Natalie Cole, Grammy-Winning Singer and R&B Icon, Dead at 65

Cole is survived by her son, Robert Adam Yancy.

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

Deceased musicians are resurrected with more innovative technology nowadays – remember the Tupac hologram? – but in 1991, Cole was ahead of her time. Her father too was a widely popular crooner. She kept winning the best female R&B vocal year after year.

The daughter of singer Nat King Cole, Natalie achieved success in 1975 with the debut song “This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)”, and the album Inseparable and song of the same name. A bit of sad news on this Happy day, Ms. Natalie Cole goes home to sing with her Father. She was noticed by producers based in Chicago, Chuck Jackson and Marvin Yancy, who wrote much of her early material. Natalie was an exceptional jazz singer and it was an honor to have recorded and performed with her on several occasions. “I still love recording and still love the stage”, she said on her website in 2008, “but like my dad, I have the most fun when I am in front of that glorious orchestra or that kick-butt big band”. Additionally, she acted in a few television programs and two movies. It was the first of nine Grammy Awards she won during her musical career. Her father, Nat King Cole, is my favorite artist of all time.

Since her passing on Thursday, celebrities have been paying tribute to singer Natalie Cole, 65.

Attracting the most attention on the album was a haunting yet moving duet, featuring Natalie and her father singing “Unforgettable”, one of his signature songs. Truly “Unforgettable”. My sympathies and condolences to her family. Father and daughter appeared to sing Unforgettable together. Her last album was released in 2013 with “Natalie Cole en Espanol”. However, there were over 30 million copies sold of the easy-listening record. “With Love.” It became a multiplatinum smash and garnered her multiple Grammy Awards, including album of the year.

Her career was revived in 1987, after rehab, with “Everlasting”, which included three Top 10 pop singles: “Jump Start”, the ballad “I Live for Your Love” and her version of Bruce Springsteen’s “Pink Cadillac”. In 2007, it had been nearly 25 years since Cole used the drug when she received bad news from her doctors. During the discussion with the physician who diagnosed the virus, she was told that it often remained dormant in the body, sometimes for decades. But her life was marred by personal woes including drug use and three divorces.

When she came out of the life-saving surgery, she learned that her sister Cookie, who had been battling lung cancer, had died.

Cole died in a Los Angeles hospital from congestive heart failure, the Los Angeles Times reported yesterday, citing Cole’s publicist. Finally, in May 2009, she had an operation and had one of her kidneys replaced.