Recognized for delivering a lyric with
uncompromising intensity, Natalie Cole grew up loving the
classic performances, no matter the genre. Her early appreciation for
Ella Fitzgerald, Sara Vaughn and all of her father's contemporaries
soon translated into a curiosity about artists such as the Beatles and
the Rolling Stones.
Natalie's own legacy has always been built on a
fierce dedication to her craft. Her open mindedness about song
selection has led to some of contemporary pop's most elegant
interpretations. In 1975 Natalie's stellar career took off. Her debut
effort, "Inseparable" was an instant smash garnering her
first gold album, winning two Grammy Awards including "Best New
Artist" and spawning the Top 10 hit "This Will Be."
Her 1976 self-titled album "Natalie," also
achieved gold. 1977's "Unpredictable" and
"Thankful" both hit platinum and 1979's "I Love You
So" reached gold. These albums included the platinum singles
"I've Got Love on My Mind" and "Our Love." She
continued her amazing climb in the early 1980's winning yet another
Grammy and three more nominations. She closed out the decade with
another Grammy nomination for her hit album "Everlasting,"
which included the Top 15 smash hit "Jump Start," as well as
an NAACP Image Award and a Soul Train Award and the 1989 album
"Good To Be Back" which contained the Top 10 hits "Miss
You Like Crazy" and "Wild Women Do."
Natalie Cole has delivered many memorable
albums in her career, but undoubtedly is best known for the
multi-platinum, multi-Grammy winning "Unforgettable,
With Love," which honored a legacy of standards made famous during her
father's (Nat King Cole) era.
It was 1991's signing with Elektra that
would unveil a Natalie Cole project that would change the
musical lexicon forever. The acclaimed "Unforgettable,
With Love" sold an amazing 14 million copies, pushing Natalie's total
album sales well over the 30 million mark. A testament to Natalie's
brilliant ability to convey a lyric and a tribute to her father's
genius, the album garnered seven Grammy awards, becoming one of the
most honored albums of all time.
Natalie Cole followed up that milestone with the much
honored and gold album "Take A Look," which snagged her
another Grammy for Best Vocal Performance. She also teamed up with
another one of her idols, the legendary Frank Sinatra, recording
"They Can't Take That Away From Me," for Sinatra's
"Duets" album.
In 1994 Elektra released "Holly And Ivy,"
a cleverly jazz-imbued Christmas album that has become a classic, and,
in 1996 Natalie enriched the tradition she established with
"Unforgettable,
With Love," by releasing the 18-song opus,
"Stardust," Produced by familiar compatriots David Foster,
George Duke, and Phil Ramone, the album included rare gems originally
recorded by Nat King Cole, Sara Vaughn, Dinah Washington and others.
Included on the acclaimed work was the lesser-known nugget, "To
Whom It May Concern," penned by Nat King Cole and Natalie's aunt,
Charlotte Hawkins. "Stardust"
featured Natalie performing the duet
"When I Fall in Love" with her father for which she won the
Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals.
In 1992, Natalie's dream of becoming an actress was
fulfilled, debuting with a critically lauded performance in the season
finale of NBC's much heralded series "I'll Fly Away." In
1994 she starred in the title role in the USA Network Premiere Movie,
"Lily In Winter." She's also appeared in the CBS hit series
"Touched By An Angel" and in the TNT broadcast of a special
Lincoln Center musical production of "The Wizard of Oz."
In 1998, Natalie appeared with Laurence Fishburne in
the HBO made-for-TV-movie, "Always Outnumbered" based on a
short story of the same title by Walter Mosley and in 1999 she starred
in the Showtime telefilm "Freak City."