Dorothy Love Coates was an American gospel singer, composer, and songwriter born as Dorothy McGriff on January 30, 1928, in Birmingham. She achieved professional recognition for a musical career characterized by gospel music and for her status as a leading figure in the genre. Coates began playing the piano in the Baptist Church at age ten and joined the ensemble McGriff Singers for a weekly radio broadcast. She achieved professional recognition for joining the ensemble Gospel Harmonettes in the early 1940s and reaching stardom in the 1950s after the group was renamed The Original Gospel Harmonettes. Her recording career included the hit song "I'm Sealed" (1951) and the song "Get Away Jordan" (1951), released on the label Specialty Records. Coates achieved professional recognition for composing the song "You Can't Hurry God (He's Right On Time)" and the song "99 and a Half Won't Do". She achieved professional recognition for her activism in the civil rights movement alongside Martin Luther King Jr. between 1959 and 1961. Coates achieved professional recognition for re-forming the Harmonettes in 1961 and touring with her own ensemble, The Dorothy Love Coates Singers. Her discography included recordings for Savoy Records, Vee-Jay Records, and Columbia Records. She died on April 9, 2002.
