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.
Snowfall on the Sahara
Natalie Cole Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Tasting sweeter to me everyday
Your kiss, divine and it melts the cold inside away
All of my life I've been waiting for a love like this
And now that you're here, romance is just a second away
It's gonna stay
Till the snowfalls on the Sahara and the sun freezes over
When my lungs get tired of breathing
And my heart stops its beating
Then I'll stop loving you
And if the dark, when there's no one calling out your name
Well I'll hold you so tight
And I'll whisper to you once again and again
When the snowfalls on the Sahara and the sun freezes over
When the Mojave Red turns into blue
When the music's no longer playing and the faithless start praying
I'll stop loving you
When the snowfalls on the Sahara (oh, oh)
And the sun freezes over
When the Mojave Red turns into blue (that's a long time)
When my lungs get tired of breathing
And my heart stops its beating
I'll stop loving you
I don't want to miss a single heartbeat
Sometimes my words get in the way
But I hear your love just fine
Just fine
And it's gonna take a long time
When the snowfalls on the Sahara and the sun freezes over
When the Mojave Red turns into blue (that's a long time)
When the music's no longer playing and the faithless stop praying
I'll stop loving you
When the snowfalls on the Sahara and the sun freezes over
When the Mojave Red turns into blue (I'll be loving you baby)
The lyrics of Natalie Cole's song Snowfall On The Sahara express the power of love and the singer's determination to love their partner for eternity. The opening lines compare the lover's love to wine that gets better with age, while their kisses are depicted as divine and have the power to melt the coldness inside. The singer has waited for such love to arrive all their life, and now that it is here, they believe it is going to stay. The chorus is the central theme of the song, emphasizing the power of the singer's love by explaining that it is going to last forever, even until the snow falls on the Sahara, and the sun freezes over.
The singer then proceeds to paint a vivid picture of when they will stop loving their partner, explaining that it would only be possible if their lungs get tired of breathing and their heart stops its beating. This line showcases the dedication of the singer towards their partner and the unbreakable bond between them. Even in times of darkness, the singer promises to hold their partner close and whisper sweet nothings in their ear. The second half of the chorus reiterates that nothing in the world can make them stop loving their partner, not even when the music's no longer playing, and the faithless start praying.
In conclusion, Natalie Cole's Snowfall on the Sahara is a ballad that is overflowing with the power of love, devotion, and commitment. The lyrics portray a love that is strong and can stand the test of time, a love that will last even when everything else fades away.
Line by Line Meaning
Your love like wine
Your love is as intoxicating as wine
Tasting sweeter to me everyday
As time goes on, your love tastes even better
Your kiss, divine and it melts the cold inside away
Your kiss is heavenly and warms me up from the inside
All of my life I've been waiting for a love like this
I've been waiting my whole life for a love as perfect as ours
And now that you're here, romance is just a second away
Being with you makes romance easy and always within reach
It's gonna stay
Our love will last forever
Till the snowfalls on the Sahara and the sun freezes over
Our love will last until the end of time
Till the Mojave Red turns into blue
Our love will last even longer than this drastic change
When my lungs get tired of breathing
I will love you until I can no longer take another breath
And my heart stops its beating
I will love you until the day I die
Then I'll stop loving you
My love for you will end only when my life comes to an end
And if the dark, when there's no one calling out your name
During the darkest moments, when you feel alone, I will be here for you
Well I'll hold you so tight
I will hold you close and not let go
And I'll whisper to you once again and again
I will reassure you of my love over and over again
When the music's no longer playing and the faithless start praying
Even in the bleakest of times, my love for you will remain strong
I don't want to miss a single heartbeat
I want to cherish every moment with you
Sometimes my words get in the way
I may not always express myself perfectly
But I hear your love just fine
But I understand your love perfectly
And it's gonna take a long time
Our love will last a very long time
I'll be loving you baby
I will never stop loving you
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: INA WOLF, NATALIE MARIA COLE, PETER F. WOLF
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@nelisiweskhosana7104
Your Love, like wine tasting sweeter to me everyday
your kiss divine and it malts the cold inside away
all of my life I've been waiting for love like this
and now that you are here,romance is just a second away
its gonna stay.
Till the snowfalls on the Sahara and the sun freezes over
till the more heavy reptiles turns in to blue,
when my lungs get tired of breathing
and my heart stops its beating
then ill stop loving
and in the dark when there's no one calling out your name
well i will hold you soo tight and i wispier to you once again and again
When the snowfalls on the Sahara and the sun freezes over
when the more heavy rain turns in to blue
when the music no longer playing
and the faithless start praying
ill stop praying
then the snowfall on the Sahara and the sun freezes over
when the more reptiles turns in to blue,
when my lungs gets tired of breathing
and my heart stops its beating
ill stop loving
i don't want to miss a single heartbeat,
sometimes my words get in the way
but i hear your love just fine.
(Back to the chorus)
"just thought i should share, please do correct were i am wrong"
stay blessed*much love for all*
@molefemp_mphoe
A South African DJ Eddie Makhosonke Zondi introduced me to this Jam on Metrofm. Thanks Eddie Rest in Peace! Rip Natalie Cole!
@tshepomatlala2534
He was the best, he taught us music. R.I.P bro-Eddie
@silindelokuhlegebashe6402
He is dearly missed he introduced to this kind of music when I was 18 years old
@africanloveletter1988
Mee too....
@corneliaafrica7047
Eddie's Zondies Music was amazing On Sundays..❤️
@marekatiehohlangabeza7981
He really taught us GOOD MUSIC.. I WILL ALWAYS BE PROUD OF HIM..MAY HIS SOUL REST IN ETERNAL PEACE.
@elizabethmarokane4113
21 years later this song is still amazingly phenomenal,it’s the music that never dies, thanks Ms Natalie Cole, RIP
@carolineharris5311
Yes,
It's been 21 years or longer since I first heard this beautiful song, by this beautiful phenomenal, and talented Sister. Beauty and love never dies. May we always remember the love she shared with us, through her wonderful contribution, Her voice!
@juliecrocketmarinette3011
But snow on the sahara by Anggun gained bigger success
@patrickobedgiu2762
I would go with this tune to my grave ❤️