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Natalie Cole

When singer Natalie Cole was in college at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, she performed weekends at nightclubs. Prior to one show, a small club displayed a sign that announced her only as Nat "King" Cole's daughter. She was so angry that she scolded the manager of the club; however, 20 years later, Cole reached the pinnacle of her success by "teaming up" with her late father in an album called Unforgettable With Love. The album earned seven Grammy awards and stayed on the pop charts for several weeks. For Natalie, it was a special tribute to her legendary father who died of lung cancer when she was only 15.

Natalie is one of five children born to the famous singer Nat King Cole and his wife Maria. Maria sang with Duke Ellington before marrying Nat. Natalie, their second child, was born on February 6, 1950. Cole told Working Mother that her childhood was filled with music that her mom and dad liked to hear as well as the music her dad sung. She said, "He never directed me away from any type of music, but it was the kind of music Dad made that's left a lasting impression on me." It did not take long for her to follow in his footsteps. By age six, she appeared on one of her dad's albums. At eleven, she performed briefly in a nightclub act. However, Cole claims her father died never knowing that she wanted a career in singing because she told him she wanted to be a doctor. He never pushed her into singing, as he wanted her to choose her own career. While earning a degree in child psychology from the University of Massachusetts, she realized that she wanted to sing.

Initially, Cole was filled with insecurity when she performed, not knowing if people liked her just because she was the Nat King Cole's daughter. This insecurity caused her to avoid performing the same type of music as her father, who was a big band, jazzy singer and an accomplished pianist in the fifties. He had several hit albums before rock music was marketed to the public. She told Ebony, "I spent the first part of my career rebelling against it {her father's music}. Always in the back of my mind I was trying to stay as far away from that stigma as I possibly could." After earning her degree, Cole toured local clubs with a band called Black Magic.

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Album Review

Natalie Cole: Ask A Woman Who Knows

Read "Ask A Woman Who Knows" reviewed by Philip A. Songa


Ask A Woman Who Knows, singer Natalie Cole's latest album, has a rather presumptuous title, doesn't it? But then that’s just it. On this album, Cole absolutely knows what she is doing. Despite the fact that the title track is actually a song about love gone wrong, it makes an apt title for this album, and she’s sure to make waves with its release. The singer, whose distinct voice continues in the tradition set by her father, the late great ...

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Festival

Newport Jazz Festival: Natalie Cole, Freddy Cole, Gregory Porter, Dee Alexander

Newport Jazz Festival: Natalie Cole, Freddy Cole, Gregory Porter, Dee Alexander

Source: Carolyn McClair Public Relations

2013 NEWPORT JAZZ FESTIVAL GIVES VOICE TO AN EXCITING SLATE OF SOULFUL LEGENDS AND RISING STARS FEATURING NATALIE COLE, GREGORY PORTER FREDDY COLE AND DEE ALEXANDER NEWPORT, RI: Continuing the rich tradition of presenting the best of emerging and established musicians, the 2013 Newport Jazz Festival, produced by Newport Festivals Foundation, will feature an eclectic slate of legendary and rising vocalists who skillfully embody the power and history – and the swing and groove – of the uniquely American musical ...

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Performance / Tour

Natalie Cole Performs at Hanover Theatre in Worcester on Thursday, June 9

Natalie Cole Performs at Hanover Theatre in Worcester on Thursday, June 9

Source: MassJazz: Jazz in Massachusetts

Nine-time Grammy Award winner Natalie Cole is performing at the Hanover Theatre in Worcester Massachusetts on Thursday, June 9, 2011 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets to the show range from $38- $68 and can be ordered online. Discounts are available. Please call the box office at 877.571.7469 for more information. A legendary jazz singer, Natalie Cole has been an international star since her debut album in the 1970s, with her hit song, This Will Be (an Everlasting Love). For a schedule ...

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Festival

Natalie Cole Was the Class-Act of Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival 2011

Natalie Cole Was the Class-Act of Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival 2011

Source: JamaicaMusic Offbeat

American singer, songwriter and commanding stage performer Natalie Maria Cole, the daughter of jazz legend Nat King Cole, duly substantiate the jazz reference in the Jamaica Jazz & Blues Festival. She was unanimously the class-act of the three-day fest held at Greenfield Stadium in Trelawny, Jamaica over last weekend. Cole not only woo the large turn out on Saturday night but became the darling of the Jamaican Dailies. 'After three nights of the 'Art of Music,' the question of who ...

