UNFORGETTABLE,
THAT'S WHAT YOU ARE
UNFORGETTABLE,
THOUGH NEAR OR FAR...
Nathaniel Adams Coles
(March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965),
known professionally
as
Nat King Cole,
alternatively billed as
Nat "King" Cole,
was an
American singer,
jazz pianist,
and actor.
Cole's career as
a jazz
and
pop vocalist
started in
the late 1930s
and spanned
almost three decades
where he found success
and recorded over
100 songs
that became hits
on the pop charts.
Cole started his career as
a jazz pianist
in the late 1930s,
when he formed the
King Cole Trio,
which became the
top-selling group
(and the only black act)
on Capitol Records
in the 1940s.
Cole's trio was the
model for small
jazz ensembles
that followed.
Starting in 1950,
he transitioned to become a
solo singer
billed as
Nat King Cole.
Despite achieving
mainstream success,
Cole faced intense
racial discrimination
during his career.
While not a major
vocal public figure
in the
civil rights movement,
Cole was a member
of his local
NAACP branch
and participated
in the 1963
March on Washington.
He regularly performed
for civil rights
organizations.
From 1956 to 1957,
Cole hosted the
NBC variety series
The Nat King Cole Show,
which became the
first nationally
broadcast television show
hosted by a
black American.
Some of Cole's most
notable singles include
"Unforgettable",
"Smile",
"L-O-V-E",
"Nature Boy",
"When I Fall in Love",
"Let There Be Love",
"Mona Lisa",
"Autumn Leaves",
"Stardust",
"Straighten Up and Fly Right",
"The Very Thought of You",
"For Sentimental Reasons",
"Embraceable You"
and
"Almost Like Being in Love".
. In 2022,
Cole's recording of
"The Christmas Song",
broke the record for
the longest journey
to the top ten
on the
Billboard Hot 100,
when it peaked at
number nine,
62 years after
it debuted on the chart;
and was selected by
the Library of Congress
for preservation in the
United States National
Recording Registry.
Cole received numerous
accolades
including a
star on the Hollywood
Walk of Fame
(1960)
and a
Special Achievement
Golden Globe Award.
Posthumously,
Cole has received the
Grammy Lifetime
Achievement Award
(1990),
along with the
Sammy Cahn Lifetime
Achievement Award
(1992)
and has been inducted
into the
DownBeat Jazz
Hall of Fame
(1997),
Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame
(2000),
and the National
Rhythm & Blues
Hall of Fame
(2020).
NPR
named him one
of the
50 Great Voices.
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