Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, was a musician who first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist. He owes most of his popular musical fame to his soft baritone voice, which he used to perform in big band and jazz genres. He was one of the first black Americans to host a television variety show, and has maintained worldwide popularity since his death.
Read more about Nat King Cole: Childhood and Chicago, Los Angeles and The King Cole Trio, Early Singing Career, Making Television History, Racism, 1950s and Beyond, Death and Posthumous Achievements, Personal Life, Legacy, Politics, Notable TV Appearances (other Than His Own Show)
Famous quotes containing the words nat, king and/or cole:
“Love is a thyng as any spirit free.
Wommen, of kynde, desiren libertee,
And nat to been constreyned as a thral;
And so doon men, if I sooth seyen shal.”
—Geoffrey Chaucer (1340–1400)
“The supreme, the merciless, the destroyer of opposition, the exalted King, the shepherd, the protector of the quarters of the world, the King the word of whose mouth destroys mountains and seas, who by his lordly attack has forced mighty and merciless Kings from the rising of the sun to the setting of the same to acknowledge one supremacy.”
—Ashurnasirpal II (r. 883–59 B.C.)
““Orders to shoot on sight.” I thought he said the bloke was invisible!”
—Lester Cole (1904–1985)