On one occasion Cole was on stage, with many lights illuminating him. For him it was as if the whole world was spinning around him and not him spinning with the world. On that stage the audience shouted his name, it was a mass of voices and energy that made him feel very happy, but above all loved. Every word that came out of his mouth the audience loved him, it was as if that audience was made for him, because they loved all his songs. You know at that moment Cole felt invincible. But of course to reach this point of success and fame took years of preparation and effort. It wasn't overnight that he got here.
He had more than 25 years of uninterrupted career, and in all those years he achieved remarkable fame all over the world. He won many awards and participated in many concerts and programs. It can be said that at that time he was at the peak of his career. But all this house of cards he had built up to now was going to collapse very easily and sooner than he ever imagined. At the concert while he was singing, there was a revealing moment when his gaze met that of a young man in the front row. He realized that he wasn't chanting the song or enjoying himself like everyone else. He also realized that he was there because his parents had brought him along.
He just stood there with his arms crossed, watching him with an expression of indifference. He looked away quickly, focusing on the rest of the audience who were still enjoying themselves. But that look on the boy's face worried him, and made him wonder why they didn't like his music like everyone else. Maybe I'm doing something wrong, Cole wondered inside. But in the end he stopped giving importance to the matter, he had many more fans.
The following months passed like the blink of an eye. He continued with his typical routine of a successful singer. That is, giving interviews, making recordings, collaborating with other singers of his ilk. The truth is that this was an exhausting routine but at the same time it kept him moving, without time to question anything or to worry too much. It was his manager Coqui who one afternoon in the studio, told him something that made him uncomfortable. “Cole, we need to consider a change. Young audiences aren't that interested in what we're doing. Maybe we should try something different.”Cole looked at him as if he had said one of those profanities, Change. That word in his mind was like an insult. “My music doesn't need change. It's authentic, and that's what people love,” he replied very firmly, leaving no room for argument.
When Coqui saw how upset he had become he just told him, “don't worry, it's just a suggestion”. However, even though Coqui didn't want to keep bothering him at that moment, he knew that a change of style and dynamics was necessary as soon as possible. As time goes by, musical tastes and people change. And whoever doesn't get ahead of this is left behind. But he knew that Cole was not going to give his arm to twist at that time.
Not even 2 weeks passed and Cole already began to realize that what Coqui was telling him was more than true. For things began to change in ways that he could not ignore. His last album, the one he had released with so much dedication, was not as well received as he had hoped. Sales were very poor, and the reviews seemed listlessly written. “It's more of the same,” wrote one reviewer who used to praise his work. “Cole hasn't evolved over time, and it's starting to show.” That particular comment struck a chord with him, though he wouldn't admit it to anyone. But he did realize that what Coqui was saying was true. After that failed album, the calls began to dry up. And concerts, which used to sell out in a matter of hours, now took weeks to fill half the seats.
But even in that slump Cole told himself that it was a passing streak, that the public simply needed time to connect with his music. But deep down, he knew something was changing, and not in his favor. The world that once revolved around him was now beginning to leave him behind in a straight line of no return. The owners of the record company that Cole was associated with saw the fatal collection of his last album that they had financed and the almost null participation of people in the concerts were scared because they were losing money. So they called Coqui, his manager.
At the meeting they explained to him that they were losing large sums of money on the tour they were financing, plus the money they put into the making of their last album and concerts had no profit at all. So they told him, what about Cole? He just replied. “Cole wants to stay true to his style, and he will stay that way, because he will not change it even if it means financial losses”. Then the owners of the label told him, “In that case we want to break our alliance immediately”, “Tell him to leave now if he doesn't want us to sue him for his bad work”. Coqui told him that it was okay that he was going to tell him. When he finally told Cole, he just said, “Let them keep their money”, “Everything is not money Coqui you have to stay true to yourself and the way you are”. So at that point he fired Coqui from his duties and decided to retire for a while.
Many months after that he would have nights where he would sit in his studio, surrounded by the gold and platinum records he had earned in the past. He looked at those plaques with pride but also despair, for they were now an era that he could no longer seem to reach. He felt sad, but still nothing made him change his position to evolve his music. Then one day, as any other day by chance of life, his best friend David, who had been with him since his early days in music, went to visit him. He knew he needed support for everything he was going through in the last few months. And he told him “Cole, you have to get out of this rut. You can not stay clinging to what you were ten years ago. The world is moving on, and so should you.”
But Cole didn't want to listen. To change meant admitting that he had been wrong, that his music was not as untouchable as he had always believed. It also meant facing the possibility of failing at something new, and that fear was bigger than any negative review or criticism. So he continued to do the same thing, writing songs that sounded exactly the same as his first albums, so maybe if he repeated the formula he could bring his audience back. But it didn't work.
The biggest blow came a year later, when he organized a special concert to celebrate his 26th anniversary in music. He had imagined a full house, but what he found when he went on stage was a nearly empty theater. Only David, as always, some of his closest friends and family and part of his remaining production team were there. The concert was a failure. It wasn't until that moment that he finally saw the reality and saw what he had to do to get back to his old self. That day he finished his performance earlier than usual and did not participate much in the activity. Now he was focused in his mind on a new goal.
Over the next few days, not much began to change. It was a slow change. It started with wondering if maybe there was something he could learn from it all. The first thing he remembered were the words of his friend David, of his former manager Coqui, even of the young man in the front row who had looked at him without interest. He said to himself, “It's not about betraying my music, it's about finding a way to take it to new places.
But it wasn't easy, because he had to face his own pride, to accept that he didn't know how to do it alone. So he sought help, he began to collaborate with younger producers and artists, not to imitate them, but to understand what moved them. He also re-hired Coqui, his old manager, who until recently had been one of the people in charge of getting them to where they were at their best. With all this new team he had formed, he was ready to start again. In fact he came to feel like a beginner.
Within a few months working with his new team he released the first single. This new song was different and adapted to the new times. It was unlike anything he had done before, but it still retained his personality and some of his original style. At first, before releasing it he was afraid of how it would be received, but you know he didn't know but the response was more positive than he had imagined. It was an immediate success, and opened a door that had been closed for a long time because of his own stubbornness to change. It didn't take long for other record labels to be scrambling among themselves as before to have him on their label. For they all saw the great potential he had.
Cole returned to the stage with more than renewed energy, because now he had regained his fame, and because he found a new connection with his music. When the audience chanted his new song for the first time, he knew he had taken the right path. And this time, he vowed not to stay stagnant. The music would always be moving, and he had to move with it. Because the truth is that in this world we must always be adaptable and on the move. Never stick to one thing or style. Adapt to the new, don't avoid it.
