Cole was exposed to the greats of jazz, soul and blues at an early age and began performing at the age of 11. Her debut album in 1975, Inseparable, won her immediate praise, with the smash single This Will Be (An Everlasting Love) (#1 R&B, #6 Pop) winning her a Grammy for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female, a category that had been monopolized by Aretha Franklin, since its inception in 1967. She also was named the Grammys' Best New Artist of 1975. She attended the Northfield Mount Hermon School in Northfield, MA.
More hits followed through 1980, including her biggest Pop hit, 1977's I've Got Love On My Mind, as well as Sophisticated Lady (She's A Different Lady) (1976), Our Love (1978), and Someone That I Used To Love (1980). "I've Got Love On My Mind" and "Our Love" both earned certifications as Gold singles. But then her career hit a snag in the early 1980s due to a severe drug problem. By 1985, Natalie was clean, sober, and in fine voice, and ready to begin her comeback in earnest with the album Dangerous, released on the Modern label.
In 1987, she released Everlasting (on EMI Manhattan) which sold over 2 million copies in the U.S., and won Cole a Soul Train Award for Female Single of the Year for the #1 R&B ballad I Live for Your Love. This album was the one that put Natalie Cole firmly back in the spotlight, yielding three major hit singles: Jump Start, "I Live For Your Love" (#2 AC and #13 Pop as well as #1 R&B), and a successful remake of Bruce Springsteen's Pink Cadillac (#5 Pop, #16 AC, and #1 Dance). The album also included a taste of things to come in her career with a remake of one of her father's signature hits, "When I Fall In Love," which did moderately well on the AC chart. In 1989, the aptly-titled Good To Be Back gave her another across-the-board smash with "Miss You Like Crazy" (#1 both R&B and AC, and #7 Pop).
However, it was her 1991 album, Unforgettable... with Love, featuring her own arrangements of her father's greatest hits, that gave her the most success. Ironically, when Natalie began her career, she was determined not to capitalize on her father's name and wanted to forge her own identity by going after the soul market in earnest. For many years, she also found the prospect of recording her late father's songs too painful on a personal level. But Unforgettable... With Love certainly paid off. The set sold over 5 million copies in the United States alone, and won Cole several Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance. The album featured a duet, the title track, with her father, created by splicing a recording of his vocals into the track. As a single, it reached #14 on Billboard Magazine's Hot 100 chart, and went gold. The one sour spot in the album's success was that it strained Natalie's already-tumultuous relationship with her mother, Maria, who said in interviews at the time that she couldn't listen to the album or attend any of her daughter's concerts because she felt that the music really belonged to her late husband.
Natalie has released several more albums of pop standards in the years since; as a result of appealing to the "adult standards" audience, she has made only occasional forays onto the pop singles charts in that time (for example, "A Smile Like Yours," #8 AC and #84 Pop in 1997), although her albums still sell well. Her 1999 album Snowfall On The Sahara marked a return to the easy adult-contemporary soul that categorized her late-1980s hits, but for 2002's critically-praised Ask A Woman Who Knows, she turned more to the jazz side of the spectrum, covering songs made famous by Dinah Washington, Nina Simone, and Sarah Vaughan.
Battle With Drugs
In 2000, Cole released an autobiography, Angel on my Shoulder, which described her battle with drugs during much of her life. In the book, Cole admitted to using LSD, heroin and crack cocaine. Cole said she began experimenting with drugs while attending the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and was arrested in Toronto, Canada for possession of heroin in 1975. Cole continued to spiral out of control - including an incident in which her young son Robert nearly drowned in the family swimming pool while she and her first husband, the late Reverend Marvin Yancy were on a drug binge - until she entered rehab in 1983.
In concert with the release of the book, her autobiography was turned into a made-for-TV movie, The Natalie Cole Story, which aired December 10, 2000 on NBC.
Natalie has been married three times and has a son Robert Yancy (by Marvin Yancy), born in 1977. She later married former Rufus drummer Andre Fischer, who co-produced the Grammy Award-winning Unforgettable... With Love, Natalie's love offering featuring songs made famous by her father, including a faux-duet between her and her father.
The marriage to Fischer ended in divorce a few years later, amidst rumors of domestic verbal and physical abuse.
It has also been reported that Natalie has recovered from a life-threatening hepatitis illness (most likely the cause of her years of drug abuse) by having a liver transplant.
Miss Cole went on to release more albums after Unforgettable...With Love, with most of them featuring jazz-oriented standard songs or pop-song remakes. None of the albums were nearly as successful as Unforgettable...With Love.
As of 2013, Natalie Cole spent most of her professional time covering the concert circuit entertaining audiences around the world with her hits.
On December 31, 2015, Natalie Cole died from congestive heart failure at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. She was aged 65.
Hark the Herald Angels Sing
Natalie Cole Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
"Glory to the newborn King!
