Re: ABC-PARAMOUNT LABEL FAVORITES

The daughter of an evangelical minister, Odia Coates was born in
Vicksburg, Mississippi. As a young child her family moved to Watts,
California, where her father served as pastor in the Beautiful Gates
Church Of God In Christ, where she sang in the church choir. She
eventually became a member of the Northern California State Youth Choir,
co-founded by Edwin Hawkins and later became a member of Sisters Love.
Coates is best remembered for her duet with Paul Anka, "(You're) Having
My Baby", that went to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on August
24-September 7, 1974. Having heard Coates singing on an Edwin Hawkins
Singers gospel album, he decided to use her on the recording as it
needed a female voice. Anka was pleased with the results (both
artistically and commercially; the song reached number one) and recorded
several more songs with her. The two recorded several more Top 10 & Top
20 hits, including 1974's "One Man Woman/One Woman Man" and 1975's "I
Don't Like to Sleep Alone" and "(I Believe) There's Nothing Stronger
Than Our Love". She recorded "Make It Up To Me in Love", (a sequel,
[citation needed]) to "One Man Woman/One Woman Man", with Anka in 1977.
Odia Coates died from breast cancer in 1991, aged 49, at Oakland Medical
Center following a four-year battle with the disease.
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