Artist: Nat “King” Cole

Nat “King” Cole known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's career as a jazz and pop vocalist started in the late 1930s and spanned almost three decades. He recorded over 100 songs that became hits on the pop charts.

Cole started his career as a jazz pianist in the late 1930s, where he formed The King Cole Trio, which became the top-selling group (and the only black act) on Capitol Records in the 1940s. His trio was the model for small jazz ensembles that followed. Starting in 1950 he transitioned to become a solo singer billed as Nat King Cole.

Despite achieving mainstream success, during his career he faced intense racial discrimination. While not a major vocal public figure in the civil rights movement, Cole was a member of his local NAACP branch and participated in the 1963 March on Washington. He regularly performed for civil rights organizations.

Cole recorded "Sweet Lorraine" in 1940, and it became his first hit. In 1941, his trio recorded "That Ain't Right" for Decca, followed the next year by "All for You" for Excelsior. They recorded "I'm Lost", a song written by Otis René, the owner of Excelsior.

In 1946, the trio had broadcast King Cole Trio Time on radio, which was the first radio program to be hosted by a black musician. On November 5, 1956, The Nat 'King' Cole Show debuted on NBC. The variety program was one of the first hosted by an African American. The program started at a length of fifteen-minutes but was increased to a half-hour in July 1957. Rheingold Beer was a regional sponsor, but a national sponsor was never found. The show struggled financially, despite efforts by NBC, Harry Belafonte, Tony Bennett, Ella Fitzgerald, Eartha Kitt, Frankie Laine, Peggy Lee, and Mel Tormé. Eventually, Cole decided to end the program, and the last episode aired on December 17, 1957.

n 1958, Cole went to Havana, Cuba, to record Cole Español, an album sung entirely in Spanish. It was so popular in Latin America and the U.S. that it was followed by two more Spanish-language albums: A Mis Amigos (1959) and More Cole Español (1962).

Cole recorded several hit singles during the 1960s, including "Let There Be Love" with George Shearing in 1961, the country-flavored hit "Ramblin' Rose" in August 1962 (reaching No. 2 on the Pop chart), "Dear Lonely Hearts" (No. 13), "That Sunday, That Summer" (No. 12) and "Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days of Summer" (his final top-ten hit, reaching number 6 on the Pop chart).

He performed in many short films, sitcoms, and television shows and played W. C. Handy in the film St. Louis Blues (1958). He appeared in The Nat King Cole Story, China Gate, and The Blue Gardenia (1953).