Lionel Cole is an American pianist and composer. He has served as a regularly touring member of

Mariah Carey Mariah Carey (; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. Referred to as the " Songbird Supreme", she is noted for her five-octave vocal range, melismatic singing style and signature use of the w ...

's live band. Cole also partnered with Malcolm-Jamal Warner, to create the

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

and

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the mi ...

band ''Miles Long.'' Malcolm-Jamal Warner Biography Contemporary Black Biography , 2003 , Kiser, Helene , COPYRIGHT 2005 Thomson Gale
/ref> The first album, ''The Many Facets of Superman'', featured

En Vogue En Vogue is an American vocal girl group whose original lineup consisted of singers Terry Ellis, Dawn Robinson, Cindy Herron, and Maxine Jones. Formed in Oakland, California, in 1989, En Vogue reached No. 2 on the US Hot 100 with the single ...

's Cindy Heron and soul icon

Teena Marie Mary Christine Brockert (March 5, 1956 – December 26, 2010), known professionally as Teena Marie, was an American singer-songwriter, musician, composer, arranger, and producer. She was known by her childhood nickname Tina before taking the sta ...

.''Billboard Magazine'' article
July 15, 2000. Cole co-wrote with Mariah Carey the ''Billboard'' chart single "

Through the Rain "Through the Rain" is a song by American singer Mariah Carey, taken from her ninth studio album, ''Charmbracelet'' (2002). It was written by Carey and Lionel Cole, and produced by the former and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. The song was released a ...

", which appeared on Carey's ninth studio album ''

Charmbracelet ''Charmbracelet'' is the ninth studio album by American singer Mariah Carey, released on December 3, 2002, through MonarC Entertainment and Island Records. The album was Carey's first release since her breakdown following the release of her fi ...

'' (2002). The song peaked at number 81 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and hit number 1 on the U.S. sales and dance charts. Previously, Cole remixed the million selling cover single " Hard to Say I'm Sorry" by boy band

AZ Yet Az Yet is an American R&B group from Philadelphia, best known for their songs " Last Night" and the cover " Hard to Say I'm Sorry" originally performed by Chicago. Formation Formed in 1989 initially as a duo with Shawn Rivera and Dion Allen, t ...

. In 2010, Cole toured with 1980s star

Rickie Lee Jones Rickie Lee Jones (born November 8, 1954) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and author. Over the course of a career that spans five decades, she has recorded in various musical styles including rock, R&B, pop, soul, and jazz. A two ...

. From a storied musical family, he is the son of

Freddy Cole Lionel Frederick Cole (October 15, 1931 – June 27, 2020) was an American jazz singer and pianist whose recording career spanned almost 70 years. He was the brother of musicians Nat King Cole, Eddie Cole, and Ike Cole, father of Lionel Cole, ...

, a jazz vocalist, the nephew of

Nat King Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's music career began after he dropped out of school at the age of 15, and continued f ...

, and the cousin of

Natalie Cole Natalie Maria Cole (February 6, 1950 – December 31, 2015) was an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She was the daughter of American singer and jazz pianist Nat King Cole. She rose to success in the mid-1970s as an R&B singer with the h ...

.Jazz Standard at Blue Smoke
/ref> Cole's music work extends into film and television, he composed for the

Tim Reid Timothy Lee Reid (born December 19, 1944) is an American actor, comedian and film director best known for his roles in prime time American television programs, such as Venus Flytrap on ''WKRP in Cincinnati'' (1978–82), Marcel "Downtown" Brown ...

film '' Once Upon a Time...When We Were Colored''Once Upon a Time...When We Were Colored IMDB
/ref> and the Showtime series ''

Linc's ''Linc's'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Tim Reid and Susan Fales-Hill. The series starred Steven Williams, Pam Grier and Golden Brooks, and was set in a bar in Washington, D.C. It aired on Showtime for two seasons f ...

''.Linc's IMDB.
/ref>

Biography

Lionel was born in New York City and grew up in Atlanta. He moved to Chicago to study singing at

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

, then moved to Los Angeles. In 1986 and 1987, he traveled with Up with People (Cast 86C). After moving to Los Angeles, he worked as a staff composer/music editor with award-winning producer

Steve Tyrell ''yes'Steve is a masculine given name, usually a short form (hypocorism) of Steven or Stephen Notable people with the name include: steve jops * Steve Abbott (disambiguation), several people * Steve Adams (disambiguation), several people * Steve ...

on several television projects, including

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

's ''

California Dreams ''California Dreams'' is an American teen sitcom that aired on NBC. It was part of the network's Saturday morning block, TNBC, premiering on September 12, 1992. Created by writers Brett Dewey and Ronald B. Solomon, and executive produced by Pet ...

'' and ''

The Brady Bunch Movie ''The Brady Bunch Movie'' is a 1995 American comedy film that parodies the 1969–1974 television series ''The Brady Bunch''. The film was directed by Betty Thomas, with a screenplay by Laurice Elehwany, Rick Copp, and Bonnie and Terry Turner, an ...

