Natalie Cole has died at 65; 'Unforgettable' singer was daughter of legendary Nat King Cole

Los Angeles Times ^ | 01/01/2015 | Randy Lewis and Frank Shyong

[SeekAndFind]

singer Natalie Cole, the daughter of music great Nat King Cole who became a recording star in her own right with hits that spanned three decades, has died, her publicist, Maureen O'Connor, said.

She was 65 years old.

Cole is perhaps best known for her 1991 multiple Grammy-winning album "Unforgettable: With Love," which became the biggest hit of her career — selling more than 6 million copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan. Cole wowed audiences with a seamless duet with her late father's voice on the title tune, one of the elder Cole's signature numbers.

Other hits included "This Will Be," "Our Love" and a cover of "Pink Cadillac."

But for all of Cole's successes, her life was also marked by years of serious health problems.

Cole's move to singing was accidental. She was a pre-med student at the University of Massachusetts when a friend -- who was singing with a local group -- fell ill the night of a show and asked whether Cole would stand in for him. He had heard her sing informally at parties. She ended up taking his place in the group and setting aside a medical career.

[RoosterRedux]

Dang. That's young.

She was such a pretty young woman...and great singer.

[SamAdams76]

The health problems were brought about by her heroin addiction years ago. Not to piss on her grave but these premature deaths should always serve as object lessons for those considering using narcotic drugs recreationally. In many cases, even after you kick the habit and attempt to adopt a healthier lifestyle, the resulting health complications can follow you the rest of your life.

[TangoLimaSierra]

If you search for one word (like Cole) under titles, you won’t miss any.

[Zhang Fei]

The health problems were brought about by her heroin addiction years ago. Not to piss on her grave but these premature deaths should always serve as object lessons for those considering using narcotic drugs recreationally. In many cases, even after you kick the habit and attempt to adopt a healthier lifestyle, the resulting health complications can follow you the rest of your life.

Bears repeating. I saw her perform at Radio City Music Hall decades ago. It was memorable.

[Georgia Girl 2]

Sadly at one time Natalie Cole was a prostitute and heroin user so it may be that the early lifestyle led to later heatlth problems.

[combat_boots]

RIP.

Loved the music.

[Huskrrrr]

The UNFORGETTABLE duet with her father was one of the most haunting and beautiful songs I’ve ever heard.

[Hebrews 11:6]

Does nobody on FR do a search before they post an article anymore? This is the second posting of this news and this happens all the time these days.

You are certainly free to interrupt this thread by being grumpy but please know that some of us, having missed the first posting, actually appreciate a second or third posting--and always have--as you might infer from all the posters who commented on this thread and didn't complain about its existence. What I notice is that in recent years we've had far fewer complainants about multiple-postings, which some of us also appreciate.

[SeekAndFind]

RE: This is the second posting of this news and this happens all the time these days.

Here’s what I usually do before posting :

1) Copy the EXACT title of the news and do a search using the FR search feature.

If found, I won’t post.

If not found, do another search by keyword:

2) Keyword: Natalie Cole

Doing the above gave me only the news that she had a Kidney transplant (but that was in 2009 ), not her death.

So I posted this news...

I have no control over what people post after that.

[Aria]

Why would she be a prostitute - she had plenty of money?

[Georgia Girl 2]

She got involved with some boyfriend who was a heroin addict and then she just devolved into a bad life for awhile. She has been very open about it.

[patriot08]

Sad. Gone so young. RIP

[1035rep]

RIP Natalie.

[RummyChick]

That is not how to search. Pick a word. Search it in titles. Try Cole and see
what shows up

[DownInFlames]

The Cole family has been wrecked by poor personal health choices. Though they were very talented, smoking, cocaine, IV needle drugs will cut your life short.

RIP Natalie.

[OttawaFreeper]

Wayne Rogers I heard about earlier. Again, they (celebrity passings) seem to happen in twos or threes.

[Aria]

So sad to hear this. Drugs ruin so many people. I always liked her and her singing. Her poor mother having to see her daughter go through this. Same thing for Whitney...such a huge talent lost to drugs.

[Impala64ssa]

So sad. Her rendition of Unforgettable as she appeared to be singing along with her father was pure class. RIP

[Impala64ssa]

even after you kick the habit and attempt to adopt a healthier lifestyle, the resulting health complications can follow you the rest of your life.
Ozzie Osbourne is an example. All those years of boozing and doping caught up to him and it's amazing he can utter anything coherent. I understand he has tremors that are similar to Parkinson's. Leslie West (Mississippi Queen) is another example. In addition to being overweight most of his life as well as diabetic, he by his own admission used LSD until the early 80's. Even though he may have been clean since then, it still caught up to him. He collapsed while performing at a concert with Joe Walsh and almost died when his leg needed to be amputated. Fortunately for him he's back and still performs.

[vetvetdoug]

I saw her at Keesler AFB back during the Summer of 1974 at the Airman's Club. She put on a great show then and we were very appreciative. I believe Percy Sledge was on the bill too.