As a jazz pianist an important influence on Art Tatum and Oscar Peterson, Cole had even greater success as a singer. His smooth, warm, romantic baritone and relaxed singing style, with little trace of blues or gospel, won him six million-sellers and made several of his recordings, particularly ‘Mona Lisa’ and ‘When I Fall in Love’, permanent features of late-night radio programming. The son of a Baptist minister, Cole was raised in Chicago and studied piano as a child.  He made his first recording with his  older brother  Eddie’s band ‘Honey Hush’ in 1936.  That showed the influence of Earl Hines but by the time of his

1939 recordings with his trio (Cole, Oscar Moore and Wesley Prince) Cole was playing in the familiar single-note manner that marked the majority of his trio recordings. Originally an instrumental performer, Cole started singing in 1941 and had his first hit, with his own composition ‘Straighten Up and Fly Right’, he was a singer/pianist rather than pianist/singer. For five years Cole continued to record with the trio, including ‘I Love You For Sentimental Reasons’ and ‘Harmony’ with guest vocals from Johnny Mercer, but from the time of Mel Torme’s ‘The Christmas Song’, his first recording with strings, and ‘Nature Boy’ Cole was increasingly recorded as a solo artist with orchestral backing.              
   His last major recording with the trio was ‘Little Girl’ the song initially popularized by Guy Lombardo. Les Baxter’s orchestra supported Cole on the Oscar-winning film theme ‘Mona Lisa’ and ‘Too Young’. These songs established Cole as a romantic balladeer and set the pattern of his subsequent career as a mainstream entertainer on stage, television, film and record, in collaboration with Les Baxter, Nelson Riddle and Billy May. In the late fifties, hits of the period include ‘Answer My Love’, ‘A Blossom Fell’, ‘When I Fall in Love’, ‘Ramblin Rose’ and ‘Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days of Summer’. Also the hit ‘Let There Be Love’, a collaboration with George Shearing, revived the memories of Cole’s trio days.