Natalie Cole dies aged 65

Bennett added: “Natalie was an exceptional jazz singer and it was an honour to have recorded and performed with her on several occasions”.

Natalie Cole, who died Thursday in Los Angeles at age 65, was a Grammy winning superstar honored and haunted by comparisons to others. One of the best songs on the album features Cole singing a digital duet with her father to the tune of “Unforgettable”. Natalie Cole could also branch out into slightly more experimental territory, like her Lennon-McCartney cover “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”, or bossa-influenced jazz “La Costa”, something of an early template for chillout and neo-soul. On Dec. 31, 2015, Natalie Marie Cole, daughter of legendary Nat King Cole, died as a result of congested heart failure.

“It is with heavy hearts that we bring to you all the news of our Mother and sister’s passing”.

In her autobiography, Cole narrated how she struggled with depression, most painfully after the death of her father and the near-drowning of her son in a swimming pool.

Cole was happiest when she was on stage performing.

Van Morrison and Natalie Cole, “These Are the Days”. I pray that precious memories of her, filled with joy and laughter soon overshadow the pain of their loss.

During the recording of the LP, Cole said in an Associated Press interview, that she had to “throw out every R&B lick that I had ever learned and every pop trick I had ever learned”. A second movie, Livin’ for Love: The Natalie Cole Story premiered on television December 10, 2000, she starred as herself.

Rest in Peace Natalie Cole!

The cause was “ongoing health issues”, her family said. She conveyed how precious and fragile time is in the lives of humankind. However, she rose into her own musical fame during the 1970’s with her first album “Inseparable”, in 1975 (winning two Grammys).

Cole became addicted to crack cocaine and heroin, even at times sharing needles with audience members. Next to them was a Christmas tree, a reminder she famously sang on her father’s Christmas album at age 6. My condolences to her love ones!

Her father’s graceful easygoing style was admired by Sinatra, Ray Charles and many others and, in 1956, he became the first black entertainer to host a national TV variety show. Cole battled an addiction to heroine and crack and spent six months in rehab in 1983.

– Questlove Gomez (@questlove) January 1, 2016#RIP Natalie Cole – world lost a great talent today. The album was a phenomenon, its appeal crossing audiences and generations; it collected a bevy of Grammy Awards, including Album, Record and Song of the Year (though the song Unforgettable was at that point four decades old).

She was reportedly addicted to drugs and suffered from hepatitis C eight years ago.

“Her sumptuous, buttery, vocals are the kind of rare treasure that needs only the twinkling of a piano, the snapping of fingers, and the thump-thump-thump of a stand-up bass”.

“I think that I am a walking testimony that you can have scars”, she told CBS’s Sunday Morning in 2006.