Natalie Cole, ‘This Will Be’ Singer, Dead at 65
Natalie Cole, the R&B singer behind hits like “This Will Be,” has died at the age of 65.
According to her publicist Maureen O’Connor, Cole passed away Thursday night. It is not known at this time what caused her death, according to the Associated Press.
Cole was born in 1950, the daughter of legendary singer Nat King Cole and former Duke Ellington Orchestra singer Maria Hawkins Ellington. She first appeared on one of her father’s albums at age six.
Her debut album “Inseparable,” released in 1975, was certified gold upon its release and spawned a number of hits, including “This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)” and the title track “Inseparable.”
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She followed that up with another gold record, “Natalie,” in 1976. In 1977, she obtained her first platinum album with “Unpredictable.” The single “I’ve Got Love on My Mind” reached number five on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.
Her greatest musical success, however, came in 1991 with the release of “Unforgettable…With Love,” which saw Cole sing covers of a number of her father’s most famous songs. She won five Grammy awards that year, including Album of the Year.
Over the course of her career, Cole won nine Grammys in all, in addition to three American Music Awards, the Songwriters Hall of Fame Hitmaker Award, and two NAACP Image Awards.
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Cole admitted in her 2000 autobiography to a history of drug abuse. She also suffered from Hepatitis C and a liver disease in 2008.
