Unforgettable Natalie Cole Dies At Age 65

The singer Natalie Cole died on New Year’s Eve in the US, at the relatively young age of 65. She was the daughter of the legendary Nat King Cole, whose recording of ‘Unforgettable’ remains one of the ultimate pop standards.

“Natalie Cole, sister beloved & of substance and sound. May her soul rest in peace,” tweeted the Rev. Jesse Jackson yesterday, on New Year’s Day.

Tony Bennett, himself a great singer, who was influenced by Nat King Cole was also quick to tweet. " I am deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Natalie Cole,” he said, "as I have cherished the long friendship I had with her, her father Nat, and the family over the years. Natalie was an exceptional jazz singer and it was an honor to have recorded and performed with her on several occasions. She was a lovely and generous person who will be greatly missed.”

Grammy producer Ken Ehrlich remembered Cole as having "one of those magical voices that grabbed you from the first note."

"In a way, and not just in lineage,” he added in a statement, "Natalie was the connector between the great singers of her father and Ella's generation, and the great female voices who were to dominate in the last 25 years. I'll never forget when we did 'Unforgettable' as a duet with her father's recording on a Grammy hall of fame show, years before she recorded it. Magical!"

Natalie Cole's biggest hits were 'This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)’ and her own remake of ‘Unforgettable', which was a virtual duet with her late father. She won dozens of awards too. Another father-daughter duet of 'When I Fall in Love' won the singer a Grammy in 1996 for Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals. An album, Still Unforgettable, won a Grammy for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album of 2008.

Nat King Cole died in 1965, when Natalie was just 15. Her mother, Maria Hawkins, sang with the Duke Ellington Orchestra.

One of her biggest hits came with 'Miss You Like Crazy’. The song topped both the Billboard R&B and Adult Contemporary charts in the US, as well as reaching No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart.

Cole won nine Grammy Awards in all, over the course of her career.

After the huge success of the break-through single, 'This Will Be', she went on to have five hit singles, three gold albums, three Grammy awards and a Rock Award in the space of just two years – a remarkable achievement.

"Rest In Power to the queen, " tweeted Earth, Wind & Fire when they heard the news.

In 2008, Cole began to suffer from kidney problems as a result of hepatitis C, which she attributed to her historic use of drugs. She had been addicted to heroin, crack cocaine and alcohol and spent a period of six months in rehab in 1983.

Despite being given chemotherapy, both kidneys failed, and in 2009, she went public with a request for a kidney donation.

"I have been on dialysis in Istanbul, Milan, Indonesia, Manila, London. It's amazing," Cole told CNN in 2009.

She received a donation of a kidney from a deceased donor in May 2009 and was operated on successfully. However, there was only so far that modern medicine could take her.

The cause of death believed to be congestive heart failure.