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.
Love Letters
Natalie Cole Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
V is very, very extraordinary, E is even more than anyone that you adore
Can love, its all that I can give to you, love is more than just a game for two
Two in love can make it, take my heart but please don't break it
Love was made for me and you, musical Interlude
Yea, L is for the way you look, you're looking at me
And O is for the only one I see, V is so very, very extra ordinary
Can love, its all that I'm gonna give to you, oh love
Is more than just a game for two, two in love can make it
Take my heart but please don't you break it, cause love
Was made for me and you, I'm telling you love
Was made for me and you, don't you know that love
Was made for me and you
The song Love Letter by Natalie Cole begins with a classic way of spelling out the word “Love,” while associating each letter with a special meaning. The lyrics express the deeper meaning of love in a relationship, where “L” signifies the way your partner looks at you, which can be very meaningful for a person in love. “O” in the song represents the person who is the only one that you see, meaning the person who is always on your mind. “V” portrays how incredible the relationship is, and how extraordinary the person is for whom the song is composed. Lastly, “E” portrays how the person for whom the song is written is more than anyone else who you adore.
The song then continues with a beautiful musical interlude that fills the listener’s heart with a tender melody. The chorus repeats the significance of love and how it is not a game for two, but certifies that two people in love can make it through any challenge. It then requests that the singer's heart be taken, but not broken, as love is made for both of them. The song concludes with the chorus reminding the listener that love was made for both of them, which signifies that their entire relationship has been created solely for each other.
Line by Line Meaning
L is for the way you look at me
The letter L represents the special way you gaze upon me.
O is for the only one I see
The letter O stands for the fact that you are the only one I see as truly special.
V is very, very extraordinary
The letter V denotes how uniquely exceptional you are in every way.
E is even more than anyone that you adore
The letter E signifies that my affection for you is stronger than anyone else you hold dear.
Can love, its all that I can give to you
The gift I have to offer you is nothing but pure love.
Love is more than just a game for two
Love is not meant to be taken lightly as a mere game between two people.
Two in love can make it
If both partners are truly in love, they can overcome anything together.
Take my heart but please don't break it
While I am willing to give you my heart, I sincerely hope that you treat it with care.
Love was made for me and you
It feels as though love was created especially for us.
Musical Interlude
This part involves only instrumental music with no vocals.
Yea, L is for the way you look, you're looking at me
Once again, the letter L signifies the way you are gazing intensely into my eyes.
And O is for the only one I see, V is so very, very extra ordinary
The letters O and V still encapsulate the fact that you are my one and only true love, who is undeniably exceptional.
Now E is even more than any, any, anyone that you adore
This time, the letter E signifies that my affection for you is even greater than anyone else you might hold in high regard.
Can love, its all that I'm gonna give to you, oh love
Once again, my greatest offering to you will always be my unadulterated love.
Is more than just a game for two, two in love can make it
Love is far more important and impactful than a mere game between two people. If both individuals are truly in love, they can conquer all obstacles together.
Take my heart but please don't you break it, cause love
I wholeheartedly offer you my most valuable possession, but please handle it with care, because my love for you is pure and genuine.
Was made for me and you, I'm telling you love
It is as though love was created solely for the two of us, and I am certain that my love for you is real.
Was made for me and you, don't you know that love
Love is something that was created specifically for us, and you too should know that my love for you is the genuine article.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: BONNIE HAYES
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind