Nat King Cole

Lifespan:: March 17, 1919 - February 15, 1965, he died aged 45 and was American.
Birthname:: Nathaniel Adams Coles.
Snapshot:: An Artist with 376 releases, a member of 1 group, and credited 11 times on others' music. 13 collaborations and 2 musical relatives.

The smoky, smooth pop vocals of Nat "King" Cole make us tend to forget that, at heart, he was essentially a jazz performer. His piano proficiency, vocal phrasings, and utter coolness all hark back to his jazz roots, even in his decidedly pop repertoire or arrangements. Whether singing "Nature Boy", jamming with guitarist Oscar Moore, or performing posthumous duets with his daughter Natalie Cole, Nat "King" Cole will always be an unforgettable titan of 50s vocal styling.

Pictures

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Photo of Nat King Cole

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Getty Images

Nat King Cole

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Getty Images

Photo of Nat King Cole

Positive votes: 0 Negative votes: 0

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Music

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Genres

American Songbook, Bolero, Crooner, Traditional Pop, American Standards, Jazz. Vote on Genres

L-O-V-E 1964 (Play) Buy mp3

Sings My Fair Lady 1964 (Play) Buy mp3

I Don't Want to Be Hurt Anymore 1964

The Christmas Song 1963 (Play) Buy mp3

Where Did Everyone Go? 1963

Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days of Summer 1963 (Play) Buy mp3

Dear Lonely Hearts 1962

Ramblin' Rose 1962 (Play) Buy mp3

Nat King Cole Sings - George Shearing Plays 1962 (Play) Buy mp3

More Cole Español 1962 (Play) Buy mp3

Let's Face the Music! 1961 (Play) Buy mp3

The Touch of Your Lips 1961

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View full timeline

Nat King Cole

Has worked with

Dean Martin
- on: Holiday Favorites - co-released
- on: Christmas With Cole & Martin - co-released
- on: Christmas Bing Crosby Nat King Cole & Dean Martin - co-released
- on: Christmas With Nat and Dean - co-released
- on: Let It Snow, Let It Snow - co-released
- on: Memories Are Made of This - performer
- on: Christmas With Nat & Dean - co-released
- on: Three Of A Kind - co-released
Bing Crosby
- on: Christmas Bing Crosby Nat King Cole & Dean Martin - co-released
- on: Fairytales for Hard Men - co-released
Johnny Guarnieri
- on: Exercise in Swing - co-released
Les Paul
- on: Jazz at the Philharmonic - co-released
George Shearing
- on: Let There Be Love - co-released
- on: Nat King Cole Sings - George Shearing Plays - co-released
- on: St+3 (24bt) (Mlps) - co-released
Buddy Rich
- on: Anatomy of a Jam Session - co-released
Pete Rugolo
- on: Lush Life - co-released

Natalie Cole
- on: Walkin' My Baby Back Home - co-released
- on: Unforgettable/The Christmas Song - co-released
- on: Unforgettable With Love - performer
- on: Back to Back Hits - co-released
Ella Fitzgerald
- on: Merry Christmas From Cole and Fitzgerald - co-released
- on: Christmas In Jazz - co-released
- on: Nat King Cole/Ella Fitzgerald - co-released
Lester Young
- on: Complete Recordings - co-released
- on: Exercise in Swing - co-released
Frank Sinatra
- on: Christmas In Jazz - co-released
A:xus
- on: When I Fall Remix Project - composer
Louis Armstrong
- on: Legends Collection: Kings of Swing - co-released

Has been in these groups

The Nat King Cole Trio

founder member

Has this family

Marie Ellington
- married
Natalie Cole
- child

Nat King Cole

Dec, 22 2008

Whether it's because new artists aren't confident enough to say something new about Christmas; or whether it's because so many beautiful songs have already been written that there's no point in trying: but Christmas seems to be fertile time for covers, as opposed to original songs. Among the most popular for reinvention is “The Christmas Song”, written in 1944 for Nat King Cole and recorded by an astonishing number of artists since, from Aaliyah to Weezer. Close behind it must surely be Bing Crosby’s crooning classic “White Christmas”, written by Irving Berlin for the 1942 film Holiday Inn. A surprising Christmas cover staple is Wham!’s “Last Christmas”, which has a blog dedicated to it solely for the purposes of documenting all the cover versions which exist (current count: 384). New covers keep spilling out of the stores, and released for 2008 is U2’s charity single version of Greg Lake's “I Believe in Father Christmas”.