Kimberly Cole

This article contains content that is written like an advertisement. Please help by removing promotional content and inappropriate external links, and by adding encyclopedic content written from a neutral point of view. (January 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Kimberly Cole
Kimberly Cole 2014
Background information
Born	Orange County, California, United States
Genres	Pop Dance
Occupation(s)	Singer Competitive Skater
Instruments	Vocals Piano
Labels	Atlantic Bigbeat
Associated acts	Lenny Kravitz Jessica Simpson Will Smith Mýa Katy Perry Inna
Website	kimberlycolemusic.com

Kimberly Cole (b. Orange County, California^[1]) is an American pop singer, songwriter, music correspondent, and host. She is signed with the William Morris Endeavor agency.

About[]

Cole 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][2][4][5]

She's been described by Vevo as an "Artist, Journalist, Style Queen," and "Pop Culture Renaissance woman."^[6]

She has also been featured in MTV Style,^[7][8][9] Nylon Magazine,^[10] and Idolator.^[11]She has also been featured in MTV Style,^[7][8][9] Nylon Magazine,^[10] Idolator,^[11] and Billboard.^[12]

As an influencer, Cole has been a Buzzmaker for SpinMedia and Buzznet and in 2015 worked with such brands as Rimmel London, Guess, Coach, Mattel, Old Navy, Cross Pens, Degree, and Suave.^[13] She has also appeared in commercials for Mountain Dew, Rubbermaid, Sony, and Sketchers.^[14][15]

Most recently, Cole has worked as a creative director and executive producer with Critical Content and Get Lifted Film Co.^[16]

In November 2020, Cole also collaborated with UC San Francisco (UCSF), the Global Brain Health Institute (GNHI), and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) on a virtual event entitled, “The Last Dance: Music, Improvisation, & the Resilient Brain.”The event explored the effects of music on brain resilience and was inspired by Cole’s song “Last Dance,” along with her experiences with her father, who suffered from frontotemporal dementia (FTD). The event included contributions from experts such as Charles Limb. Cole helped develop the program with UCSF, GBHI, and SFCM.^[17]

Personal life[]

Cole has studied voice, piano, and dance since the age of four.^[18] Cole was raised in a very academic family. As the daughter of a dentist and school principal, education was always important from an early age, and as long as her homework was done, she was encouraged to do anything she was interested in. Because of this, she discovered her passion for singing and roller skating.^[16]

She is a champion professional artistic roller skater who has performed in competitions, and was nationally recognized in her teens.^{[18][19][20][21][22]}

Cole earned a degree in theater at UCLA.^[14][19] An alumnus of Fountain Valley High School, she has served as a guest judge in the annual Voice of Fountain Valley competition at Fountain Valley High School.^[23] She is quarter of Russian descent.^[24]

Career[]

Kimberly Cole singing to Marines and sailors at the "For the Leathernecks Comedy and Entertainment Tour" in 2011.

Her performances have led her to write two songs for the movie Fame (2009).^[25][26]

Cole's debut album Bad Girls Club was released on iTunes in 2010, promoting Oxygen Network's The Bad Girls Club show. Her single and video "Smack You," in which she teamed up with famed choreographer Tricia Miranda to produce, saw success and lead to the song being featured throughout season 5 of the show. Cole and Miranda were touted as "artistic soulmates," and worked together for a number of years after that.^[27]

The multiplatform release was the first co-branded album for Oxygen Media, promoted with an extensive social media campaign hashtagged #UpToNoGood.^[4]

In 2011, her song "I Know" was featured on the television film Mean Girls 2.^[28]

At MTV's VMA Radio Forum in 2012, Cole told Celebuzz she would shave her head in support of their Annual Stand up to Cancer event, Cole is quoted saying, "I would absolutely do that. I’m so passionate about my family, my friends. It’s all love. That’s what we’re here for. That’s why we make music," showing her support alongside celebrities such as Gwyneth Paltrow, Justin Timberlake, and Taylor Swift, who were in attendance at the annual Stand up to Cancer televised event.^[29]

In 2014, the song "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, and as a result the album continued to serve as the soundtrack for Season 6 of The Bad Girls Club.^[30][31] "Smack You" was also featured in the "Whats Hot" and "New and Noteworthy" sections on the iTunes Store.

