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.
The Best Is Yet To Come
Natalie Cole Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I just picked me a plum
You came along
And everything's
Startin' to hum
Still
It's a real good bet
The best is yet to come
And babe,
Won't that be fine?
You think
You've seen the sun
But you
Ain't seen it shine
A-Wait till
The warm-up's underway
Wait till
Our lips have met
And wait till you see
That sunshine day
You ain't seen
Nothin' yet
The best is yet to come
And babe
Won't it be fine?
Best is yet to come
Come the day you're mine
Come the day you're mine
I'm gonna teach you to fly
We've only tasted the wine
We're gonna drain the cup dry
Wait till your charms
Are right
For these arms to surround
You think
You've flown before
But baby
You ain't left the ground
A-Wait till
You're locked in my embrace
Wait till I draw you near
A-Wait till
You see that sunshine place
Ain't nothin' like it here
The best is yet to come
And babe
Won't it be fine?
The best is yet to come
Come the day you're mine
Come the day you're mine
And you're gonna be mine
The lyrics to Natalie Cole's song "The Best Is Yet To Come" convey a sense of optimism and hope for the future, particularly in the context of a romantic relationship. The first verse describes the singer feeling content with their current life ("out of the tree of life I just picked me a plum"), but also recognizing that there is more potential for happiness and fulfillment ("still, it's a real good bet, the best is yet to come"). The second verse builds on this theme, with the singer suggesting that their partner has not yet experienced the full extent of their love and affection ("you think you've seen the sun but you ain't seen it shine").
The chorus reinforces this sense of anticipation and excitement for what is to come in the relationship ("best is yet to come, and babe, won't that be fine"). The final verse imagines a future where the two lovers are together and fully committed to each other, with the singer proclaiming their intention to help their partner reach new heights of joy ("I'm gonna teach you to fly... we're gonna drain the cup dry").
Overall, the song is a celebration of the potential for happiness and fulfillment in life, especially in the context of a loving relationship. It encourages listeners to stay optimistic and hopeful, even when things are going well, because there is always the possibility of even greater joy in the future.
Line by Line Meaning
Out of the tree of life I just picked me a plum
I have just found something rare and delightful out of the abundance of life
You came along And everything's Startin' to hum
Since you came into my life, everything has started to work together in harmony
Still It's a real good bet The best is yet to come
Despite all the good things that have happened, there are still better days ahead
Best is yet to come And babe, Won't that be fine?
What lies ahead is greater and more wonderful, and I can't wait for us to experience it together
You think You've seen the sun But you Ain't seen it shine
You may have experienced good things, but you have yet to experience something truly marvelous
A-Wait till The warm-up's underway Wait till Our lips have met And wait till you see That sunshine day You ain't seen Nothin' yet
Once we start our journey together, you will experience something better than anything you have ever known
Come the day you're mine I'm gonna teach you to fly
When we are together, I will help you to discover new things about yourself and what you can achieve
We've only tasted the wine We're gonna drain the cup dry
We have only begun to experience the joys of life, and we will make the most of every opportunity
Wait till your charms Are right For these arms to surround
You are amazing just the way you are, and I will wait until you are ready to embrace a new level of intimacy
You ain't left the ground A-Wait till You're locked in my embrace
While you have experienced some good things in life, they pale in comparison to the love and support you will receive from me
A-Wait till I draw you near A-Wait till You see that sunshine place Ain't nothin' like it here
The love we will share is unlike anything you have ever known, and it will bring true joy into your life
The best is yet to come And babe Won't it be fine?
The best is yet to come, and we will both revel in the joy and wonder that it brings
Come the day you're mine And you're gonna be mine
When the day comes that we are together, you will know without a doubt that you belong to me
Lyrics © WORDS & MUSIC A DIV OF BIG DEAL MUSIC LLC, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Peermusic Publishing
Written by: Carolyn Leigh, Cy Coleman
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind