Singer Rita Coolidge was Kris Kristofferson's Ex-Wife: Bet You Didn't Know That
Singer Rita Coolidge was at one time married to the original "A Star Is Born" actor-singer Kris Kristofferson and helped him along the way in the music industry win two Grammys. I bet you never knew that, did you?
Coolidge is known for her famous ballad, "We're All Alone" and the trippy pop hit, "(Your Love) Has Lifted Me Higher."
They met at the Los Angeles Airport in 1970 and immediately agreed to get married. They eventually had one daughter together, Laura Satterfield.
Their musical collaborations were harmonious but not their relationship.
However, the couple's union was tumultuous and volatile and they eventually divorced.
Coolidge told the Aquarian in a 2019 interview one of the reasons she wrote her memoir — “to share [her] experience with him.” In Coolidge’s memoir "Delta Lady", she detailed Kristofferson’s alcoholism and infidelity. Truth is stranger than fiction like the story of his life in the film that he was in, "A Star Is Born"
Rita Coolidge Tells Her Story About Her Marriage to Kris Kristofferson
“Kris is a wonderful man. He is an extraordinary songwriter,” says Coolidge. “He’s been a close friend of mine and the father of my daughter, so I have nothing but glowing things to say about Kris. Our marriage was volatile … [but] he’s an amazing guy, and he’s a national treasure now. He’s still on the road, in spite of some issues he’s having with his memory. I think it’s wonderful that he’s still out there doing that. I love him dearly.”
Coolidge was also romantically linked with several other high profile musicians, including Leon Russell and Jim Gordon. Russell wrote Joe Cocker’s hit “Delta Lady” about Coolidge (hence the title of her memoir) and then wrote his own song “A Song For You” about her as well. But it was Gordon who was the biggest heartbreak for Coolidge.
Rita Coolidge's Tales About Life On The Road
Coolidge writes about an incident in her memoir while they were on tour with Cocker where she thought Gordon was going to propose, but instead, he hit her in the face and knocked her unconscious. At the time, she blamed his cocaine use, but Gordon has since been diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic. In 1983, he murdered his mother and is currently incarcerated in a psychiatric prison. Gordon has been denied parole several times over the years.
Coolidge later became involved with Stephen Stills and Graham Nash of Crosby Stills and Nash. When the group disbanded, David Crosby blamed Rita Coolidge. She said, that he thought she was the devil that broke up the band but problems existed long before she came on to the scene.
