Natalie Cole is still unforgettable

MANILA, Philippines - Ten-time Grammy Award winner Natalie Cole is finally coming to Manila for the first-time live via her Still Unforgettable World Tour at the Araneta Coliseum on March 11. Her greatest hits include Unforgettable, Inseparable, This Will Be An Everlasting Love, When I Fall In Love, Miss You Like Crazy, Someone That I Used To Love, Starting Over Again, I Live For Your Love, L-O-V-E and Sophisticated Lady.

When Natalie Cole’s seminal Unforgettable-With Love album came out in 1991, the jazz collection set a new standard for reinventing the Great American Songbook. The CD, which captured six Grammy Awards, including Album and Record of the Year, spent five weeks at No.1 and sold more than eight million copies in the United States alone.

Yet instead of exploiting the moment and rushing out a second volume, Natalie thoughtfully took a step back, devoted herself to several other stellar projects, including her riveting autobiography, and waited until she felt ready to return the songs that fulfill her heart and soul. The time is now.

“Timing is everything, and I wasn’t in a hurry to make this kind of a record right away,” Natalie shares. “Something about now just seemed the right time. There is never a guarantee of success when you are ready to put out a record — especially one like this. You have to go with your gut, but I didn’t want to be shamelessly chasing after the success of Unforgettable-With Love, so I waited.”

Still Unforgettable proves to be more than worth the wait, after winning two more awards at the recent Grammy Awards 2009, a co-venture between Natalie and her record label, Cole lovingly wraps her unparalleled supple voice around 14 standards. On this, her 21st studio album, Cole also takes the reins as producer for the first time.

Just as she lovingly partnered with her late father, the legendary Nat “King” Cole, for a posthumous duet on the title track on the 1991 masterpiece, this time they reunite on the delightful Walkin’ My Baby Back Home, first recorded by Natalie’s father in the early ’50s.

“If there was going to be another ‘duet’ with Dad, I felt it should be something more whimsical, fun and light,” Cole says. “At the same time, I was looking for a song that would also be familiar to a certain type of audience. I think this is going to work just as well. It’s adorable and loving between parent and child. It feels like he’s right there with me. How do you top that?”