Kimberly Cole

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]

Described by Vevo as "Artist, Journalist, Style Queen," and "Pop Culture Renaissance woman."[6]

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.[7] She has also been featured in MTV Style,[8][9][10] Nylon Magazine,[11] and Idolator.[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 currently, Cole is slated to be the face of the Louis XIV Energy Brand.[13]

Kimberly 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 the homework was done, she was encouraged to do anything she was interested in, that's where she discovered her passion for singing and roller skating.[16]

Cole has studied voice, piano, and dance since the age of four,[17] as well as earned a degree in theater at UCLA.[18][14]

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.[19] She is also a champion professional artistic roller skater who has performed in competitions, and was nationally recognized in her teens.[17][18][20][21][22] She is quarter of Russian descent.[23]

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),[24] her song "I Know" was featured on the television film Mean Girls 2, and her song "U Make Me Wanna" (with Eddie Amador and featuring GT Garza) was featured in Basketball Wives LA.[25]

Her song "Nitty Gritty" was featured on the Season Finale of Season 19 of Dancing with the Stars,[26] Duck Dynasty teen Sadie Robertson and pro partner Mark Ballas performed their samba/quickstep to the track.

Cole's 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 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,[28] and as a result the album continued to serve as the soundtrack for Season 6 of The Bad Girls Club.[29] "Smack You" was also featured in the "Whats Hot" and "New and Noteworthy" sections on the iTunes Store.

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

Vertigo Shtick is quoted saying, "Cole's debut full-length is, in short, a triumphant affair that far outshines even the brightest of expectations"[30]

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,[31][32][33] a campaign that attracted celebs such as Katie Holmes, Usher, Ryan Seacrest, Kim Kardashian, Jennifer Hudson, Serena Williams, and Jaden and Willow Smith.

At MTV's VMA Radio Forum, 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.[34]

Cole has graced the covers of magazines such as Ouch, Nouveau, and Fault, 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.[35][36][37]

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"),[38] as well as Linnea's hit "Dance Through Fire" which reached #30 on the Billboard charts.[18][39][40]

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." [41]

Critic David Kenniston at Vertigo Shtick calls her, "A 'dance' artist who can sing, write, and dance like no one's business."[30]

Cole has performed with Lenny Kravitz, Jessica Simpson, Will Smith, and Mýa,[42] as well as opened for Katy Perry, LMFAO, Lupe Fiasco, Cobra Starship, and Shiny Toy Guns.[2][20][43][44] She performed live at The Colony in Los Angeles as headliner of the Colony Royale New Year's Eve 2011 party.[45]

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][46] She has also been featured as a celebrity guest judge on VH1's Saddle Ranch.[47]

Internet celebrity Nathan Barnatt auditioned for a role in her "U Make Me Wanna" music video. The resulting footage became a viral video.[48][49][50] Barnatt also appears in the final cut, as Cole and her team reworked their original concept of the video to include his performance.[43][51]

Kimberly has toured and performed on numerous occasions in Southeast Asia, including a tour in Korea and three months in Japan for the US Armed Forces [52] as well as almost two full months in China in late 2015.[53]

She also teamed up to perform for the US Marines alongside numerous comics, notably Gabriel Iglesias, as part of the Leatherneck Comedy, Entertainment Tour.[54]

Kimberly 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.[55][56][57][58][59][60]

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]

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.[68][69]

Cole was a presenter at the 2014 International Fashion Film Awards, other presenters included Lance Bass, Jordin Sparks, Kristin Cavallari, and Mark Ballas.[70][71]

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 peek 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."[43][72][73][74]

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.[75]

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!" [76]

Throughout her career, Cole's sound has been characterized by sassy lyrics, in genres ranging from dance-pop[29] to experiments with dubstep, electronic, and reggae influences (as seen on her EP The Prelude).[12] Her 2013 single "Found Better" was described by Nylon Magazine as sounding like "Gwen Stefani at her most reggae paired with major EDM beats".[11]

In 2019, she is the Creative Director for Todrick Hall's music video "Nails, Hair, Hips, Heels"[77].

• Official Site
• Kimberly Cole on IMDb
• In the Spotlight with Kimberly Cole