Grammy award winning singer Natalie Cole died on Thursday. The singer and famed daughter of singer Nat King Cole, is noted for such songs as “This Will Be” and “Our Love” and recorded “Unforgettable … With Love,” a best-selling album of songs made famous by her late father.
The cause of death is believed to be cognitive heart failure. Cole had been battling an addiction to drugs for several years and was recently dealing with many health issues.
At age 6, Cole sang with her father on a Christmas album, and she was performing by the time she was 11. Nat King Cole died in 1965, when she was 15, a loss that “crushed” her, she said.
“Dad had been everything to me,” she told the WSJ.
In 1975, she had a massive hit with “This Will Be” from her album “Inseparable,” which showed off her tremendous voice — she earned comparisons to Aretha Franklin — and command of a range of styles. The work won her a Grammy for best new artist.
For years, she had declined to perform her father’s works in concert; now, an album of those recordings won six Grammys, including the big three: song of the year, record of the year and album of the year.
She won another Grammy for 2008’s “Still Unforgettable,” which included a variety of American standards.
