Nat King Cole was, without a doubt, a pioneer in the music industry. However, his road to
success as a chart-topping singer and star of his very own TV show, came with its fair
share of struggle. Here's the untold truth of Nat King Cole.
Born in Alabama on March 17th, 1919, Nathaniel Adams Coles, he would later drop the "s,"
always had a musical streak. As told by Marianne Ruuth in her book Nat King Cole, he grew up
in Chicago deeply entrenched in religious music, with a gospel choir leader for a mother
and a reverend for a father.
His mom, an amateur piano player herself, gave him piano lessons when he was as young
as four years old, with "Yes, We Have No Bananas" being the first song he ever learned to play.
Cole also had perfect pitch, making him able to pick out and identify a note on the piano
in an instant. As a kid, Cole played the organ and sang at church with his family. At the
same time, though, he was highly influenced by his brother Eddie, who was six years older
and a big fan of the popular jazz music that their father criticized.
A multi-talented musician who played piano, bass, and tuba, Eddie would sneak out in the
night to perform at various gigs around town, and it wasn't too long before young Nat started
following him around, too. Eddie strongly encouraged Nat to learn how to read music
and become proficient in the technical side of piano playing. Nat took the advice seriously
and, around the age of 12, started to dive into the classics, playing everything from
Bach to Rachmaninoff.
From the start, Nat King Cole's mother supported his musical ambitions. Marianne Ruuth writes
how it was his mom who convinced his father to allow him to look for work as a jazz pianist
on weeknights, so long as he continued playing for the church. Apparently, his part-time
efforts paid off, because by the time he was 15, he had dropped out of school and was pursuing
music full-time.
Luckily, the young Cole had his older brother Eddie to guide him. The two joined forces
after Eddie returned from touring with Noble Sissle's band and formed their own swing sextet.
It was with this band, named Eddie Cole's Swingsters, that Nat King Cole made his first
recording. Eddie Cole's Swingsters recorded two singles for Decca Records in 1936.
The brothers were also hired to perform in the revival of the all-black Broadway musical
revue Shuffle Along for their Chicago stop. Nat would continue playing piano with the
revue for the rest of the tour, performing all across the country until the show, unfortunately,
ran out of money in Long Beach in 1937.
"That's when you find out why they call this a grand piano because it costs just about
that much to ship it."
Despite the fact that Nat King Cole is revered today as a vocal legend, he never intentionally
pursued a singing career. After his time with Shuffle Along came to an end in Long Beach,
Cole and his wife at the time decided to settle in California. He had always looked for work
as a pianist and played piano in various bars throughout the Golden State before he finally
landed a residency.
Cole was hired as the pianist for a jazz quartet that would play at the Sewanee Inn near Hollywood.
When the drummer never showed up, the quartet became a trio. With Cole on the piano, Oscar
Moore on the guitar, and Wesley Prince on string bass, the three became known as the
famous King Cole Trio.
Legend has it that, one night, a drunk customer demanded that the group sing. Initially, Cole
refused, replying, quote, "We don't sing." But after some prodding from the manager,
Cole agreed. His rendition of "Sweet Lorraine" was so well-received that he continued to
sing, and his pure musical talent, both vocally and on the piano, began to get the attention
it deserved.
"I try to please as many people as I possibly can. And if I find that people like certain
things than I try to give them what they like."
In July 1948, Nat King Cole and his new wife, Maria Hawkins, began house-hunting. They tried
a couple of places, including Beverly Hills, but ultimately wanted somewhere away from
the paparazzi and rowdy fans. When they came upon a house in Hancock Park, they agreed
that they had found their future home.
Hancock Park, however, was an all-white neighborhood that had a "restrictive covenant" barring
non-whites from living there unless they were servants. Their real estate agent knew about
this racist rule and circumvented it by hiring a light-skinned Black woman to buy the place
for the Coles with a $6,000 down payment. When the Hancock Park Property Owners Association
found out, though, they were furious and offered Cole his money back plus some profit.
He rejected it, cheekily requesting $1 million instead. During a neighborhood meeting, the
residents expressed that they simply didn't want undesirables around, to which Cole replied,
"Neither do I, and if I see any undesirables coming in here, I'll be the first to complain."
In August 1948, the couple moved into their new home. Their life there was riddled with
threats and harassment, including someone sticking a racist sign in their yard, a shot
being fired into their home, firecrackers being placed in rose bushes, and their dog
being poisoned. Despite these horrific acts, the Coles never wavered, and Nat King Cole
would live in his Hancock Park home until his death.
In 1956, Nat King Cole was a superstar, selling millions of records and touring all over the
country. But fame doesn't negate racist sentiments and violence. When Cole was on tour that spring,
he traveled to the South, including his birth state of Alabama, and performed for an all-white
audience in Birmingham. Suddenly, while he was right in the middle of a song, a group
of white men who were associated with an offshoot of the KKK ran toward the stage and assaulted
him.
