Rita Coolidge charmed all of her listeners with her soft, contemporary style of pop music, which made a splash on the airwaves throughout the 1970s. What is remarkable about Rita Coolidge is her particular versatility, she's able to cover many genres that include rock, pop, R&B, country and folk music, drawing in fans from various backgrounds who have differing tastes in music. Coolidge was born near Nashville, TN in 1945, and she initially studied art at Florida State University while continuing to sing and perform on the side. She became encouraged after performing at several gigs in Memphis and decided to pack her bags and relocate to Los Angeles, California.

Her self-titled debut album was released in 1971, but it did not receive the commercial acclaim for it that she had hoped. She followed up with Nice Feelin', still to no avail. After the first few attempts seemed to go nowhere, Coolidge decided to focus on country rock and California soft rock to try and gain nationwide attention. During this time she married country-singer/songwriter Kris Kristofferson and also recorded a duet album with him titled Full Moon. Full Moon topped the charts, generating wide applause from people around the nation, and the song "From the Bottle to the Bottom" won a Grammy for Best Country Vocal by a Duo or Group. She continued working with her husband in the following few years, but eventually broke out on her own with 1977's Anytime, Anywhere. The album consisted of a plethora of covers like "(Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher and Higher," "We're All Alone" and "The Way You Do the Things You Do." It reached the Top Ten and sold over a million copies. She and Kristofferson released one final duet album before they broke up.

Although Coolidge never seemed to gain the success that she had attained with Anytime, Anywhere, she did continue to generate hits during the 1980s with "You," "I'd Rather Leave While I'm In Love" and "All Time High." She took a brief hiatus to focus on activism for social issues, but returned in the early 1990s with Love Lessons and later with Cherokee. She still continues to record and tour today, so don't miss out on any upcoming albums or shows.