A native of California, Coley was born in Berkley, Califonia in 1955 and raised in Oakland, California where he spent the bulk of his developmental years influenced equally by his upbringing in the African-American church and his vocalist mother's love for Gospel, classical and jazz music. His teenage years were filled with vocal and instrumental training in school bands and regional choirs, and by the time he entered college his talent as a singer and keyboardist was widely recognized.