In 2016, her song "U Make Me Wanna" (with Eddie Amador and featuring GT Garza) was featured in Basketball Wives LA. In 2016, her song "Nitty Gritty" was also featured on the Season Finale of Season 19 of Dancing with the Stars, Duck Dynasty teen Sadie Robertson and pro partner Mark Ballas performed their samba/quickstep to the track.^[32]

Cole has graced the covers of magazines such as Ouch, Nouveau, and Fault in 2016, and was one of a long list of stars seen on the cover of Fault Magazine's "Millions" issue including those such as Demi Lovato, Usher, Kevin Spacey, and Uma Thurman, just to name a few.^[33][34][35]

In 2019, Cole released the single “Wasted Love,” a collaboration with DJ Boris Way.^[36] The song was released under Parlophone and Warner Music France, and it garnered heavy rotation radio airplay on dance stations in Europe and worldwide.^[37] The song was also included in several playlists on streaming platforms such as Spotify.^[38]

In 2019, Cole also worked as a creative director on Todrick Hall’s music video for the song “Nails, Hair, Hips, Heels.”^[39]

In 2021, she worked as an editor on the music video for Summer Walker’s single “Body,” which was directed by Lacey Duke.^[40]

Songwriting[]

Kimberly Cole has written and co-written all of her own material,^[20] as well as songs for a variety of other artists, including Inna ("Crazy Sexy Wild") and Chris Willis ("Faded"),^[41] as well as Linnea's hit "Dance Through Fire" which reached #30 on the Billboard charts.^[19][42][43]

In an AXS article, Kimberly was praised as "one of very few writers who can ride that line between pop and poetry because her trademark edgy word choice is ever tempered with astute observations and sharp wit."^[44]

Critic David Kenniston at Vertigo Shtick calls her, "A 'dance' artist who can sing, write, and dance like no one's business."^[45]

Performances[]

Cole has performed with Lenny Kravitz, Jessica Simpson, Will Smith, and Mýa,^[46] as well as opened for Katy Perry, LMFAO, Lupe Fiasco, Cobra Starship, and Shiny Toy Guns.^{[2][20][47][48]}

In 2009, 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".^[20][22][49] She has also been featured as a celebrity guest judge on VH1's Saddle Ranch.^[48]

Cole has performed at such venues at Webster Hall in New York City, Sugar Factory@Mirage and Revolution Lounge in Las Vegas, the Playboy Mansion's Stars and Stripes Event, Jeffrey Sanker's Palm Springs White Party, and at Coachella's Oasis VIP Event as well as numerous after parties.^{[50][51][52][53][54]}

She performed live at The Colony in Los Angeles as headliner of the Colony Royale New Year's Eve 2011 party.^[55]

Internet celebrity Nathan Barnatt auditioned for a role in her "U Make Me Wanna" music video. The resulting footage became a viral video.^[56][57][58] Barnatt also appears in the final cut, as Cole and her team reworked their original concept of the video to include his performance.^[47][59] In 2012, she also teamed up to perform for the US Marines alongside numerous comics, notably Gabriel Iglesias, as part of the Leatherneck Comedy, Entertainment Tour.^[60]

Cole has toured and performed on numerous occasions in East Asia, including almost two full months in China in late 2015,^[13] as well as a tour in Korea and three months in Japan for the US Armed Forces in 2016.

Host/Presenter[]

In 2012, she hosted the live online pre-show for the 40th anniversary American Music Awards,^{[61][62][63][64]} as well as the weekly webseries "AMAs on Demand" alongside Lance Bass and Megan Turney.^[65][66][67]

Cole was a presenter at the 2014 International Fashion Film Awards, other presenters included Lance Bass, Jordin Sparks, Kristin Cavallari, and Mark Ballas.^[68][69]

In 2016, she also appeared alongside Lance Bass to Host an episode of Whats Trending, a live interactive show on YouTube that brings to you the top trending news and videos being shared across the web.^[70][71]

Artistry[]

Kimberly starred in three viral videos produced by Todrick Hall of MTV Fame, including "Spell Block Tango", "Snow White and the Seven Thugs," and "Cinderfella." Among the star-studded cast of appearances were Glee's Amber Riley, Adam Lambert, Victoria Justice, Shoshana Bean, Cassie Scerbio, Pia Toscano, and Lance Bass, as well as Todrick himself.^[72]

Throughout her career, Cole's sound has been characterized by sassy lyrics, in genres ranging from dance-pop^[31] to experiments with dubstep, electronic, and reggae influences (as seen on her EP The Prelude).^[11] Her 2013 single "Found Better" was described by Nylon Magazine as sounding like "Gwen Stefani at her most reggae paired with major EDM beats".^[10]

After having been featured in a 2015 PAZ Remix of Rihanna, Kanye West, and Paul McCartney's "FourFiveSeconds," Grant Austin of EDM Assassin states that "What really sets this remix out though is that the vocals are by Kimberly Cole and not Rihanna. He pulled out all the stops with adding her!"^[73]

Discography[]

Studio albums[]

Extended plays[]

Singles[]

References[]