RISING STAR VOCALIST STELLA COLE RELEASES MY FUNNY VALENTINE EP
06 FEBRUARY 2026 (TORONTO, ON) – Today, 26-year-old “powerhouse vocalist” (People) Stella Cole releases My Funny Valentine, a 3 track EP out via Decca Records US.
Following her charming take on the Carpenters’ “Merry Christmas, Darling,” her critically acclaimed new album It’s Magic, and an enchanting TODAY Show performance, the Hollywood Reporter Person of Interest has worked again with Grammy-winner Matt Pierson (Samara Joy, Brad Mehldau) and the great arranger Alan Broadbent on My Funny Valentine, celebrating the major standards of the Great American Songbook in a way that’s fresh and new, yet faithful to the time-honored traditions of this remarkable music.
Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart's iconic "My Funny Valentine," is about loving somebody not just in spite of their perceived faults, but possibly even because of them. More than most interpreters, Stella makes us realize that in loving delineating such faults – if they even should be called that – the singer is not only revelling in the humanity of the other, but expressing her own vulnerability as well.
With "You Go to My Head," Stella delivers the Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie lyric with a directness and openness that recalls Sinatra's classic 1945 reading – a superlative take on perhaps the first great song to use alcohol as a metaphor. On the track, Stella is backed by a trio of Alan Broadbent along with her regular band members Michael Migliore (bass) and Hank Allen-Barfield (drums).
"The Nearness of You" is in a more intimate setting of just Broadbent and Migliore accompanying Stella, as she embraces Ned Washington's narrative of delineating his list of things that don't and do excite or enchant her (the "pale moon," the "soft lights"), concluding that it's the sheer proximity of the loved one that matters most. With this package, Stella shows off her continuing mastery of this music; now, more than ever, this world is truly her oyster.
“My Funny Valentine”: Watch / Listen
2026 US Tour Dates
February 6 – Boulder Theater with the Boulder Philharmonic – Boulder, CO (with orchestra)
February 7 – Lone Tree with the Boulder Philharmonic – Lone Tree, CO (with orchestra)
February 10 – Brevard Music Center – Brevard, NC
February 12-14 – Filoli Gardens – San Francisco, CA
February 20-21 – Jazz Forum – Tarrytown, NY
March 11 – Blue Note Hawaii – Honolulu, HI
April 4 – Martin Theatre, Ravinia – Highland Park, IL
ABOUT STELLA COLE:
Stella Cole is a singularly gifted singer whose rise from a small town in Illinois to international acclaim exemplifies the power of timeless music meeting modern platforms. Born in 1999 and raised on Golden Age movie musicals, she went viral in 2020 with a spontaneous a cappella version of “Over the Rainbow” and has since become a leading voice of the Great American Songbook for a new generation. Her videos have amassed tens of millions of views and her social media following exceeds 1.7 million. A favorite of legends like David Foster, James Taylor, Michael Bublé, John Mayer, and Meghan Trainor, Stella has headlined sold-out shows around the world, performing at venues like Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Madison Square Garden, Birdland, and the Café Carlyle. In 2023, she toured globally with Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox, earning acclaim for her renditions of Billy Joel’s “Uptown Girl” and Miley Cyrus’s “Flowers.” Her third project, It’s Magic is a new album with Grammy-winning producer Matt Pierson and acclaimed arranger Alan Broadbent, out now via Decca Records US.
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