Natalie Cole Dead at 65

Daughter of Nat "King" Cole died after ongoing health issues
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jan 1, 2016 11:58 AM CST
Natalie Cole Dead at 65
   (Evan Agostini)

Natalie Cole, the Grammy-winning daughter of Nat "King" Cole" who carried on her late father's musical legacy and, through technology, shared a duet with him on "Unforgettable," has died. She was 65. Cole died Thursday evening at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles due to compilations from ongoing health issues, her family said in a statement. "Natalie fought a fierce, courageous battle, dying how she lived ... with dignity, strength and honor. Our beloved Mother and sister will be greatly missed and remain UNFORGETTABLE in our hearts forever," read the statement from her son Robert Yancy and sisters Timolin and Casey Cole. Cole had battled drug problems and hepatitis that forced her to undergo a kidney transplant in May 2009. Cole's older sister, Carol "Cookie" Cole, died the day she received the transplant. Their brother, Nat Kelly Cole, died in 1995.

Natalie Cole was inspired by her dad at an early age and auditioned to sing with him when she was just 11 years old. She was 15 when he died of lung cancer, in 1965. She began as an R&B singer but later gravitated toward the smooth pop and jazz standards that her father loved. Cole's greatest success came with her 1991 album, "Unforgettable ... With Love," which paid tribute to her father with reworked versions of some of his best-known songs, including "That Sunday That Summer," ''Too Young," and "Mona Lisa." Her voice was spliced with her dad's in the title cut, offering a delicate duet a quarter-century after his death. The album sold some 14 million copies and won six Grammys, including album of the year as well record and song of the year for the title track duet. Another father-daughter duet, "When I Fall in Love," won a 1996 Grammy for best pop collaboration with vocals, and a follow-up album, "Still Unforgettable," won for best traditional pop vocal album of 2008. Cole was also nominated for an Emmy award in 1992 for a televised performance of her father's songs. (More Natalie Cole stories.)

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