Nat "King" Cole
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Year:
2000
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Inducted by:
Ray Charles
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Category:
Early Influences
Introduction
A honey-voiced singer and swinging jazz pianist who improvised like a mind reader.
Nat "King" Cole’s music was laidback and mellow, but his impact on the music world was anything but. He released hit singles that presaged rock and roll, all the while working to integrate music.
Ray Charles Inducts Nat "King" Cole
Ray Charles Inducts Nat "King" Cole at the 2000 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony-
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Ray Charles Inducts Nat "King" Cole00:02:09 -
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Nat King Coles' Daughters' Acceptance Speech00:03:33 -
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"Nature Boy"00:03:20 -
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"Route 66"00:07:11
Hall of Fame Essay
2000
Nat King Cole did plenty to justify his nickname. He was a true superstar (even before the word was coined) whose enormous appeal transcended boundaries of race, age, gender and musical preference.
Landing eighty-six singles and seventeen albums in the Top Forty between 1943 and 1964, he recorded ballads, jazz instrumentals, foreign language songs, Christmas carols, pop standards and what might now be termed pop rock.
