Rita Coolidge

. "Ready or Not Here I Come (Can't Hide From Love)" served as the basis of two hit hip hop singles: Lauryn Hill integrates the chorus into the chorus for The Fugees' 1996 hit "Ready or Not", and Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott and Timbaland sampled the ominous string/horn intro for Elliott's hit 1997 "Sock It to Me". In 2004, Rita released a huge anthology of her complete career entitled, DELTA LADY The Rita Coolidge Anthology. Their music enjoyed a mild renaissance in the mid-1990s when Quentin Tarantino used "La La Means I Love You" and "Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time)" in a pivotal role in the film Jackie Brown. Walela includes her sister Priscilla and Priscilla's daughter Laura Satterfield, following their participation in Robbie Robertson's Music for the Native Americans project The group released a self-titled album in 1997 and an album entitled Unbearable Love in 2000. However, in the absence of Thom Bell, the Delfonics' career declined sharply, and the band was effectively over by 1975. Rita is member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. The Delfonics swiftly produced another album, Alive and Kicking, produced by Stan Watson.

In 1997, Rita was one of the founding members of a Native American music focused trio, named Walela--the word for hummingbird in Cherokee. Randy Cain left the group in 1971, to be replaced by Major Harris; by then, however, Thom Bell had moved on to produce the first album for The Stylistics. Her marriage to Kristofferson ended in 1980. Philadelphia soul was smoother than traditional soul, strongly influenced by Phil Spector's "Wall of Sound" production, but solidly based in the doo-wop sounds of the 1950s. She scored her last hit in 1983, with All Time High from the James Bond film Octopussy. Four more Bell-produced albums appeared in the next few years: The Sexy Sound of Soul, The Delfonics Super Hits, The Delfonics and Tell Me This is a Dream. Among the Delfonics' popular hits were "Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time)", "Lying to Myself", and "Ready or Not Here I Come (Can't Hide From Love)". Other hits were We're All Alone (originally recorded by Boz Scaggs), I Don't Want To Talk About It (Rod Stewart), The Way You Do The Things You Do (The Temptations), You (Marcia Hines) and I'd Rather Leave While I'm In Love (Carole Bayer Sager). Bell dreamed of creating a Phildelphia version of Motown and struck gold with the Delfonics, whose first album, released on Watson's own Philly Groove label, featured the hit "La La Means I Love You", in 1968.

Her first hit, (Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher And Higher (originally recorded by Jackie Wilson), was also her highest seller, reaching number two on the US charts in 1977. At Cameo, Stan Watson introduced them to the man who made them famous, producer Thom Bell, then working with Chubby Checker. She had several solo hit singles during the late 1970s with cover versions. Soon, they became known throughout the Philadelphia area, signing with Cameo Records. With him she recorded several duet albums which sold well, and earned them a Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal in 1974 for From The Bottle To The Bottom, and in 1976 for Lover Please. Brothers William and Wilbert Hart formed the group with Randy Cain in high school in the early 1960s. It was during this time that she met Kris Kristofferson and they married in 1973. The Delfonics were a quintessential Philadelphia soul singing group, most popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

She became known as "The Delta Lady" and inspired Leon Russell to write a song of the same name for her. Download sample "Ready or Not Here I Come (Can't Hide From Love)". Coolidge's early career was as a backing vocalist, for artists such as Joe Cocker, Eric Clapton and Leon Russell. Rita Coolidge (born May 1, 1944 in Nashville, Tennessee) is a American singer.