Renowned Singer Natalie Cole Dies of Congestive Heart Failure At 65 Years Old
The popular singing icon, Natalie Cole, died at 65 years old due of congestive heart failure in Los Angeles' Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Thursday evening.
According to Cole's publicist Maureen O'Connor, the singer suffered from various health disorders brought about by her battle with drug addition and hepatitis C, The Los Angeles Times noted Friday. The singer underwent a kidney transplant in 2009, from which she suffered complications and never fully recovered.
Because of her ailing condition, the singer was forced to cancel some of her tour dates.
The Huffington Post reported Monday that Natalie Cole began her career at an early age, drawing inspiration from her late father Nat King Cole. Her biggest success was in 1991 when she released the album "Unforgettable... With Love." The album doubled as a tribute to Nat King Cole as it featured reworked versions of some of his best-known songs such as "That Sunday That Summer," ''Too Young" and "Mona Lisa."
Cole's rising career began to spiral down when Cole developed an addiction to cocaine and heroin, which eventually landed her in rehab in 1983.
"I was breaking down physically," said Cole in an interview with The Times in 1985. "I had been into drugs over a number of years and it was starting to take its toll, both mentally and physically - and I had to go away. I started taking smaller jobs so that I wouldn't be as visible."
Some fellow performers including Tony Bennett, Lenny Krevitz, Cher, and Patti LaBelle, paid their respects to the late Natalie Cole by writing messages on social media sites.
"As the New Year was ushered in, an angelic instrument moved on, Natalie Cole's voice was perfection. And what a lady," singer Lenny Kravitz wrote on Instagram.
Marlee Martin called Cole a "great actress" and a "lovely songbird," while Patti LaBelle tweeted on Twitter that "she will be truly missed, but her light will shine forever."
Natalie Cole's son, Robert Yancy, and her sisters Timolin Cole and Casey Cole, said in their statements that she "fought a fierce, courageous battle, dying how she lived ... with dignity, strength and honor."
