Grammy Award-winning vocalist Natalie Cole, has sold more than 30 million albums during her 28-year career. The prolific daughter of the legendary Nat King Cole has crossed over from R&B to pop to jazz. Cole, 53, also has so dabbled in acting, starring in her own TV biopic, "The Natalie Cole Story," as well as the television movie "Lily in Winter" and an episode of "Touched by an Angel."

Q. You have a huge body of work. There must be some albums you've made that even you would classify as regrettable. What albums do you wish you hadn't made?

There are a couple albums I've done that are horrible. Some of them should be thrown into the sea of forgetfulness (laughs). There are two that shouldn't have come out. One I was talked into. The other I was in a very bad place in my life. That was before I went into drug rehab. It's an album called "I'm Ready." The other album I was talked into is "I Love You So." It was all disco-type music. I really hated it.

Q. Were you surprised that you got so much grief for using an overdub in your recording of "Unforgettable," which made it sound as if you were singing a duet with your late father?

I was devastated by some of the criticism I received. Some people said I was being morbid or exploitive and disrespectful to the dead. It was a shock to get that kind of reaction. A lot of these critical people just went away when more than a half-million copies of the album were sold within the first two weeks. The bottom line is that the people closest to me loved it. My mother came down to the studio, and she enjoyed every moment of it. I'm sure my dad would have loved it.

Q. What's the best piece of advice your dad ever gave you?

Be yourself. Don't be a fake.

Q. What's the hardest part of being Nat King Cole's daughter?

Being myself (laughs). It's so tempting to be somebody else, and that's hard to deal with when you're young. But I did reconcile with the fact that I had to be myself. When I did that I thought, "I hope they [the fans] like me as I am, because this is all I got.

I absolutely love this woman! Natalie Cole is one classy lady with amazing talent.For the time being,she has given up singing pop music,and is concentrating on jazz.Her latest CD 'Ask A Woman Who Knows' is one of the most beautiful albums I've ever heard.There's also a DVD of her performing these songs live,and it's on my Christmas list

DavidEye said:

Me too I love Natalie, damn I wish I could look that fine when I hit 53. Call it stereotype but black women look PRETTIER as they age? Did you see Mary Wilson? Whew lol back 2 the topic.

She got Diana Krall in that CD(Ask A Woman Who Knows", thats kinda odd but then again I heared that Diana did a tribute album by Nate Cole and also gave props to Natalie.

What do u think of her 99's release "Snowflakes In Sahara"? I remember watching a BET interview she did at that time to promote it saying that it was a comeback to her RnB/Soul roots after she spent 20 years doing Jazz standards.

Actualy yeah, this ablum kinda remind me of her 70's work. I can't help but to shed tears when I hear her ballad "Catching Hell"!

What do u think of her movie/book? I'm kinda intersted to check 'em out, are they worthy?

Holla
[This message was edited Sun Nov 23 11:46:19 PST 2003 by Harlepolis]

Her 1999 album 'Snowflakes In The Sahara' is very good.It's a vibrant combination of R&B,pop and jazz.The title track is really nice and her version of "A Song For You" is amazing.Luther Vandross appears on one track.

Her book 'Angel On My Shoulder' is the BEST autobiography I've ever read,It's better than Patti,Aretha,Glady's and Donna's books!! Very candid and insightful.Natalie doesn't hold NOTHING back,she tells you the complete story.The TV movie 'Livin For Love:The Natalie Cole Story' is a must-see.It's not as in-depth as the book,but it's impossible to include everything in a 2-hour TV movie.You can order it in VHS form on Amazon or CD Universe.

DavidEye said:

Agreed. Natalie's bio is a very good read. I keep looking at how well she has aged and how her career has developed and keep thinking that there is hope for my girl Whitney. Natalie went through her drug stages too. She managed to survive and prosper and she lookds damn better than she did when she was in her 30's. I can only hope for the same for Whitney.