COLE, NAT KING

COLE, NAT KING One of the most popular American singers during the mid-twentieth century, Nat King Cole was born Nathaniel Adams Coles in Montgomery, Alabama in 1919. During his early musical career, Cole was primarily a pianist, not turn­ing to singing until the 1940's. During the late 1940's, he was the only African American performer to have his own commercial network radio program. Similarly, he became the first black entertainer with his own national television show during the 1956-57 season. Selling over fifty million records during his lifetime, Cole's most popular songs include "Mona Lisa," "Nature Boy," "It's Only a Paper Moon" and "Sweet Lorraine." He died in 1965.