- Born
- Died
- Birth nameNatalie Maria Cole
- Nickname
- The Base Queen
- Height5′ 9″ (1.75 m)
- Growing up and living under the huge, daunting shadow of a singing icon
can intimidate a son or daughter enough to want to look anywhere else
to find their station in life. Those who dared to try to follow in
their footsteps, such as
Frank Sinatra Jr., found success
branching out in other areas of music; others like the Crosby brothers,
suffered from perpetual self esteem issues that led to personal
tragedy; still others, like Liza Minnelli
found meteoric success on their own and emulated/paralleled their
famous parent's own star achievements.
"Sophisticated Lady" Natalie Cole fits into the last-mentioned
category. Moreover, she ended up living a dream by dueting with her
father, the late and great Nat 'King' Cole,
through the use of modern technology, to multiple Grammy-winning glory.
This would become the pinnacle of her musical success. Unlike Minnelli,
however, her famous crooning parent, who broke many racial barriers
during his way-too-short life in the limelight, did not live long
enough to enjoy his daughter's rise to stardom, dying of lung cancer a
little more than a week after Natalie's 15th birthday.
Stephanie Natalie Maria Cole was born on February 6, 1950, and grew up
in a heavily musical atmosphere in Los Angeles' exclusive Hancock Park
area. In addition to her father, mother Maria had been a background
vocalist with the Duke Ellington outfit.
Natalie herself grew up surrounded by the likes of
Ella Fitzgerald and,
Frank Sinatra, who were considered family.
Singing on one of her dad's Christmas albums, and performing by age 11,
her father's early death brought emotional scars and perhaps induced a
self-imposed lack of musical focus. The family relocated to
Massachusetts and Natalie eventually took off to college, first
attending and majoring in child psychology at the University of
Massachusetts. The transferred to the University of Southern California
before returning to her first campus and graduating in 1972. At this
point, however, she decided to live her music a go again and began
performing at various night spots. It was at this juncture that she
gradually fell into drug addiction, including heroin use.
A breakthrough for Natalie came via her early 70s association with
Chuck Jackson and Marvin Yancy, who once worked with one of Natalie's
real-life idols, Aretha Franklin. A
debut album in the form of "Inseparable" came out in 1975, which
included her bit hit "This Will Be" (#6 on the pop charts and a
multiple Grammy winner for best R&B female vocals and "best newcomer".
In 1976 producer Yancy became her husband but they divorced after only
a few years and following the birth of their only child, Robert Adam
Yancy. Her ex-husband died in 1985.
During the "disco era", milder hits with "Sophisticated Lady," "Mr.
Melody," "I've Got Love on My Mind," "Our Love," "Stand By," "What You
Won't Do for Love," and "Hold On" and "Nothing But a Fool" arrived,
along with more platinum and gold albums. Acute drug problems, however,
continued to hinder her progress and she eventually took time off time
for recovery. In 1985, Natalie released, in what was the start of a
comeback, her album "Dangerous" for Modern Records; she later lost her
contract. Such as late 80s pop singles included "Jump Start My Heart,"
"Miss You Like Crazy", "Pink Cadillac" and "I Live for Your Love" kept
her visible and on the charts.
In the midst of her ebb-and-flow R&B success, Natalie decided in 1991
to record a new CD, "Unforgettable...with Love," paying homage to her
late father. With the help and encouragement of family, she re-arranged
and re-recorded some of his greatest songs in the same studio that he
recorded (Capitol Studios), used some of the same musicians and even
recreated one of his signature songs, the title tune "Unforgettable,"
with a technological effect that appeared as if they were dueting
together. Never before or since has this been pulled off and marketed
so successfully. The CD, which met with some derision (some critics
felt she was grasping for straws in a career that was going backwards),
was an instant "easy listening" sensation. Not only did it sell well
over 30 million copies, it would become an eight-time over platinum
winner. It earned a armload of awards on Grammy night -- including
"Album of the Year" and "Record of the Year".
Over time Natalie began covering jazz standards. A jazz CD in 1994 also
captured a Grammy (she has racked up a total of eight Grammy awards
thus far). Like her Dad, she has become a fond Christmas commodity both
on TV and in the record stores. In addition, she branched out into
occasional acting roles, including the social drama
Lily in Winter (1994)
and the autobiographical feature film
Livin' for Love: The Natalie Cole Story (2000)
in which she herself played the ups and downs of her own turbulent
life. She has also made infrequent acting appearances on such shows as
"I'll Fly Away," "Law & Order," "Touched by an Angel" and "Grey's
Anatomy".
Natalie's private life, however, continued to show vulnerability. A
second marriage to drummer Andre Fisher of Rufus fame also ended in
divorce and she later married and divorced a third time to Kenneth H.
Dupree, a church bishop. Natalie's older adopted sister,
Carol Cole earned a modicum of distinction as
an actress and celebrity for a time, but her adopted brother,
Nat Kelly Cole, briefly an actor, died in
1995 at age 36 of AIDS-related complications.
Firmly content wrapping her glorious vocals around yesteryear's
standards, Natalie's star contained the warm, fuzzy glow
and velvet-like smoothness so reminiscent of her famous dad. She continued to shine with her CD "Still
Unforgettable, in which she nursed the classics as only she can and
"dueted" once again with her father on "Walking My Baby Back Home"
In July of 2008, Natalie was diagnosed with a life-threatening liver virus, Hepatitis C, which had laid dormant for decades from her early days of hard drug and alcohol use. It progressed to the point of her having a have a kidney transplant the following year. Although she continued to perform, she remained illness-prone up until her death on New Year's Eve 2015 of congestive heart failure induced by lung disease and pulmonary hypertension. Her 2000 memoir, Angel on My Shoulder, detailed much of her early addiction battles.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Gary Brumburgh / gr-home@pacbell.net
- SpousesKenneth H. Dupree(October 12, 2001 - 2004) (divorced)Andre Fischer(September 16, 1989 - 1996) (divorced)Marvin Jerome Yancy(July 30, 1976 - 1980) (divorced, 1 child)
- ChildrenRobert Adam Yancy
- Parents
- RelativesCasey Cole(Sibling)Nat Kelly Cole(Sibling)Timolin Cole(Sibling)Carol Cole(Sibling)
- She was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording at 1750 Vine Street in Hollywood, California on February 5, 1979 (the day before her 29th birthday).
- Had one son, Robert Adam Yancy (October 15, 1977 - August 15, 2017), with ex-husband Marvin Yancy. He died of a heart attack, exactly 2 months before his 40th birthday.
- Daughter of Nat 'King' Cole and Maria Cole.
- Her debut album in 1975, "Inseparable", resulted in top chart success with the single "This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)" (#1 R&B, #6 Pop). Her performance of the song won her a 1976 Grammy for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. This was a feat because "Queen of Soul" Aretha Franklin had won this category eight years standing (1968-1975).
- Received a kidney transplant on May 19, 2009, the same day that her sister, Carol Cole, passed away.
- The definition of diva has taken a turn for the worse. Everybody's a diva now. It's become not quite so special anymore. I'd say 'fabulous' is better. Diana Ross, Audrey Hepburn, those kind of people. Josephine Baker -- she was fabulous. That's what I want to be. [The Arizona Republic, May 8, 2003]
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