Nat "King" Cole

Nat King Cole, born Nathaniel Adams Coles in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1919, began his career as a jazz pianist before becoming one of the most beloved vocalists of the twentieth century. He first rose to prominence in the early 1940s with the King Cole Trio, whose light, swinging style and Cole's own inventive piano playing influenced a generation of jazz musicians, with figures like Bo Diddley citing his early hit «Straighten Up and Fly Right» as formative.

By the late 1940s Cole had pivoted increasingly toward pop vocals, and his warm, unmistakably smooth baritone carried him to massive commercial success with songs like «Mona Lisa», «Nature Boy» and «Unforgettable». His holiday recording «The Christmas Song» became a perennial standard, and his interpretations of «Smile» and «Autumn Leaves» remain touchstones of the American songbook.

Cole was also a trailblazer as one of the first Black entertainers to host his own television variety show, navigating a deeply segregated entertainment industry while building an enduring legacy as a singer of extraordinary elegance and restraint. He continued recording and performing until shortly before his death from lung cancer in 1965, leaving behind a catalog still central to popular understanding of the Great American Songbook.