Nat+King+Cole+by+Paige

=Nat King Cole= =Known for Jazz Music=

by Paige
Nat King Cole's birth name was Nathaniel Adam Coles. He was born March 17, 1919 in Montgomery, Alabama. He and his family moved to Chicago, Illinois when he was about four years old. He learned how to play the organ from his mother. He had three brothers - Eddie, Ike, and Freddy.

When he was around 12-13 years old he would sneak out to clubs and listen to music. When he got older he started his career. In the 1930's, while still a teenager, he adopted the name Nat Cole. He moved right along and made the King Cole Swingers jazz band, who played at a number of local bars.

In 1937 he married Nadine Robinson. Five years later he recorded one of his compositions, "Straighten Up and Fly Right". It sold at least 500,000 copies! He made a lot of jazz and swing music. He married again to Maria Ellington and they had three kids. They also adopted and raised two other children. Nat's daughter, Natalie, follwed her dad as a singer. She recorded many songs after her father died in 1965 because of lung cancer. It was a tragic day on February 15, 1965. Jazz music lovers will never forget him.

Nat King Cole and Natalie Cole

Sources: []

[]