“I’ll never forget when we did “Unforgettable” as a duet with her father’s recording on a Grammy hall of fame show, years before she recorded it. Magical!”
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Taking advantage of her musical pedigree, Natalie Cole began her career as most popular singers do, by appearing in small, out-of-the-way clubs as soloist for Black Magic, the band she headed up. She was one of the greatest singers of our time.
Mariah Carey says she is “beyond devastated” to hear about the passing of fellow R&B soul artist Natalie Cole. “With Love”, which includes a duet mixed in the studio with the voice of her father, who died in 1965.
Natalie Cole didn’t have this problem.
For years, she had declined to perform her father’s works in concert; now, an album of those recordings won six Grammys, including the big three: song of the year, record of the year and album of the year.
While making the album, Cole told The Associated Press in 1991, she had to “throw out every R&B lick that I had ever learned and every pop trick I had ever learned”. I love Adele. I’m listening to a lot of Spanish music too.
“Dad had been everything to me”, she told the WSJ. The title song, “Unforgettable”, featured Natalie Cole’s voice spliced with her father’s. The album was a phenomenon, its appeal crossing audiences and generations; it collected a bevy of Grammy Awards, including Album, Record and Song of the Year (though the song Unforgettable was at that point four decades old). “I know how hard she fought”, said Aretha Franklin in a statement.
And Cole’s music consistently showcased her wide range of influences and the diversity of her talents.
Their house, in Los Angeles’ upscale Hancock Park neighborhood, was a regular spot for her parents’ colleagues.
We sat next to each other in one of the many hidden majlises at Emirates Palace reserved for VIP guests – it was in early April, a few days before her Abu Dhabi Festival closing performance at the venue’s main auditorium. He introduced his children to performers including Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra, known to the kids as Auntie Ella and Uncle Frank. She followed up “Unforgettable” with similar albums.
Cole toured through much of her illness, often receiving dialysis at hospitals around the globe.
But her move to music was some what accidental. She will always be remembered as a supreme professional and perfectionist at her craft. Her insecurities led her to drugs, namely heroin and freebasing. After the success of “Inseparable”, she collected a Grammy in 1976 for the song “Sophisticated Lady (She’s A Different Lady)”. The intravenous use of the drug and sharing needles may have been the cause of her contracting Hep. C.
“Of course, my first wish was that he was still alive so we could have sung it together… but this is the next best thing”. While undergoing rehabilitation, she said that she confronted her grief over the loss of her father. Her last album was released in 2013 with “Natalie Cole en Espanol”.
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But she was happiest touring and performing live. She is survived by her son, musician Robert Adam “Robbie” Yancy.
