime, Anywhere catapulted into the Top Ten and sold over a million copies, earning Coolidge millions of fans in her own right.



Coolidge would never achieve the pop success of Anytime, Anywhere again, but she did continue to score hits on the adult contemporary charts through the early '80s, including "You," "I'd Rather Leave While I'm in Love," and "All Time High" (the theme for the James Bond film Octopussy). After parting with her longtime label and taking a few years off from the music business, Coolidge came back in the 90s with several albums on small, independent labels, some of them exploring her own Cherokee heritage. In the early 2000s, a few anthology albums were released, followed by 2005's And So Is Love, an album of traditional jazz standards. Even in the twilight of her career, Coolidge's voice remained strong and unsullied, bringing even more fans into her fold.