Natalie Cole Tells How She Triumphed Over Fame, Drugs And Bad Marriages

Ebony, Dec, 1999 by Aldore Collier

NATALIE Cole can tell you a thing or two about double-edged swords. Most of her adult life has been spent trying to gingerly battle demons and successes that have often overwhelmed her and, on a few occasions, nearly killed her.

She was already a Grammy Award-winning artist when, in 1991, she made the fateful decision to record the music of her legendary father. Her mother Maria told her it would be a good idea to record Nat King Cole's music, but there would be a major downside. "My mother predicted Unforgettable would be a double-edged sword and would follow me around and haunt me and make it hard to go back," she says.

And nine years later, Natalie is convinced her mother was right. The recording was an international success, but it brought her tremendous criticism from those who thought she was capitalizing on her dead father. Saturday Night Live did a skit on her called "Natalie Cole Sings The Songs of Dead People." She also says the album's phenomenal success contributed to the demise of her six-year marriage to Andre Fischer.

"After the first two years, that marriage was over. It really was," Natalie says. "Once Unforgettable happened, he couldn't take it. He couldn't deal with that. This was the kind of person who'd get upset if someone called him `Mr. Cole,' which was an honest mistake. Fans did that with my first husband, Marvin [who's now deceased]. But, he thought it was hysterical. Andre thought it was insulting. He wanted to be recognized for who he was."

Additionally, she says, some of those around her had problems dealing with Fischer, but because she was in such a state of complete bliss, she was totally unaware. "Nobody can tell you anything when you're in love," she says.

They separated twice but managed to reconcile before finally calling it quits three years ago. So shattered was her self-image that she says she probably would still be married to him today had he not walked away. "I wasn't strong enough to walk on and I guess he wasn't either because he didn't have to stay," she says. "But, I'm sure there were some fringe benefits that were making it somewhat more attractive for him. But, four years later, he finally left. And that was the smartest thing because there was a good chance that I would have just continued to stay."

Rather than step back, take a deep breath and analyze what direction she wanted her life to take, Natalie found herself quickly in another relationship that was every bit, she says, as negative and destructive. "I was so insecure and felt like nobody would ever want to be with me again. I got right back into another one," she says, smiling and shaking her head. "But this one was not as long. It was two years. And he was a foreigner."

Like her previous two marriages, that relationship spiraled downward quickly. But, this time, she didn't allow it to fester over a long period of time. "And I paid a hefty price with him, too," she says. But, she ended up suing him in court (for undisclosed reasons), winning and finally deciding to put the brakes on immersing herself wholeheartedly into personal relationships.

The most special man in her life now, her son Robbie, is away at college. She does date some now, but is not involved in any serious relationship. Now, the focus is back on what made her an international superstar her music.

Last year, she released two major albums, Snowfall on the Sahara and The Magic of Christmas. Snowfall was a deliberate attempt to take her back to the R&B roots that made her a star long before Unforgettable was even a thought. "With Snowfall on the Sahara, it was like enough of Unforgettable. Enough of the standards. I loved every minute of it, but I did those for almost 10 years. I'm ready to go back to the first 15 years of my work which was R&B and jazz."

And this year, she is celebrating her 25th anniversary as a recording artist. She will travel the country bringing her diverse sound to audiences who have been waiting for her to return to the stage. "My anniversary tour is going to be bad," she proclaims. "I'm excited!"

As Natalie sits on the sofa in the family room of her home in the elegant canyons above Beverly Hills, the internationally famous entertainer's focus is very much toward the future. And she is at peace now that she has successfully dealt with so many of the demons that dogged her past, particularly drugs. But she throws her hands up and proudly announces that she's been drug-free for almost 16 years.

That experience and others will be included in her autobiography, which she plans to pen sometime in 2000. Although much of her amazing life has been played out in public view, readers could be surprised by tidbits she plans to include in the book. For example, she points out that on at least two occasions drug-use almost caused her death.

Contrary to what many have theorized, her use of drugs was not an attempt to get away from the awesome presence of her father. "I wasn't thinking about my father," she says. "There was just a part of me that wasn't comfortable with who I was, what I was doing. I always felt I had to prove myself to people because of who I [am]. I was out of control. And when you're out of control, you put yourself in some very dangerous positions. I did almost die a couple of times. I was on a hell-bent mission to destroy myself."