Richmond Free Press
B2 January 7-9, 2016
Happenings
‘Unforgettable’ Grammy winner Natalie Cole mourned at 65 Reuters
James Haskins/Richmond Free Press
Natalie Cole performing at the 2015 Richmond Jazz Festival at Maymont.
Ms. Barnes
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Grammy Award-winning singer Natalie Cole, whose biggest hit came in a virtual duet with her late father, the legendary Nat King Cole, of his decades-old hit “Unforgettable,” has died. Ms. Cole, who was 65, died Thursday, Dec. 31, 2015, at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles from “ongoing health issues,” her family said. Ms. Cole’s career spanned five decades in the R&B, soul, jazz and pop genres. In 2015, she had canceled appearances citing medical reasons. “Natalie fought a fierce, courageous battle, dying how she lived — with dignity, strength and honor. Our beloved mother and sister will be greatly missed and remain unforgettable in our hearts forever,” said a statement signed by Ms. Cole’s only child, Robert Yancey, and her sisters, twins Timolin and Casey Cole. Tributes quickly poured in from admirers and entertainers alike. Ms. Cole broke out in 1975 with the hit “This Will Be,” which won the Grammy for best R&B female performance and also earned her the Grammy for best new artist. Critics compared her to Diana Ross and Aretha Franklin. But her career floundered in the
Mr. Dunnaville
Chief Justice Hassell
1980s because of her heroin addiction. She bounced back, and her career reached the superstar level in 1991, when she recorded “Unforgettable ... With Love.” The album contained songs associated with her father, the silky-voiced baritone who was one of the most popular performers of the 1940s and ’50s but died before his daughter began her solo career. Using technology that was cutting edge at the time, studio engineers merged her voice with her father’s in the song “Unforgettable,” which had been a hit for Mr. Cole in 1951. The result was a moving, sentimental No. 1 hit 40 years later that actually sounded as if the two were singing a duet. The song and the album earned Ms. Cole three Grammy Awards. “I thank my dad for leaving me such a wonderful, wonderful heritage,” Ms. Cole said in accepting her awards. Ms. Cole was 11 when she first sang professionally, with her father. But she went to the University of Massachusetts in Amherst with no plans of an entertainment career. While in college, she performed with bands and set aside plans for being a child psychologist. Her mother, Maria Cole, also had been a singer with the Duke Ellington and Count Basie bands.
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The success of “Unforgettable” capped her comeback after a dark period of heroin, crack and alcohol abuse. In her 2000 memoir, “Angel on My Shoulder,” Ms. Cole said she turned to drugs because of unresolved issues in her life, including being molested as a child and her father’s death when she was 15. She was married three times. She portrayed herself in “Livin’ for Love: The Natalie Cole Story,” a 2000 television movie that depicted her drug addiction. She spent six months in a rehabilitation program at the Hazelden Clinic in Minnesota and told CBS in 2006 that “those people gave me my life back one day at a time.” Ms. Cole was diagnosed with hepatitis in 2008 from sharing needles with drug addicts, and underwent kidney transplant surgery in 2009. This past autumn, she canceled several concerts scheduled for November and December, citing a recent medical procedure. Her 2008 album of pop standards, “Still Unforgettable,” included another duet with her father, “Walkin’ My Baby Back Home.” Her most recent work was 2013’s “Natalie Cole en Espanol.” Her other hits included “Everlasting,” “Sophisticated Lady,” “I’ve Got Love on My Mind,” and “Good to Be Back.” In all, she won nine Grammys.
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2016 Strong Men & Women in Virginia History honorees They can only be described as sculptors. They are responsible for the making and shaping of strong communities. They are the 2016 Strong Men & Women in Virginia History who are being honored at a ceremony next month. The honorees were announced this week by Dominion and the Library of Virginia, sponsors of the annual program celebrating the outstanding achievements of African-Americans. This year’s honorees: • Melody C. Barnes of Richmond, former domestic police adviser for President Obama. Currently, she is vice provost for global student leadership initiatives at New York University and a senior fellow at the university’s Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service. • The late Thomas Cannon Sr. of Richmond, a humanitarian and philanthropist who, as a postal worker, contributed more than $150,000 to area nonprofits and community service organizations during his lifetime.
