Suzi Quatro’s Tender Side: How a Classic Love Song Shaped a Rock Icon
For countless young girls around the world, dreams of falling in love often go hand in hand with the magical allure of music. But when you’re also drawn to the spotlight and stage, that dream becomes something more vivid—more cinematic. Suzi Quatro, who grew up in Michigan with stars in her eyes, felt that pull early on. Influenced by legends like Elvis Presley, Billie Holiday, and Mary Weiss of the Shangri-Las, she found herself swept into a lifelong love affair with music—one that would ultimately steer her toward rock stardom.
What’s striking, however, is how far removed her public image would become from the wide-eyed girl with romantic dreams. When Suzi burst onto the scene in the early 1970s, she defied every convention. Dressed in leather, wielding an electric bass with commanding confidence, she wasn’t just participating in rock and roll—she was rewriting its rules. With explosive European chart-toppers like “Can the Can” and “Devil Gate Drive,” she proved women could take center stage in a genre often dominated by men.
But beneath that fierce, no-nonsense exterior lived a woman still deeply in touch with the tender emotions that first drew her to music. A revealing moment came in 1986 when Quatro appeared on the BBC’s Desert Island Discs. There, she shared not only the songs that shaped her career but also the ones that shaped her soul. And among the blistering rock and roll influences, one choice stood out as surprisingly delicate: Nat King Cole’s 1956 ballad, “When I Fall in Love.”
That song, Quatro explained, wasn’t just a favorite—it was foundational. “I was very impressionable,” she recalled. “I was about ten, just thinking about boys and falling in love.” It was the first real love song that moved her to tears. “I used to sit in my sister’s room, play this, and cry. And think about one day when I would fall in love.” She connected with it so deeply that she expressed a wish for it to be played at her funeral.
These moments of vulnerability offer a fuller picture of the artist behind the leather and the stage lights. Music wasn’t just her calling—it was her diary, her emotional home. The impact of that early exposure to heartfelt songs shaped not only her taste but also her understanding of music’s power to stir and to soothe.
Nat King Cole himself was no stranger to evolution. He began his career in the 1930s as a jazz pianist before becoming an iconic voice of romantic ballads. As rock and roll began to surge in the late 1950s, even Cole dabbled in the genre, adapting to changing tastes while never losing the warmth that defined his sound.
At first glance, Cole and Quatro might seem like musical opposites. One was known for velvet vocals and smooth arrangements; the other for raw energy and defiant stage presence. But dig deeper, and the emotional thread connecting them becomes clearer. Both artists are, at heart, deeply emotional storytellers—romantics who used music to translate what words alone could not.
And as it turns out, that blend of toughness and tenderness isn’t as rare among rock legends as it may seem. Strip away the volume, and many share the same soft center—a longing for connection, love, and meaning. Suzi Quatro simply had the courage to say it out loud.