She inspired songs?Leon Russell wrote ?A Song for You? and ?Delta Lady? for her; Stephen Stills wrote ?Cherokee.? She co-wrote songs??Superstar? and, uncredited, the piano coda to ?Layla.? She sang backup for Eric Clapton, Joe Cocker, and Stephen Stills before finding fame as a solo artist with such hits as ?We're All Alone? and ?(Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher and Higher.?

A muse to some of the twentieth century's most influential rock musicians, Rita Coolidge broke hearts and broke up bands. Her relationship with drummer Jim Gordon took a violent turn during Cocker's legendary 1970 Mad Dogs & Englishmen tour; David Crosby maintained that her love triangle with Stills and Graham Nash was the last straw for the group; and her volatile six-year marriage to Kris Kristofferson yielded two Grammys, a daughter, and one of the baby boom generation's epic love stories.

Through it all, her strength, resilience, and inner and outer beauty helped her to not only survive but also to thrive. Delta Lady offers a front-row seat to an iconic era and illuminates the life of an artist whose career has helped shape modern American culture.