• Clarence M. Dunnaville Jr. of Roanoke, an attorney and civil rights activist now living in Richmond. After sitting in on arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court in the Brown v. Board of Education case in the early 1950s, he decided to go to law school to combat injustice. He worked in Richmond with the law firm of Hill, Tucker and Marsh for several years. • The late Chief Justice Leroy R. Hassell Sr. of Norfolk who became the firstAfrican-American chief justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia in 2003. A graduate of Harvard Law School and partner at McGuireWoods law firm in Richmond, he served 12 years on the state’s highest court. • Sen. Mamie E. Locke of Hampton, dean of the School of Liberal Arts and professor of political science at Hampton University. Sen. Locke was the first African-American mayor of Hampton, serving from 2000 through 2004. Currently, she represents Hampton and Newport News in the Virginia Senate and is chair of the
Ringing in the New Year Brian Richardson and Jasmine Valentine, below, cheer with hundreds of others inside Virginia Commonwealth University’s Siegel Center as a new year rolls in last Thursday. Charles Johnson, right, turned out in New Year’s gear, including celebratory eyewear, to party with the crowd to live entertainment. Organizers moved the previously free city event from its prior locations at Brown’s Island and Carytown to the Siegel Center and charged a fee. Photos by Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press
Virginia Legislative Black Caucus. • Dr. Claude G. Perkins of Richmond, the 12th president of Virginia Union University. Dr. Perkins earned degrees from Mississippi Valley State University, Perdue University and The Ohio State University. A former superintendent of schools in Clark County, Nev., and Kansas City, Mo., Dr. Perkins came out of retirement in 2009 to become president of VUU, where he has increased student enrollment, retention and scholarships. • Michael Robinson of Henrico, who retired in 2014 from the Seattle Seahawks after helping the team to a Super Bowl title. A 2011 graduate of Varina High School, he played quarterback and wide receiver at Penn State University, helping lead the team to a Big Ten Conference title in 2005. He was named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year the same year. He was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the fourth round of the 2006 NFL Draft and, in 2011, was named to the Pro Bowl
with the Seahawks as a fullback. He also hosts free football camps in the Richmond area and founded the TEAM EXCEL program, which stresses academics, attendance and community service to high school students. • The late Anne Bethel Spencer of Lynchburg, who was known as a Harlem Renaissance titan. She was the first AfricanAmerican woman poet to be published in the Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry in 1973. She lived in her Virginia home her entire life and became friends with Harlem Renaissance writers such as James Weldon Johnson, Langston Hughes and W.E.B. Du Bois. The Anne Spencer House and Garden Museum is a Virginia Historic Landmark and her work is preserved in numerous libraries, including the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collection Library at the University of Virginia. For more information on past honorees and current events, visit www.lva.virginia. gov/public/smw.
John Marshall-Thomas Jefferson alumni basketball game Saturday at Ashe Center Past basketball greats from John Marshall and Thomas Jefferson high schools will face off for a good cause. Former players from both schools will tip off at 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 9, at the Arthur Ashe Jr. Athletic Center, 3001 N. Boulevard. Among those scheduled to play are current Thomas Jefferson boys basketball coach Kendrick Warren, Thomas Meredith and Leonard Hughes. Players scheduled to represent John Marshall are Ronnie Wade, Milton Bell and LaMar Taylor. Former cheerleaders from both schools are scheduled to perform at halftime. Advance tickets to the game cost $10. Children age 4 and younger will be admitted free. The game is hosted by “Friends of John Marshall,” an organization created by the school’s alumni to benefit the school’s student athletes. Proceeds from the game will be presented to the athletic
programs at both schools. For more information: Call A.C. Davis at (804) 366-0082 or Blair Paige at (804) 873-5020 or email friendsofjohnmarshall@ gmail.com.
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