She is a singer nicknamed "Delta Lady" born in Lafayette,
Tennessee, to a family from Native American Cherokee descent where her
father was a minister.She
began singing in her father's church and took her further education in art,
although still singing, at Florida State University. After graduation she went to Memphis
and sang jingles for commercials, either alone or with her sister Priscilla,
and then she became a backing singer for Delaney & Bonnie in their tour
band. Active in the music
industry since the late 1960s she began as a backing singer for Eric
Clapton and others, and became recognised on the Joe Cocker album Mad
Dogs and Englishmen for her performance on the track "Superstar".Quickly
gaining attention, Leon
Russell wrote "Delta Lady"
for her, which he recorded in 1969 and released on his 1970 album Leon
Russell.It was also a Top 10 hit for Joe
Cocker in the UK in 1969 and sung by him at Woodstock.Known
to have had romances with both Stephen
Stills
and Graham Nash in the late 1960s/early 1970s, it has been
stated this was one of the causes behind the 1970 split of Crosby, Stills, Nash
& Young. David
Crosby wrote the song
"Cowboy Movie" about it and Stephen
Stills
wrote the songs "The
Raven", "Cherokee" and "Sugar Babe" about her as well as naming a side of
his 1972 Manassas for her.At the turn of the 1970s she met the singer Kris Kristofferson who
became her husband in 1973; they would divorce in 1980; and father of her
daughter Casey.Together they
became an extremely successful Grammy Award winning duo releasing several
albums.Although having entered the charts on several occasions from
1973 onwards, the latter half of the 1970s saw her achieving far
more success than in earlier years, with covers of songs that
included "(Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher and Higher", "Words
" and "The Way You Do the Things You Do". In the world of movies and
television she was Maria in the 1973 Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid, featured as the voice of Melissa
Raccoon in the shows The Christmas Raccoons and The
Raccoons on Ice
in 1980 and 1981, sang the theme songs for 1983's Octopussy,
"All Time High", and 1984's Splash, "Love Came For Me", and in 2002
appeared as the character Mrs. Phelps in Changing Hearts. In 1982
she struck up a romance with the drummer Thom
Mooney
who would appear with her on future albums and
recordings by other artists.Towards the end of the 1990s she
founded the group Walela; Cherokee for hummingbird; with her sister
and niece and subsequently released albums in 1997 and 2000. Her
work throughout the course of her career has seen her performing
with a myriad of artists such as Harry Chapin, Michel
Colombier, Rupert Holmes, Jim
Horn, David
Lasley, Arnold
McCuller, Aaron
Neville, Roy
Orbison, Tim
Rice, Johnny Rivers, Robbie Robertson, Timothy
B. Schmit, Carly
Simon
, Billy Swan and Roger
Waters to name a few.Albums
she may be found are many and a selection includes her own Anytime...Anywhere,
Inside the Fire, The Lady's Not For Sale and Satisfied, Full
Moon and Breakaway with Kris Kristofferson and also Hot Water by Jimmy
Buffett
, Somethin' 'Bout You Baby I Like by Glen
Campbell , Crossroads
by Eric Clapton, Replay by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Duets
by Tom Jones, Songs for Beginners by Graham Nash, Moments by Boz
Scaggs
and the soundtrack of Coast to Coast and a Night in
Heaven.The 2000s saw her
continuing to be busy with the release of her Delta Lady - The Rita
Coolidge Anthology and And So Is Love as well as touring
the UK with Kenny
Rogers
and Don Williams.