The Guardian reported how someone came at Cole's knees and knocked him to the ground,
injuring his back. Police intervened and took custody of three men immediately, while three
additional men were arrested in the aftermath of the attack. Reportedly, the all-white audience
begged Cole to continue with the show, but he fervently refused and flew to Chicago after
canceling his remaining three performances in the South.
The six men arrested were all originally charged with assault with intent to murder, but the
charges were later changed to conspiracy to commit a misdemeanor for four of them. One
of the men was identified to be a member of the white supremacist group White Citizens'
Council. According to police, a plan had been developed four days earlier for a group of
150 white men to attack Cole. The racist mob never showed up, resulting in the smaller-scale
attack that transpired.
At a time when Jim Crow was the law of the land and the Civil Rights Movement was growing
stronger, Nat King Cole played a complicated role. On one hand, his existence as a popular
Black musician certainly challenged racist sentiments and broke down many barriers. At
the same time, though, Cole wasn't an active participant in the Civil Rights Movement initially.
As written by Marianne Ruuth, Cole saw himself as, quote, "an entertainer, not a politician."
When he was attacked in Birmingham, Alabama, by a group of white supremacists, he was baffled
at the violence he endured, saying,
"I can't understand it. I have not taken part in any protests. Nor have I joined an organization
fighting segregation. Why should they attack me?"
According to AL.com, his comments sparked criticisms among civil rights leaders, who
felt that Cole hadn't done enough in pushing for change, especially since he had always
agreed to perform for segregated audiences.
"Of course I don't condone segregated audiences, I never have."
Thurgood Marshall, the NAACP legal counsel at the time, even saw Cole as, quote, "an
Uncle Tom." These critiques hurt the musician, who would eventually take a more active role
in the movement, including participating in the 1963 March on Washington and regularly
performing at benefit concerts for civil rights groups.
While Cole certainly had a more understated public role in the Civil Rights Movement,
he was apparently quite outspoken in private among his high-profile friends, including
Presidents Kennedy and Johnson.
By the 1950s, Nat King Cole had become a household name. His enjoyable personality landed him
the iconic gig as the host of his very own nationally televised show. First airing in
November 1956, The Nat King Cole Show was the very first time that a Black man was able
to host a variety program, a historic development which saw Americans all across the country
turning on their televisions to welcome an African-American host into their homes.
Initially a short 15-minute program, the show's popularity soared once it was able to express
its full potential with a 30-minute prime-time slot. The program featured some of the hottest
stars of the day, both Black and white, including Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennet, Count Basie,
Peggy Lee, and more. By the summer of 1957, it was New York City's top-rated variety program.
While The Nat King Cole Show was a significant move toward racial integration in media, Cole
and the showrunners were still aware of the racial divisions that existed in the country.
As Cole described, while they, quote, "didn't bend over backwards" to please white audiences,
they certainly did not want to offend them. When white stars, particularly women, came
on the show, there was a pointed effort to make sure there was always some kind of barrier
between them and Cole to ensure audiences wouldn't be angry.
Nat King Cole never planned to be the first Black man to host his own television program,
but when he was offered the gig, he knew its significance. Cole was dedicated to seeing
the pioneering show succeed, not for the money but to break down barriers and disprove racial
prejudices. For over a year, the entertainer worked tirelessly on his show, even turning
down a total of $500,000 in performances in order to focus on the program. Unfortunately,
from the beginning, The Nat King Cole Show always struggled with one thing: sponsors.
For a brief time when it debuted, the show had no sponsors. Eventually, NBC was able
to get about 30 local sponsors, but there was never a national corporate sponsor that
would support the program. The advertising executives of Madison Avenue refused to risk
alienating their white audience base, who was likely to respond with prejudice to a
show hosted by a Black American, even one as popular and admired as Nat King Cole.
Without a large sponsor, NBC was unable to keep the show scheduled during prime time
and had to move it to a less coveted time slot. Cole, who was greatly disappointed,
made the difficult decision to pull the plug on the program. He always blamed the advertising
executives for the show's end, bitterly commenting, quote, "Madison Avenue is afraid of the dark."
It is tragically ironic that a talented singer would partake in an activity that damages
one's lungs and vocals. Of course, in the mid-20th century, smoking was irresistibly
popular. According to The Guardian, cigarette smoking was not only the epitome of cool and
glamour, but it was also cheap and accessible. Nat King Cole, too, fell to the allure of
smoking. The LA Sentinel describes how Cole, who was known for his smooth, rich voice,
would smoke as many as three packs a day.
Apparently, he felt that smoking gave his voice the unique quality it had and would
chain-smoke several cigarettes before a recording for that very purpose. Cole's chain-smoking
habits would, sadly, catch up to him. In December 1964, he was diagnosed with lung cancer when
doctors discovered a tumor in his left lung. The next month, he underwent surgery to remove
the lung, but it was too late.
On February 15, 1965, Nat King Cole passed away in his sleep at the age of 45. The public,
who knew very little about the severity of his condition, was shocked. Those close to
him, however, knew for days and were able to see him in his last moments. In the days
leading up to Cole's death, he was able to go on short drives with his wife and visit
his children at their family home in Hancock Park.
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