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.
Non Dimenticar
Natalie Cole Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Non Dimenticar,
Means don't forget you are, my darling
Don't forget to be - all you mean to me
Non Dimenticar,
My love is like a star, my darlingShining bright and clear
Just because you're here
please do not forget
That our lips have meant
And I've held you tightly
Was it dreams ago, my heart felt this glow?
Or only just tonight, dear?
Non Dimenticar,
Although you travel far, my darling
It's my heart you owe
So I'll wait alone, Non Dimenticar...
Se ci separΓ², se ci allontanΓ²
L'ala del destino
Non ne ho colpa, no, e mi sentiro sempre a te vicino
Non dimenticar although you travel far, my darling
It's my heart you own, so I'll wait alone
Non dimenticar
"Non Dimenticar" is a beautiful love song performed by Natalie Cole that speaks about the intensity and the immortality of love. The lyrics of the song are in both English and Italian, which adds another level of depth to the meaning of the song. The first verse "Non Dimenticar, Means don't forget you are, my darling" highlights the importance of the person to the singer, and how they never want to forget them, even if they are far apart. The second verse "My love is like a star, my darling, Shining bright and clear, Just because you're here" compares the love the singer has for their significant other to a star that shines brightly because of them.
The chorus "please do not forget, That our lips have meant And I've held you tightly" emphasizes the significance of the memories and moments they have shared. The lyrics "Was it dreams ago, my heart felt this glow? Or only just tonight, dear?" ponder whether the strong emotions have been present for a long time or just recently. The last verse "Se ci separΓ², se ci allontanΓ² L'ala del destino Non ne ho colpa, no, e mi sentiro sempre a te vicino" in Italian means "If we are separated, if we are apart by the wings of destiny, I'm not to blame, and I will always feel close to you". This verse expresses the hope that love will always endure, even if life takes them in different directions.
Line by Line Meaning
Non Dimenticar,
Do not forget,
Means don't forget you are, my darling
Remember that you are my beloved,
Don't forget to be - all you mean to me
Do not forget the significance you hold in my life
Non Dimenticar,
Do not forget,
My love is like a star, my darling
My love for you is bright and constant like a star in the sky,
Shining bright and clear
It shines brightly and clearly,
Just because you're here
Because you are with me.
please do not forget
Please remember,
That our lips have meant
The connection we share through our kisses
And I've held you tightly
And when I held you close to me
Was it dreams ago, my heart felt this glow?
Did I feel this warmth in my heart in a dream, long ago?
Or only just tonight, dear?
Or did I only feel it tonight, my dear?
Non Dimenticar,
Do not forget,
Although you travel far, my darling
Even though you may travel far away, my love.
It's my heart you owe
Remember, my love is what you owe,
So I'll wait alone, Non Dimenticar...
So, I will wait for you alone. Do not forget.
Se ci separΓ², se ci allontanΓ²
If we are separated, if we are apart
L'ala del destino
It is the wing of fate
Non ne ho colpa, no, e mi sentiro sempre a te vicino
I am not to blame, no, and I will always feel close to you.
Lyrics Β© O/B/O APRA/AMCOS
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