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Dorothy Love Coates ( McGriff; January 30, 1928 – April 9, 2002) was an American gospel singer, composer and songwriter, and a civil rights activist.
Family
Dorothy McGriff was born on January 30, 1928, in Birmingham, Alabama, as one of seven children. Her early years were hard (she later described them as "the same old thing"). Her father, Lillar McGriff, a minister, left the family when she was six, divorcing her mother thereafter. then known as the Gospel Harmoneers, in the early 1940s. She said of this time: "on weekdays I worked for the white man. On weekends I sang for the people."
On September 9, 1944, she married Willie Love of The Fairfield Four, one of the most popular quartets of the early years of gospel, but divorced him shortly thereafter. On September 24, 1959, she married Carl Coates, bassist and guitarist of the Sensational Nightingales. Coates was also a notable composer, writing songs such as "You Can't Hurry God (He's Right On Time)", "99 and a Half Won't Do", and "That's Enough". She worked at voter registration drives, She regarded jail as an honour,