Photo: William P. Gottlieb / Public domain (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Nat King Cole is one of those artists where you hear the first three notes of his voice and the whole room changes — that warm, unhurried baritone carried a kind of grace that nobody before or since has quite replicated. What I find endlessly fascinating is that he came up as a jazz pianist first, and a seriously gifted one at that; the singing almost snuck up on the world. Born in Montgomery, Alabama, raised in Chicago, he built his career from smoky jazz trio sets to becoming one of the biggest pop stars of the postwar era — crossing racial barriers in an industry and a country that were actively trying to keep him out. He hosted his own TV variety show in 1956, the first African American to do so, and even that couldn't survive the refusal of national sponsors to back a Black headliner. That he kept making gorgeous, indelible music through all of it — Unforgettable, Mona Lisa, The Christmas Song — and left us at just 45 is a genuine tragedy. The Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nod feel almost insufficient for someone who shaped what American popular music sounds like.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Nat King Cole
- Name (Japanese)
- ナット・キング・コール
- Reading
- なっと・きんぐ・こーる
- Born
- March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Pisces / Goat
- Origin
- Montgomery, Alabama, United States
- Occupation
- singer-songwriter / pianist / actor / jazz musician / jazz guitarist
2. Background
- High school
- Wendell Phillips Academy High School
Awards & achievements
- 1990 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
- star on Hollywood Walk of Fame
- 2000 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
- 2007 Latin Grammy Hall of Fame
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Frequently asked questions
When was Nat King Cole born?
March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965.
Where is Nat King Cole from?
Nat King Cole is from Montgomery, Alabama, United States.
What does Nat King Cole do?
Nat King Cole works as singer-songwriter, pianist, actor, jazz musician, jazz guitarist.
Singer-songwriter — see all → · Pianist — see all → · More people from United States →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.