''. Cole moved on to film composing for '' Once Upon a Time...When We Were Colored''. Later he and Malcolm Jamal Warner (Theo from ''

The Cosby Show ''The Cosby Show'' is an American television sitcom co-created by and starring Bill Cosby, which aired Thursday nights for eight seasons on NBC between September 20, 1984, until April 30, 1992. The show focuses on an upper middle-class Africa ...

'') partnered to form the jazz/funk band, Miles Long. The Miles Long album ''The Many Facets of Superman'' featured En Vogue's

Cindy Herron Cynthia Ann Herron (born September 26, 1961), professionally known as Cindy Herron and sometimes credited as Cindy Herron–Braggs is an American singer and actress. Herron is best known as a founding member of the R&B/pop group En Vogue, one of ...

and soul icon

. Cole had many roles on this project as lead singer, pianist and producer. In addition he did a turn as a featured vocalist in John Powell's score for '' The Bourne Identity'' (2002), a two-year stint as band leader on the television series '' Malcolm and Eddie'' and played piano with

Ivan Neville Ivan Neville (born August 19, 1959) is an American multi-instrumentalist musician, singer, and songwriter. He is the son of Aaron Neville and nephew to members of The Neville Brothers. Career He has released four solo albums and had a Top 30 ...

and his ensemble. Cole was featured as part of Robert Downey Jr.'s band on ''

The Oprah Winfrey Show ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', often referred to as ''The Oprah Show'' or simply ''Oprah'', is an American daytime syndicated talk show that aired nationally for 25 seasons from September 8, 1986, to May 25, 2011, in Chicago, Illinois. Produced ...

'', the ''

Tonight Show ''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. The show has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2009 and 2010� ...

'', ''

Ellen Ellen is a female given name, a diminutive of Elizabeth, Eleanor, Elena and Helen. Ellen was the 609th most popular name in the U.S. and the 17th in Sweden in 2004. People named Ellen include: *Ellen Adarna (born 1988), Filipino actress * Elle ...

'', and ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. ...

''. Cole's work with singer Mariah Carey included piano playing on her number-one single "Never Too Far Hero", and co-writing three songs, notably the heartfelt hit "Through the Rain" from her multi-platinum album ''

''. One of his proudest moments was arranging "

The Star-Spangled Banner "The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from the "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem written on September 14, 1814, by 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet Francis Scott Key after witnessing the ...

" for Carey and the

Boston Pops The Boston Pops Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts, specializing in light classical and popular music. The orchestra's current music director is Keith Lockhart. Founded in 1885 as an offshoot of the Boston Sym ...

at the 2002 Super Bowl following 9/11. He also was featured keyboarding and background singing for Carey's worldwide tour, which played to sold-out audiences. For the past few years Cole's creativity has focused on work with long-time writing partner

Randy Jackson Randall Darius Jackson (born June 23, 1956) is an American record executive and television presenter, perhaps best known as a judge on ''American Idol'' from 2002 to 2013. Jackson began his career in the 1980s as a session musician playing ba ...

(of the television series ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to ...

''). Cole worked on countless projects including the Grammy-nominated

Sam Moore Samuel David Moore (born October 12, 1935) is an American vocalist who was a member of the soul and R&B group, Sam & Dave, from 1961 to 1981. He is a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the Grammy Hall of Fame (for " Soul Man"), and the V ...

(of Sam & Dave) album ''Overnight Sensation'' and the Grammy award-winning remake ''A Family Affair'' with Van Hunt,

John Legend John Roger Stephens (born December 28, 1978), known professionally as John Legend, is an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and record producer. He began his musical career by working behind the scenes, playing piano on Lauryn Hill's " Eve ...

, and

Joss Stone Joscelyn Eve Stoker (born 11 April 1987), known professionally as Joss Stone, is an English singer, songwriter and actress. She rose to prominence in late 2003 with her multi-platinum debut album, ''The Soul Sessions'', which made the 2004 Merc ...

. That work lead to collaboration on "Walk On By", with pop prodigy

featured on ''Randy Jackson's Music Club Volume 1''. The team also worked on the films produced by Walmart family pictures. 2010 brought a world tour with 1980s icon Rickie Lee Jones as her singer and multi-instrumentalist. This also landed Cole in Sydney, Australia. He currently resides in Sydney, Australia, with his family and performs regularly as lead singer with his band "Cole Soul and Emotion". In May 2014, he participated in ''

The Voice The Voice may refer to: Fictional entities * The Voice or Presence, a fictional representation of God in DC Comics * The Voice (''Dune''), a fictional ability in the ''Dune'' universe * The Voice, a character in the American TV series ''Cleo ...

'' on Channel 9, working with coaches

Ricky Martin Enrique Martín Morales (born December 24, 1971), known professionally as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican singer, songwriter, and actor. He is known for his musical versatility, with his Ricky Martin albums discography, discography spanning ...

and

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter and actress. She is the highest-selling female Australian artist of all time, having sold over 80 million records worldwide. She has been recognised for reinve ...

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cole, Lionel Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American male songwriters American pianists Mariah Carey Northwestern University alumni American male pianists Afro Blue Band members