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RITA Coolidge is an iconic American singer who defies classification, racking up hits on Billboard's country, pop, contemporary and jazz charts. Between 1973 and 1980, she was was married to another music legend, Kris Kristofferson — who sadly passed away at the age of 88 surrounded by family at his Maui home on September 28, 2024. Rita Coolidge is a two-time Grammy-winning singer-songwriter and the ex-wife of the late great Kris Kristofferson.

Despite it being a case of "love at first sight", their relationship was both musically fruitful and personally "volatile". Rita Coolidge was born on May 1, 1945, in Lafayette, Tennessee, a small town near Nashville. She grew up in a musical family, with her father Dick Coolidge serving as a minister and her mother Charlotte working as a schoolteacher.



Rita had two sisters, Linda and Priscilla, as well as a brother named Raymond. Rita’s father was Cherokee, while her mother's heritage was a mix of Cherokee and Scottish. Music was an integral part of Rita's upbringing, as she explained to Indian Artist magazine: “I was singing close harmony with my sisters in church when I was two.

And later on, we had solo spots during service. “Since my father and mother and grandmothers all sang, music was a natural part of our lives, just like sleeping and eating.” The Coolidge sisters formed a singing trio during their childhood, showcasing their talents from an early age.

When she was 15, Rita and her family moved to Florida where she at.

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