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.
So Many Stars
Natalie Cole Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
So many dreams which one is mine
One must be right for me
Which dream of all the dreams
When there's a dream for every star
And there are oh so many stars
So many stars
So many songs which one is mine
One must be right for me
Which song of all the songs
When there's a song for every star
And there are oh so many stars, so many stars
Along the countless days, the endless nights
That I have searched so many eyes
So many hearts, so many smiles
Which one to choose, which way to go, how can I tell
How will I know, out of, oh
So many stars, so many stars
Yes, the wind is filled with songs, so many songs
Which one is mine, one must be right for me
Which song of all the songs
When there's a song for every star
And there are, oh, so many stars, so many stars
Along the countless days, the endless nights
That I have searched so many eyes
So many hearts, so many smiles
Which one to choose, which way to go, how can I tell
How will I know, out of, oh, so many stars
So many stars, (so many stars) oh, so many stars
(So many stars) oh, there are so many stars
(So many stars) lots and lots of stars, oh so many (so many)
Oh, so many (stars), many
So many, many (so many) stars (stars)...
The song "So Many Stars" by Natalie Cole is a song that speaks to the idea of infinite possibilities. The opening lyrics speak of the dark being filled with dreams, and how difficult it is to choose just one of them. The repetition of the phrase "so many dreams, which one is mine?" emphasizes this idea of an abundance of choices, yet the uncertainty of how to navigate them all. The same idea is echoed in later verses, with the wind being filled with songs and the singer having searched many eyes, hearts, and smiles.
The overall tone of the song is one of wonder and introspection. The singer is reflecting on their past and all the choices they have made, yet they are still unsure of what the future holds. The repetition of the chorus reinforces this feeling, as if the singer is still searching for answers.
One interpretation of the song could be about finding one's true purpose or path in life. The abundance of dreams, songs, and stars suggests that there are many possible paths to take, but it is up to the individual to choose the right one. The uncertainty and doubt expressed in the lyrics speaks to the human experience of searching for meaning and struggling to make sense of the world around us.
Line by Line Meaning
The dark is filled with dreams
The night is full of possibilities and aspirations.
So many dreams which one is mine
There are countless dreams, but I must figure out which one is truly mine.
One must be right for me
Out of all the dreams, there is one that is meant for me.
Which dream of all the dreams
I must identify which dream is mine and pursue it.
When there's a dream for every star
Just as there is a star in the sky for each dreamer, there is a dream for every star.
And there are oh so many stars
The universe is vast, and there are countless possibilities.
The wind is filled with songs
The world is full of beautiful melodies.
So many songs which one is mine
Among all the songs, I need to find the special one that resonates with me.
When there's a song for every star
Just as there is a star in the sky for each dreamer, there is a song for every star.
Along the countless days, the endless nights
As I continue my search for my true dream and song, time seems endless.
That I have searched so many eyes
I have looked into the eyes of many people, hoping to find a spark of inspiration.
So many hearts, so many smiles
I have encountered so many people with different passions and personalities.
Which one to choose, which way to go, how can I tell
I feel lost and unsure of which direction to take.
How will I know, out of, oh
How can I possibly determine which is the right dream or song?
So many stars, so many stars
There are countless opportunities and paths to follow.
Yes, the wind is filled with songs, so many songs
The world is full of beautiful songs waiting to be discovered.
Which one is mine, one must be right for me
Out of all the songs, there is one that will speak to me and inspire me.
So many, many (so many) stars (stars)...
The universe is vast, and there are countless possibilities for success and happiness.
Lyrics © Spirit Music Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: ALAN BERGMAN, MARILYN BERGMAN, SERGIO MENDES
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind