‘Unforgettable’ Singer Natalie Cole Passes Away At 65

With hits such as “This Will Be”, Natalie was an incomparable singer best known for her duet with father Nat King Cole, “Unforgettable”.

Grammy Award-winning singer Natalie Cole, 65, passed away Thursday evening due to congestive heart failure, according to her publicist Maureen O’Connor.

In quoting her most identifiable song, the family also said, “Our beloved mother and sister will be greatly missed and remain UNFORGETTABLE in our hearts forever”, putting the name of the song in capital letters.

At that time, she had recently released her album “Still Unforgettable”, which returned to the material from her legendary singer father, Nat King Cole – even singing one song at the urging of one of her father’s contemporaries, Tony Bennett. The New York Times called it “an inspired, one-of-a-kind stroke of pop nostalgia”. Her son, Robbie Yancy, was born in 1977.

Cole eventually became active in raising awareness of Hepatitis C. And, she said in the interview, she still wished her father could see her.

She performed at age 6 on her father’s Christmas album and began performing at 11.

Esther offered Cole her kidney.

Cole battled addiction to heroin and cocaine; the addiction and hepatitis forced her to undergo a kidney transplant in May 2009.

She had last performed in the area at Sands Bethlehem Event Center in August 2014.

Natalie’s talents clearly left their mark on young and old alike, with American Idol victor Jordin Sparks, 26, also paying her respects on social media, as well as recalling the time she had the chance to sing Natalie’s hit This Will Be (An Everlasting Love) with her a few years ago.

“Another legend gone”, explains the sentiment shared by entertainment friends of Natalie Cole upon learning of the singer’s death at age 65. Maria (her mother who sang with Duke Ellington) and Nat Cole reportedly shielded their children from these problems. This past autumn, she cancelled several concerts scheduled for November and December, citing a recent medical procedure. In 2009, she received a kidney transplant from an organ donor, a deceased fan.

Arguably Cole’s most famous moment came in 1991, with the release of her album “Unforgettable…” The song, which nabbed Grammys for Song and Record of the Year, was many things at once: a sentimental celebration of father-daughter love, a sonic bridge between disparate eras, an ambitious career rebranding for Cole herself, and an uncanny demonstration of technological marvel that forecast our current era of posthumous Tupac and Michael Jackson holograms.