Nat+King+Cole+by+Ben

=Nat King Cole by BEN =

Nathaniel Adams Cole was born in Montgomery Alabama, in 1919. When Cole was
==four years old, he moved with his family to Chicago. His father Edward was a Baptist minister in Chicago. His mother was the choir director and introduced all of her children to music. Coles' three brothers were also professional musicians. At age 12, Cole began taking piano lessons and began playing the organ in his father's church. If he was not playing the piano or organ, he was singing in the choir. ==

==Nat King Cole was first known as a professional jazz musician. Although an accomplished pianist, most of his popular musical fame was because of his unique soft voice which he used to perform with jazz bands. He was given the name ”King” by a Los Angeles club owner in 1937. He was one of the first musicians to record with the new Capitol Records. The first song he recorded was “Straighten Up and Fly Right.” It was a song that talked about the things that his father taught him. The song became one of the biggest hits of 1943. It sold more than 500,000 copies. He is still remembered today for his great voice and especially for his popular Christmas music. ==

==Cole was the first black man to have his own t.v. show. The program was cancelled after a year. Many people watched the show, but NBC dropped the program because advertisers would not support a program that had a black performer. ==

Cole was a heavy smoker. He believed that smoking helped his voice. He died of lung cancer in February of 1965.
References: [] Wikipedia: Nat King Cole []

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