(WFLA) — Grammy-award winning R & B singer Natalie Cole has died.
Cole was the daughter of legendary singer Nat King Cole.
Publicist Maureen O’Connor says Cole died Thursday night. She was 65. O’Connor had no details about how or where Cole died.
Natalie Cole had suffered from kidney failure. She had battled drug problems and hepatitis that forced her to undergo a kidney transplant in May 2009. She received the kidney from a deceased fan.
In February of 2008 she was diagnosed with Hepatitis C. CNN reported that Cole attributed her Hepatitis to cocaine and heroin use.
Ten years after her father’s death, Natalie Cole won her first Grammy award, according to her website.
Her 1991 tribute album to her father was called “Unforgettable… with Love”. The album sold 14 million copies and won six Grammys. In one of the songs, she performed a virtual duet with her father singing “Unforgettable”. Nat King Cole had originally recorded the song in 1951.
WDRB TV reported on Dec. 21 that Natalie Cole was scheduled to perform with the Louisville Orchestra, but cancelled her tour due to illness.
Natalie Cole’s father Nat King Cole died of cancer in 1965 at the age of 45.
