Remembering the great Natalie Cole – a nine-time Grammy winner – who was born 73 years ago today

Natalie Cole was always one of my favorite singers so I’d like to celebrate her on the 73rd anniversary of her birth.

She died on January 1, 2016 at the relatively young age of 65 and is very missed.

Her music has always connected with me starting with This Will Be and such other early hits as I’ve Got Love on My Mind, Sophisticated Lady, Mr. Melody, Someone That I Used To Love, Our Love and Inseparable.

I think because she meant so much to me when I was buying my first records is why she is one of the few celebrities who have caused me to go unexpectedly weak in the knees when I met and interviewed them. (The others were Jaclyn Smith and Pam and Judd from The Real World; San Francisco – I can’t explain why except that it simply happened).

Another time I saw Natalie was at the premiere of the movie Beauty Shop and outside the after-party in Westwood, Natalie stood out there patiently signing autographs and casually chatting with fans. Just the relaxed way she conducted herself in that situation really said a lot about her I thought.

I was so glad that after problems with drugs in the early 1980s, Natalie made a successful comeback with the hits Miss You like Crazy, I Live For Your Love, and Pink Cadillac then, of course, came the release of the epic Unforgettable… with Love – an album of the music of her father, Nat King Cole.

She won nine Grammys during her stellar career with the wins spread out over more than 30 years.

She is a singer who will never, ever be forgotten.