Shelah Moody and Natalie Cole
“I think the women who are successful (in music) are the ones who are very aggressive. They’re very distinctive. They’re writing their own material, which I need to be doing more of, thank you very much. But I must say that I’ve been one of the lucky ones in that I am able to interpret other people’s music very well, so, in other words, other writers. I think that it’s very jammed, jammed out there; there’s women coming out of the woodwork. You really have to have something very very special these days, because there are like, clones. And so, it’s nice to be able to be unique.”—Natalie Cole
San Francisco— Veteran music journalist Rani Shelah Moody, in collaboration with Island Stage Magazine, is proud to present an unforgettable Family, Friends and Fans tribute to seven-time Grammy winner Natalie Cole.
The mini-documentary, produced by Moody masterfully edited by Xavier LeBlanc, features rare photos, reflections, commentary and testimony from those who knew the iconic R&B/pop singer best.
Contributors include Benita Hill Johnson, (Cole’s longtime friend and personal assistant), R&B vocal duo Chrystal and Chyna Johnson (Cole’s goddaughters), Marcellina Hawthorne (Cole’s former backing vocalist), Sakai Smith (vocalist and member of the rock group Train) Mary Isaacs (Jamaican vocalist who covered Cole’s hit song “A Little Bit of Heaven”) and Ronald Edwards (fan and music historian).
The tribute also includes original audio from a 1988 interview that Moody conducted with Cole at the Sheraton Waikiki Resort in Honolulu, Hi.
“Natalie Cole was the most elegant performer I’ve ever met said, Moody. “In 1988, I was a journalism student at the University of Hawaii and I was reviewing her concert for our college newspaper. I ran into one of her former classmates from the University of Massachusetts. After the concert was over, he called Natalie’s room from the house phone and asked if we could come up and say hi. In her hotel room, Natalie was entertaining several people including her cousin, Eddie Cole. Natalie greeted us warmly, and gave me a 15-minute interview. The conversation went smoothly; it was like speaking to my sister or my best friend.”
Natalie Maria Cole (1950-2015), singer, actress and activist sold more than 30 million records worldwide; her hits include “This Will Be,” “I Got Love on My Mind,” “Inseparable,” “Our Love” and “Unforgettable” (a digital duet with her father, renowned vocalist Nat “King” Cole.”
To view the Family, Friends and Fans tribute to Natalie Cole, go to: https://youtu.be/Yf_hWey-YfA
and: www.island-stage.com
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