Natalie Cole, who followed her legendary father into the music business, died at age 65. According to publicist Maureen O’Connor, the cause of death was reportedly congestive heart failure. A physically weakened Cole, and winner of nine Grammy Awards, canceled a string of concert performances in recent months after a recurrence of hepatitis C linked to her earlier drug abuse.
Natalie daughter of music icon Nat (King) Cole scored a huge 1991 hit with “Unforgettable” — a virtual duet with her late father (the album spent five weeks at No. 1 on the pop charts, sold more than 14 million copies worldwide and won six Grammys). Natalie was just 15 when her father died in 1965, a decade before his daughter launched her own solo recording career.
In 2009, she received a kidney from an anonymous donor after hepatitis C forced her into dialysis. Cole became a spokesperson for the University Kidney Research Organization, a group dedicated to eradicating kidney disease.
