Arcada-bound Rita Coolidge still defying musical boundaries
She's been a performer for nearly half a century, but Rita Coolidge still has difficulty classifying her music.
Her songs cross many genres, including pop, country, jazz, Native American, soft rock, even soul.
“Like most people of my generation, when I hear the term 'soul' or 'R&B,' I'm thinking of Sam Cooke, Otis Redding,” Coolidge says. “But any time the spirit is speaking through the music, that's soul in a very pure sense of the word. I don't know what to call the music most people know me for, really. I guess that's one of the things I like most about it - it's really impossible to categorize.”
At age 71, Coolidge still tours and performs extensively. The Grammy Award-winning singer appears Sunday, July 17, at the Arcada Theatre in St. Charles.
In recent months, Coolidge has been busy promoting her memoir, “Delta Lady,” which came out in April and chronicles her life as a singer of Native American heritage from Tennessee.
Writing the memoir - which includes deeply personal stories about her life and loves - was a “cathartic” experience, Coolidge says.
“I was able to set the record straight on a lot of stuff,” she says. “My editor had said to me, just tell the truth. So that was the great starting point of it all.”
After graduating with an art degree from Florida State University, Coolidge decided to give music a shot. She moved to Memphis and began singing and doing background vocals for area bands. She soon became an A-list backup singer, working with legends including Joe Cocker, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Leon Russell and Stephen Stills.
She began her solo career in 1971, releasing more than a dozen albums in the years to follow, including her multiplatinum “Anytime … Anywhere.” Some of her best-known singles include covers of “We're All Alone,” “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher” and “The Way You Do the Things You Do.”
In 1973, Coolidge married singer Kris Kristofferson; during their eight-year union, the pair teamed up for a number of hits and was twice named Country Duo of the Year. Her songs also played on TV and in films - “All Time High” was the theme for the James Bond thriller “Octopussy” and “Heart Don't Fail Me Now” with Lee Greenwood was a recurring theme for the soap opera “As The World Turns.”
When VH1 debuted, she was one of its original “veejays.”
In the 1990s, Coolidge devoted her time to projects that benefited or raised awareness of Native American music and issues. She joined a group called Walela, which is Cherokee for hummingbird, with her sister and niece. The trio's performances included the Opening Ceremonies for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, along with Robbie Robertson.
That performance was an experience “I'll never forget,” she says. Surrounded by Native Americans, the ceremony “was so beautiful, we were all in tears,” she says.
Though record companies at times over the years have asked her to “focus” on one style, Coolidge says she likes to experiment and try new things.
Ultimately, music is her passion. Though nonstop traveling can be exhausting, once onstage, she feels alive and young again, she says. “Once the music starts, we're all kids again,” she says. “I never dreamt I'd do this full-time for my entire life.”
Rita Coolidge
Where: Arcada Theatre, 105 E. Main St., St. Charles, (630) 962-7000 or
When: 5 p.m. Sunday, July 17
Tickets: Starting at $39, with the price including a small restoration charge for the theater