Natalie Cole, American Singer, Songwriter, Dies at 65

While Cole was a Grammy victor in her own right, she had her greatest success in 1991 when she re-recorded her father’s classic hits — with him on the track — for the album “Unforgettable…”

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

I am deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Natalie Cole, as I have cherished the long friendship I had with her, her father Nat, and the family over the years.

The music industry, from top executives to stars and the era of her father to stars of her own era, too mourned Cole’s death. The song earned her the 1975 Grammy for best female R&B vocal performance. Her last Grammy was won in 2009 for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album for “Still Unforgettable”.

Given that Natalie Cole had neither the improv chops nor the artistic bohemianism of, say, jazz mavericks like Dianne Reeves or Cassandra Wilson, her jazz discography (including records like 1993’s Take a Look, 1996’s Stardust and 2008’s Still Unforgettable) is competent, genteel, tasteful and respectable, but hardly transcendent. “There was always music playing at our house in one room or another”, Cole wrote in her 2000 memoir, Angel on My Shoulder. “With Love” spent five weeks at No. 1 on the pop charts, sold more than 14 million copies worldwide and won six Grammy Awards.

Cole’s health and habits had been the subject of numerous headlines over the years. She ended up taking his place in the group and setting a medical career aside.

Cole had been sick recently cancelling several tour dates in December, including a New Year’s Eve concert at Disney Hall in Los Angeles and an upcoming February date, due to illness. Survivors include a son from her first marriage, Robert Yancy; and two sisters. As a young stand up comic I opened for Natalie Cole.

Her father was highly popular and her mother, Maria Cole, sang with the Duke Ellington Orchestra.

Cole’s 1991 album, “Unforgettable…” Cole said she had begun experimenting with heroin while at University of MA at Amherst.

In 2008 she was diagnosed with the hepatitis C virus, which Cole said was a legacy of her time abusing drugs. For Cole, the titular catching of said hell was far from fictional: As she turned to drugs, her career fell into a slump for much of the ’80s. “She was a very talented, kind hearted soul!” A few years later, I had the honor of actually singing it with her on stage.

Many more hits would come – “I’ve Got Love on My Mind”, “Pink Cadillac”, “I Miss You Like Crazy” – but so would career bumps and struggles with addiction.

“The volume of work that I’ve had before, I can’t do it”, she told USA TODAY in 2009.

“I just received the tragic news that my sweet friend Natalie Cole has passed away”, she wrote on her Instagram page. She was the great combination of Blues, Jazz and the Great American Songbook. My heart aches. My honest condolences to her family and may she now rest in peace.’ – Dionne Warwick.