Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular Music

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COLE, Natalie

(b Feb. '50, LA) Singer; daughter of Nat 'King' Cole. Debut LP Inseparable '75 was prod. by Marvin Yancey, her first husband, ten years after Nat's death; incl. 'This Will Be' (no. 6 hit USA); title track also charted; seven top 40 hits '75--80 incl. 'I've Got Love On My Mind' (no. 5 '77), 'Our Love' (no. 10 '78). Other albums: Natalie '76, Unpredictable '77 (no. 8 LP), Thankful '77, Live '78 (two-disc set), I Love You So '79, We're The Best Of Friends '79 (duet LP with Peabo Bryson), Don't Look Back '80, Happy Love '81, all on Capitol, all made Billboard charts, but sales slipped: the last Capitol LP, I'm Ready '83 on Epic, Dangerous '85 on Modern did not make top 100 albums. Unforgettable -- A Tribute To Nat King Cole (with Johnny Mathis) '83 charted well in UK. She updated her style somewhat and Everlasting '87 on Manhattan brought her back to the top 50 albums; she was divorced '80 (Yancey d '86) and in '89 married experienced producer Andre Fisher (former drummer with Rufus), who was co-prod. on Good To Be Back that year, a mid-tempo ballad album on EMI. She did a tour of 40 cities that year, her first in seven years, and had a syndicated TV variety show Big Break '90. The next album was for Elektra: Unforgettable With Love '91 electronically enabled her to sing duets with her father; it was no. 1 in the USA for five weeks. Take A Look '93 and Christmas album Holly And Ivy '94 did well.