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Festival

Simply Red, George Benson, Natalie Cole Headline 1st Curacao North Sea Jazz Festival, Sept 3-4.

Simply Red, George Benson, Natalie Cole Headline 1st Curacao North Sea Jazz Festival, Sept 3-4.

Source: JamaicaMusic Offbeat

The North Sea Jazz Festival, the world's largest indoor jazz festival, has for 35 years brought the biggest, broadest range of artists to the Netherlands. But, on the 3rd & 4th of September 2010 the festival's ripples fan out to the Caribbean to inaugurate the Curacao North Sea Jazz Festival on the hospitable and vibrant Dutch island. In settings traditional to its progenitor, the Curacao debut is set in major indoor and outdoor venues with a bill of over 35 ...

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Performance / Tour

Natalie Cole at the Bowl

Natalie Cole at the Bowl

Source: Michael Ricci

Natalie Cole at the Bowl: 'Healthy and whole and 100%'

You got the feeling Wednesday night that Natalie Cole couldnt have been happier to be pulling into the Hollywood Bowl nearly two months late for her gig. I never thought Id be standing here healthy, whole and 100% again, the 59-year-old singer told the crowd, which cheered her return to the concert stage following a kidney transplant in May that prompted the postponement of her scheduled July 15 concert. Her ...

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Performance / Tour

Natalie Cole Makes Triumphant Return to the Hollywood Bowl

Natalie Cole Makes Triumphant Return to the Hollywood Bowl

Source: All About Jazz

NATALIE COLE MAKES A TRIUMPHANT RETURN TO THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL WITH THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL ORCHESTRA WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2009, AT 8 PM

Concert Generously Sponsored By: Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts | Media Sponsor: 94.7 - The Wave

The 2009 Jazz series at the Hollywood Bowl concludes on Wednesday, September 9 at 8 pm, when nine-time Grammy winner Natalie Cole triumphantly returns to the stage after undergoing successful kidney transplant surgery. Joining the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, conducted by Gail ...

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Obituary

Natalie Cole Loses Sister to Cancer

Natalie Cole Loses Sister to Cancer

Source: All About Jazz

Cole had her kidney transplant surgery, while her sister was dying. Natalie Cole had successful surgery, but lost her older sister to cancer.

While Natalie Cole was having a life saving kidney transplant surgery earlier this week, her older sister died, according to the New York Post.

Carole Cookie Coles cause of death was not reported, but Timolin Colin, Natalies younger sister, told the Post, Carole had a cancerous spot.

Our sister Cookie hadnt been to a doctor in 30 ...

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Music Industry

Fans Inundate Natalie Cole with Kidney Offers

Fans Inundate Natalie Cole with Kidney Offers

Source: All About Jazz

Natalie Cole's fans want to give her a kidney. Singer has hepatitis C, and could be on dialysis for rest of her life.

The 59-year-old singer told Larry King on Tuesday that she was diagnosed with kidney failure, and while she was still on his CNN show, dozens of viewers wrote in offering to be tested as possible donors.

Without a donor kidney, Cole says she will be on dialysis for the rest of her life.

The daughter ...

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Performance / Tour

Natalie Cole: Dialysis in the Day, Concerts at Night

Natalie Cole: Dialysis in the Day, Concerts at Night

Source: Michael Ricci

Cole has been ill but is eager to get on the road behind her new collection of unforgettable songs.

Natalie Cole is sitting comfortably on the couch in her spacious 10th floor condo overlooking Westwood. She's relaxed, and at one point, before making a comment about one of the songs on her new album, she takes a deep breath. That's something she couldn't have done a month ago, when she wound up hospitalized in New York, struck down with fluid-filled ...

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Music Industry

Natalie Cole Hospitalized, Postpones Concert Tour

Natalie Cole Hospitalized, Postpones Concert Tour

Source: Michael Ricci

Singer Natalie Cole, whos been battling Hepatitis C since being diagnosed in July with the liver disease, is in the hospital.

The combination of the treatment shes been undergoing and the heavy promotional schedule for her new album took its toll. Her doctors decided they needed to put her in the hospital. They expect her to be there for a few days, then shell be on a month of bed rest. Cole's publicist Maureen OConnor.

She said this ...

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