Kimberly Cole

Kimberly Cole
Kimberly Cole on the cover of The Prelude
Background information
Born	Orange County, California, United States
Genres	Pop dance
Occupation(s)	Singer Competitive Skater
Instruments	Guitar Vocals Piano
Years active	2008–present
Labels	Crystal Ship Atlantic Bigbeat
Associated acts	Lenny Kravitz Jessica Simpson Will Smith Mýa Katy Perry
Website	kimberlycolemusic.com

Kimberly Cole (b. Orange County, California^[1]) is an American pop singer, songwriter, and music correspondent/host. She is signed with the William Morris Endeavor agency, and has interviewed celebrities, bands, and other recording artists for MTV and the American Music Awards.^[1][2] Cole's Twitter account has over 2 million followers,^[3] having hit the one million followers mark on March 25, 2009.^[2][3][4] She was ranked #45 on the Celebuzz 2012 list of 101 Hot Bodies, as well as declared "Eye Candy" by XXL Mag and "Buzzworthy" by MTV.^[5] She has also been featured in MTV Style,^[6][7][8] Nylon Magazine,^[9] and Idolator.^[10]

Personal life

Cole has studied voice, piano, and dance since the age of four,^[11] as well as earned a degree in theater at UCLA.^{[12] [13]} She is also a champion professional artistic roller skater who has performed in competitions, and was nationally recognized in her teens.^{[11][12][14][15][16]} She is quarter of Russian descent.^[17]

Promotions

Cole's performances had led her to soundtrack albums on Sony Pictures, including Brothers in Arms, and Maverick Records' Country General. ^[13] Cole's album Bad Girls Club was released on iTunes in 2010, promoting Oxygen Network's The Bad Girls Club with her single "Smack You," which was featured throughout season 5 of the show. "Smack You" charted at number nineteen of the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart before peaking at number four, spending thirteen weeks on the chart.^[18] The album served as the soundtrack to the season 6.^[19] The multiplatform release was the first co-branded album for Oxygen Media, promoted with an extensive social media campaign hashtagged #UpToNoGood.^[3] She also did two songs for the movie Fame (2009).^[20] Cole was featured with her song "I Know" from the television film Mean Girls 2. Her song "U Make Me Wanna" (with Eddie Amador and featuring Garza) was featured in Basketball Wives LA.^[21] She has appeared in commercials for Mountain Dew, Rubbermaid, Sony, and Sketchers. ^[13]

Songwriting

Kimberly Cole has written and co-written all of her own material,^[14] as well as songs for a variety of other artists, including Inna ("Crazy Sexy Wild") and Chris Willis ("Faded"),^[22] as well as Linnea's hit "Dance Through Fire" which reached #30 on the Billboard charts.^[12][23][24]

Performances

Cole has performed with Lenny Kravitz, Jessica Simpson, Will Smith, and Mýa,^[25] as well as opened for Katy Perry, LMFAO, Lupe Fiasco, Cobra Starship, and Shiny Toy Guns.^{[2][14][26][27]} She performed live at The Colony in Los Angeles as headliner of the Colony Royale New Year's Eve 2011 party.^[28]

In 2012, she hosted the live online pre-show for the 40th anniversary American Music Awards,^{[29][30][31][32]} as well as the weekly webseries "AMAs on Demand" alongside Lance Bass and Megan Turney.^[33][34][35]

She co-starred alongside Eliza Dushku playing the role of a background singer in the FOX TV series Dollhouse, as well as contributing the title theme (which she wrote as well as performed) and two other songs for the episode "Stage Fright".^[14][16][36] She has also been featured as a celebrity guest judge on VH1's Saddle Ranch.^[37]

Cole collaborated with Australian rapper Iggy Azalea and Vampire Diaries star Kat Graham on a series for Style Haul called "FM", which she hosted. She described the project saying, "It's a mini-docuseries - reality but with music and a sneak peak of everything that goes on behind-the-scenes. And it's very cool to be able to share that because so far I feel like my fans really haven't gotten to see that side - and I'm not afraid to show that dirty, down to earth girl that I am when I'm in the studio."^{[26][38][39][40]}

Internet celebrity Nathan Barnatt auditioned for a role in her "U Make Me Wanna" music video. The resulting footage became a viral video.^[41][42][43] Barnatt also appears in the final cut, as Cole and her team reworked their original concept of the video to include his performance.^[26][44]

Artistry

Throughout her career, Cole's sound has been characterized by sassy lyrics, in genres ranging from dance-pop^[19] to experiments with dubstep, electronic, and reggae influences (as seen on her EP The Prelude).^[10] Her 2013 single "Found Better" was described by Nylon Magazine as sounding like "Gwen Stefani at her most reggae paired with major EDM beats".^[9]

Cole participated in a viral campaign for Alicia Keys' Keep a Child Alive charity to raise $1 million and awareness for the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa and India.^{[45][46][47][48][49]}

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

References

External links

• Official Site
• Kimberly Cole at the Internet Movie Database