Nathaniel Adams Coles was born in Montgomery, Alabama, on March 17, 1919. His family environment helped him to develop his predilection for music, because when he was a child his family moved to Chicago, where his father was a church minister and his mother, Mrs. Perlina Adams, played the organ. It was she who gave him his first lessons, developing especially a taste for gospel, jazz and classical music. 

In addition, they lived in the Bronzeville neighborhood, where there were many jazz clubs that made him admire some exponents of the genre. In the thirties he took his first steps as an artist, adopting the name Nat Cole and forming his first local band with which he toured the nightclubs of Chicago. 

Later, in the late 1930s, in his quest for artistic growth, Nat Kelly Cole moved to Los Angeles. There he formed the popular "Nat King Cole Trio", but by then he only stood out as a great pianist. His great step and consolidation as a singer was achieved with the hit "Straighten Up and Fly Right", starting a new stage in his career. 

After the dissolution of the band, he began his solo career in 1948. 

Nat Cole also excelled in other areas: he was the first African-American to moderate a radio program and a television program. In addition, his fight against racism earned him several attacks from extremist groups and the racial prejudice of the time caused him some setbacks. Nat decided to stop playing in places where there was racial segregation.