Peace on earth and mercy mild
God and sinners reconciled"
Joyful, all ye nations rise
Join the triumph of the skies
With the angelic host proclaim:
"Christ is born in Bethlehem"
"Glory to the newborn King!"
Christ by highest heav'n adored
Christ the everlasting Lord!
Late in time behold Him come
Offspring of a Virgin's womb
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see
Hail the incarnate Deity
Pleased as man with man to dwell
Jesus, our Emmanuel
Hark! The herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!"
Hail the heav'n-born Prince of peace!
Hail the Son of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings
Ris'n with healing in His wings
Mild He lays His glory by
Born that man no more may die
Born to raise the sons of earth
Born to give them second birth
Hark! The herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King
The opening verse of "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" announces the birth of the newborn King, followed by the message of peace and forgiveness through God's mercy. The chorus is a call to all nations to join in the celebration of Christ's birth, with the help of the angelic hosts. The second verse focuses on the divine nature of Christ, emphasizing that He is the everlasting Lord, and that He came into the world through the miraculous birth of a virgin. The lyrics communicate the extraordinary act of God becoming human, and willingly dwelling among humanity in order to reconcile them to Himself.
The final verse declares Jesus to be the "Prince of Peace" and "Son of Righteousness" who brings light and life through His healing power. He was born to save humanity, to offer them eternal life, and to raise them from the dead. The song concludes with an invitation to join in the angelic chorus, proclaiming "Glory to the newborn King!"
Line by Line Meaning
Hark the herald angels sing
Pay attention and listen to the angels singing
"Glory to the newborn King!"
Praise and honor the recently born King
Peace on earth and mercy mild
Tranquility and compassion on earth
God and sinners reconciled
The reunion of God with humans who have sinned
Joyful, all ye nations rise
All the countries should experience happiness
Join the triumph of the skies
Celebrate with the glorious skies
With the angelic host proclaim:
Announce with the angels:
"Christ is born in Bethlehem"
"The Messiah has been born in Bethlehem"
Christ by highest heav'n adored
Christ worshipped by the highest heaven
Christ the everlasting Lord!
Christ the eternal ruler
Late in time behold Him come
He has come late in time
Offspring of a Virgin's womb
The child born of a virgin's womb
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see
The divine has taken on a human form
Hail the incarnate Deity
Greet and praise the God who has become human
Pleased as man with man to dwell
The deity has elected to live with humans as a human
Jesus, our Emmanuel
Jesus, the one who is with us
Hail the heav'n-born Prince of peace!
Honor the Prince of Peace born in heaven!
Hail the Son of Righteousness!
Welcome the son who is righteous!
Light and life to all He brings
He brings light and life to all
Ris'n with healing in His wings
Rising with the power to heal
Mild He lays His glory by
He humbly lays aside his luminosity
Born that man no more may die
Born so that humans will no longer experience death
Born to raise the sons of earth
Born to resurrect the people of the earth
Born to give them second birth
Born to regenerate them
Hark! The herald angels sing
Listen! The angels are singing
"Glory to the newborn King!"
"Praise and honor the recently born King"
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Capitol CMG Publishing, Integrity Music, Downtown Music Publishing, Abkco Music Inc., Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Charles Wesley, Felix Mendelssohn
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Cynthia M
What a pleasure to listen to Natalie sing Christmas carols along with the Mormon Tabernacle choir! What a great singer and what a great concert this must have been! Rest in peace dear Natalie Cole!
Xaphyre Ansar
Tears just flow unbidden... this hymn always moves me so deeply, and what a beautiful rendition by the Choir and the wonderful Natalie Cole ♥♥♥ "For unto us this day is born... a Savior which is Christ the Lord..."
Alfonso & Alicante -España-
Just the presenter's voice makes my hair stand on end....and then Natalie, choirs and orchestra just melted me into the deepest of emotions...Thank you for this gift that feeds my soul.....Thank you Thank you....from Alicante Spain
Solo la voz del presentador me pone los pelos de punta....y luego Natalie, coros y orquesta acaba de fundirme en la más profunda de las emociones....Gracias por este obsequio que alimenta mi alma.....Gracias, gracias....desde Alicante España
THE LIVE CONNECTION
To the Friends & Family of Natalie Cole ..........Her voice on this Earth was a Gift From God..........Well Done Sister Cole !
polyprinz
R.I.P Ms. Natalie Cole. Heaven gained another singing Angel!!!
Yaz
Rest in Jesus Ms. Cole... Beautiful rendition👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾!
Mark Merlin
Her father was one of the best singers of all time.
Jennifer Talbot
Beautiful! Her father was an icon and she exemplifies all of his achievements and sings like an Angel! She is aging gracefully and still is a timeless beauty!
RRin!!
God gave her a beautiful voice, what a gift!!
Topnotch Reviewer
A beautiful Christmas carol announcing our Savior, Jesus Christ...Glory to the new born king!