Jo Rita Gates rose to fame after marrying the co-lead singer of the successful American 70s band “Bread”. She has been married for 64 years to her childhood sweetheart and has four children. Jo Rita is in her 80s. To know more about this celebrity spouse, keep on reading.
Jo Rita Gates’s Personal Life and Family
Joe Rita Gates was born in 1940. She is now. 82 years old. She is also the wife of a retired American musician David Gates. They have been in a relationship since their school days. Jo Rita married Gates in 1958, just after her 18th birthday. She rarely comes into the spotlight. Three of her children are lawyers and one is a heart surgeon. All her kids stay out of the limelight.
Not much is known about her except that in her 64 years of marriage, Jo Rita has become a successful businesswoman and a philanthropist. She is the founding member of the Children’s Defense Fund. Mrs. Gates is also actively supporting literacy initiatives. Apart from being a good Samaritan, Jo Rita Gates is also the owner of an interior design firm.
Early Life of David Gates
David Gates is an American musician and songwriter, best known as the front man of the soft rock group “Bread”. Gates was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on December 11, 1940, and grew up in a musical family. Since his father was a professional musician and mother a piano instructor Gates began playing the piano and guitar at an early age. He attended college in Oklahoma, where he studied pre-med and law.
Musical journey of David Gates
Gates’s early musical influences were the pop and country music of the time, as well as the gospel music he heard in church. During his high school days, David Gates put together the band “The Accents”. After marrying Jo Rita, David settled along with his family in Los Angeles, where he worked as a session musician and arranger.
After college, Gates joined a band called “The Pleasure Fair”, which had some success with a couple of singles. Gates then formed “Bread” in 1968 with keyboardist Jimmy Griffin and drummer Mike Botts. The group had a string of hits in the 1970s, including “Make It with You.” The band broke up in 1973, and Gates pursued a career as a single artist. He has released eight solo albums, including the Grammy-nominated “First”.
In the 1970s, Gates began a successful solo career, releasing a series of albums that featured his pop-rock songwriting and vocal style. Gates’s biggest hit was “The Guitar Man,” which reached the top of the charts in 1972. Gates continued to record and tour throughout the 1970s and 1980s.
In 1976 “Bread” reconciled and released their comeback album “Lost Without Your Love” that same year. Despite that Gates continues to tour and record as a solo artist. He produced his most successful single in 1977, “Goodbye Girl”. In 1999, Gates was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 2000, Gates released his first album in ten years, The Very Best of David Gates.
Conclusion
Both Jo Rita and her husband, David Gates, are retired. They are living a peaceful life away from limelight in Mount Vernon in Washington. All their children are well established in their respective careers.
