Remembering Natalie Cole
“I found someone who would understand … someone with a smooth touch” … “I just call to say I love you ….from the bottom of my heart”. This unforgettable star will forever shine in my path … l recall growing up on Natalie Cole. Her velvet voice was always fresh and soothing. “You were the sun the rain” … this is a most touching moment to learn of Natalie Coles demise to Hepatitis C. The result of a misguided lifestyle. Living on the fast but dangerous lane … a lane without an exit to true happiness or lasting fulfilment.
As a youngster her father Nat was not much my contemporary as Natalie was … it was a baton change that was as smooth as the one Usain Bolt received in the World Games in Bahamas that dusted out the USA relay team …causing them to drop their baton. Natalie came back and with the aid of technology did a most fitting tribute with her late dad …this “collaborating” from the grave got much acclaim and won album of the year. This spoke volumes of the brilliance and adventure of Natalie, my heroine. It was a very risky venture that could have tarnished Nat the King’s legacy if not the fond unblemished memory of the king of R & B.
The feud between Aretha Franklin and Natalie Cole was not any different from the run ins reported in Vision between Macka Diamond and Marion Hall (Lady Saw). This type of rivalry seem to be an international feature of the entertainment industry. Powerful actors feuding for supremacy … unforgettable you may add … no pun intended. What is unforgettable is that they are all black women of talent and fame … who have either accumulated much fortune and were not about to join the food bank lines.
Miss Kitty Reacts to Cole’s …
Contacted by Vision’s SIC for her reaction to the death of Natalie Cole, the diva of day time radio who hosts the very popular “Miss Kitty Live Show” aired on Nationwide News Network 90.3 FM, Kingston, Jamaica W.I. Miss Kitty relayed through her producer that “She was really saddened by her passing” Miss Kitty dedicated as a form of tribute, a segment of her Monday January 4, 2016 show at about 2:30 PM, to hit songs from Natalie Cole’s catalogue. The hit “Unforgettable” was one such song selected.
Women who have broken through the proverbial glass ceiling and have earned respect in a dog eat dog world … a prior to that dominated male controlled industry should support each other.
As the curtain comes down on a most illustrious career we say walk good our friend Natalie … you came, you saw, you won our hearts and that is why we think you are truly unforgettable and will always be. Who knows someone may do a collaboration with your stage performances with you even from the grave as history has a way of repeating itself.
Hopeton O’Connor-Dennie, (SIC) is Senior International Correspondent for Vision Newspaper Canada writion from Kingston Jamaica W.I.
