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.
Song for You
Natalie Cole Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I've sung a lot of songs and I've made some bad rhymes
I've acted out my life in stages with ten thousand people watching
Oh, but we're alone now and I'm singing this song for you
I know your image of me is what I hope to be
I've treated you unkindly oh, but darling can't you see that
There's no one more important to me
'Cause we're alone now and I'm singing this song to you
You taught me precious secrets
Of a true love withholding nothing
You came out in front when I was hiding, yeah, yeah
But now it's so much better
If my words don't quite come together
Please listen to the melody
'Cause my love is in there somewhere hiding
I love you in a place where there is no space or time
I love you for my life, you are a friend of mine
And when my life is over
Remember, remember, remember when we were together
And we are alone now, and I was singing this song to you
We were alone, and I was singing, yeah singing
We were alone, and I was singing this song for you
Singing my song, I'm singing my song for you
Do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, doo
The first verse of Natalie Cole's "A Song for You" reflects on the journey of her life as a performer, acknowledging both the highs and lows. She has traveled extensively, sung countless songs, and written lyrics that may not have always lived up to her standards. However, despite her public persona, she recognizes that in this moment, she is alone with one person - the person to whom she is singing this song. In the chorus, she reveals that this person's perception of her - an image she hopes to embody - is at odds with how she has treated them in the past. She begs them to see past her mistakes and recognize that they are the most important person to her, even if her love is not always apparent on the surface.
The second verse of the song is more directly addressed to the person she is singing to. She recalls times when they taught her about the secrets of true love and helped her come out of hiding. Though she admits that her words may not always express her feelings perfectly, she hopes that the melody will convey the depth of her emotions. In the final verse, Cole declares her love for this person transcends time and space, viewing them as a dear friend and an essential part of her life. Even when they are no longer together, she implores this person to remember the time they shared alone when she sang this song for them.
Line by Line Meaning
I've been so many places in my life and time
I have had many experiences and traveled to various places throughout my lifetime.
I've sung a lot of songs and I've made some bad rhymes
I have written and sung many songs, including some that were not well-crafted.
I've acted out my life in stages with ten thousand people watching
I have lived my life on stage, in front of large crowds of people.
Oh, but we're alone now and I'm singing this song for you
Despite previously performing in front of many people, I am now singing this song for you and you alone.
I know your image of me is what I hope to be
I am aware that your perception of me is what I aspire to be.
I've treated you unkindly oh, but darling can't you see that
I have not always treated you well, but I hope you see that I am trying to change.
There's no one more important to me
You are the most important person in my life.
Baby, baby, can't you see through me
I hope you can see into my heart and understand my feelings.
'Cause we're alone now and I'm singing this song to you
Once again, I am emphasizing that we are alone and I am singing this song only for you.
You taught me precious secrets, of a true love withholding nothing
You have shown me the valuable lessons of a love that is pure and genuine, without any reservations.
You came out in front when I was hiding, yeah, yeah
When I was afraid, you stepped forward and supported me.
But now it's so much better
Things are much improved now because of you.
If my words don't quite come together, please listen to the melody
If I struggle to articulate my thoughts, I hope the music itself will convey my feelings.
'Cause my love is in there somewhere hiding
Even if it's not obvious, my love for you is there and it's important to me.
I love you in a place where there is no space or time
My love for you transcends the limits of space and time.
I love you for my life, you are a friend of mine
I love you for all that you bring to my life, and value our friendship.
And when my life is over, remember, remember, remember when we were together
When my life has ended, I hope you will remember the times when we were together.
And we are alone now, and I was singing this song to you
Once more, I want to emphasize that we are alone and I am performing this song for you exclusively.
We were alone, and I was singing, yeah singing
We were the only ones present and I was using my voice to express my emotions.
We were alone, and I was singing this song for you
Just as I have been repeating, I was singing this song just for you.
Singing my song, I'm singing my song for you
This is my song, and I am performing it for your benefit.
Do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, doo
Musical interlude.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Leon Russell
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind