Soul Survivor: The Autobiography

A memoir about music and perseverance by Arnold, a well-known session and backup singer in the music scene of the 1960s and 70s. Born Patricia Ann Cole in 1946, she began her career at 17 as an Ikette, touring with the Ike and Tina Turner Revue. She also pursued a solo career in England where she worked with Eric Burdon, Peter Gabriel, Barry Gibb, Eric Clapton, and others. She had relationships with Mick Jagger, Jimi Hendrix, and Rod Stewart and rubbed elbows with other musical stars. She also starred in London’s West End production of Starlight Express. But Arnold’s life was not easy. She endured a physically abusive childhood at the hands of her father, was pregnant at 15 and forced to marry her baby’s father, also abusive, and lost her 13-year-old daughter in a car accident in 1977. She describes a tough life as a young Black woman in the male-dominated, often bigoted music industry, which led to her using cocaine for a time. In 2022, she celebrated her 55th anniversary in the music industry.