38 Facts About Paula Cole

Paula Dorothy Cole was born on April 5,1968 and is an American singer and songwriter.

Paula Cole won the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 1998, and became the first woman ever to be nominated for "Producer of the Year" in her own right in that same year.

Paula Cole has since released several more albums, including the jazz-influenced Courage and Ithaca, which marked a return to her 1990s folk-rock sound.

Besides recording and performing, Paula Cole has served on the faculty at Berklee College of Music since 2013.

Paula Cole's mother, Stephanie Cole, a mixed media artist, was an elementary school art teacher; her father, Jim Cole, was a professor of biology and ecology at Salem State College and played bass in the polka band "Johnny Prytko and the Connecticut Hi-Tones".

Paula Cole has stated she has Irish, Italian and Polish ancestry.

Paula Cole attended Rockport High School where she was president of her senior class and performed in school theatrical productions such as South Pacific.

Paula Cole then attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, where she studied jazz singing and improvisation with Bob Stoloff.

Paula Cole was offered a record deal by the jazz label GRP Records, but decided to turn it down.

The video was released as Secret World Live, with Paula Cole covering all the primary female vocals and featured in duets with Gabriel, especially the songs "Don't Give Up" on which she sang the part that Kate Bush recorded with Gabriel in 1986, and "Blood of Eden" recorded by Gabriel and Sinead O'Connor in 1992.

Paula Cole was the main female vocalist on Secret World Live, the audio album documenting the tour.

Shortly after the tour, Paula Cole released her first album Harbinger in 1994.

Paula Cole appeared with Melissa Etheridge to sing a duet on VH1.

In late 1996, Paula Cole released her second album on Warner, This Fire, which was entirely self-produced.

In 1996, Paula Cole, along with Sarah McLachlan, Suzanne Vega, Lisa Loeb and others, was a featured performer in a four show mini-tour that served as a prototype for what would become the Lilith Fair tour.

Paula Cole was a headliner for the Lilith Fair tours in 1997 and 1998.

Paula Cole was nominated for several Grammy Awards in 1997.

Paula Cole recorded a song called "It's My Life" during these sessions, which can be heard in Mercury automobile commercials.

Paula Cole returned in June 2007 with her fourth studio album, Courage, which was released on Decca Records and produced by Bobby Colomby at Capitol Studios in Hollywood.

Paula Cole wrote and co-produced all of the songs on the album.

Paula Cole wrote the 11 songs on the album including two from early in her career, "Imaginary Man" and "Manitoba".

Paula Cole's mother had saved these songs on cassette tapes.

Paula Cole has worked with Wittman and Barry since she was 19.

Paula Cole announced that she was selling her new live album This Bright Red Feeling exclusively on CD at live shows and at her website, with intentions to put it online for digital sale soon.

Paula Cole announced a new Kickstarter project on June 16,2016, for a covers studio album, Ballads.

Paula Cole released her ninth studio album, Revolution, on September 13,2019, on 675 Records.

In 2003, Cole recorded a song called "My Hero, Mr President" that she released for free download, which was critical of President George W Bush and America's involvement in the Iraq War.

Robert Morast of the Argus Leader reported that Paula Cole was the first "bona fide mainstream musician" to take a public stance against the Iraq war.

On her 2019 album Revolution, Paula Cole covered a version of the Marvin Gaye song "Mercy Mercy Me " which she said was about "planetary health".

Paula Cole told Billboard Magazine that while love songs matter, there should be songs about important societal issues.

Paula Cole performed a two-hour set at Berklee Performance Center in Boston, Massachusetts on February 16,2007, during which she debuted several songs from her upcoming fourth studio album, Courage.

Paula Cole's performance was reviewed favorably in The Boston Globe on February 19,2007.

Paula Cole is a member of the Canadian charity Artists Against Racism, and worked with them on a radio public service announcement.

On July 10,2007, Paula Cole sang "God Bless America" during the seventh-inning stretch of the 2007 Major League Baseball All-Star Game.

Since 2013, Paula Cole has been on the voice faculty at Berklee College of Music while continuing an active performing career.

In 2024, Paula Cole competed in season twelve of The Masked Singer as "Ship" where she briefly rode a ship-like vehicle in the first appearance and had Jewel as her Mask Ambassador.

Paula Cole was eliminated in the Group A finals alongside Marsai Martin as "Woodpecker" and did an encore of "I Don't Want to Wait".

In June 2002, Paula Cole married Moroccan musician Hassan Hakmoun, whom she had met on the Secret World Tour in 1994.