Legendary Singer Natalie Cole, Daughter Of Nat King Cole, Dead At 65

Her optimism amid personal struggles was inspirational. Her publicist, Maureen O’Connor confirmed the death that occurred while Cole was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California.

“I thank my dad for leaving me such a wonderful, wonderful heritage”, Cole said in accepting her awards. “You can go through turbulent times and still have victory in your life”. “Natalie fought a fierce, courageous battle, dying how she lived – with dignity, strength and honour. Our beloved Mother and sister will be greatly missed and remain UNFORGETTABLE in our hearts forever”. And she had hits of her own before recording her late father’s “Unforgettable”, intertwining her voice with his. Cole referred to her family as being like the “the black Kennedys” such was her father’s celebrity.

Cole was only 11 when she first sang professionally, with her father. She was 15 when he died of lung cancer, in 1965, and would reunite with him decades later in a way only possible through modern technology. She grew up in the neighborhood of Hancock Park. Yet she was about to find her own voice. In 1974, she had her first hit, This Will Be, from her debut album, Inseparable.

Cole broke out in 1975 with the hit “This Will Be”, which won the Grammy for best R&B female performance and also earned her the Grammy for best new artist.

The last of Cole’s nine Grammys came with her 2008 standards collection Still Unforgettable.

Ms. Cole said that as her success increased, her drug problem worsened. In her 2000 autobiography, Angel on My Shoulder, she recounted her lifelong battle with substance abuse. She spent six months in rehab in 1983.

She had previously experimented with drugs like LSD and heroin, but it was cocaine that sent her into a spiral as her career and marriage faltered. Her best-known album to date, Unforgettable…

Her album, Unforgettable… With Love, won the Grammy for Album of the Year and has sold more than seven million copies in the United States.

Years after reclaiming her life from drug addiction, Cole was diagnosed with hepatitis C in 2008.

In 2009, she received a kidney from an anonymous donor after hepatitis C forced her into dialysis. Cole had been sober for some time following stints in a rehabilitation clinic.

Cole followed up with 1993’s Take A Look, which also featured pop and jazz classics set in orchestrations that were as robust as they were refined. She voiced the singing voice of Sawyer in the animated feature Cats Don’t Dance, while being a cameo in shows such as The Real Housewives of Miami, The Real Housewives of New York City, and The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.

Cole was born in Los Angeles in February 6, 1950, to Nat King Cole and Maria Hawkins Ellington. She was married three times.

“I had to hold back the tears”, Franklin, who had feuded with Cole early in Cole’s career, said in a statement.

Natalie Cole and her son Robert Yancy in 1988.