Natalie Cole has died, reports the Associated Press and TMZ. She was 65.
"I think that I am a walking testimony that you can have scars," she told CBS’s Sunday Morning in 2006. "You can go through turbulent times and still have victory in your life."
Cole died Thursday evening at Cedar Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles due to compilations from ongoing health issues, her family said in a statement to the AP.
"Natalie fought a fierce, courageous battle, dying how she lived ... with dignity, strength and honor. Our beloved Mother and sister will be greatly missed and remain UNFORGETTABLE in our hearts forever," read the statement from her son Robert Yancy and sisters Timolin and Casey Cole.
Born Feb. 6, 1950, in Los Angeles, Cole had music in her genes. Her father was legendary crooner Nat King Cole, and her mother, Maria Cole, sang with the Duke Ellington Orchestra.
At age six, Cole recorded a duet with her father, I’m Good Will, You’re Christmas Spirit. By age 11, she was performing alongside him on his television show.
Years after reclaiming her life from drug addiction, Cole was diagnosed with hepatitis C in 2008. Exhausted, she continued performing until her rapidly declining health was tied to kidney disease, likely a result of the medication she was using to treat her hepatitis C.Too soon. Fucking drugs and Hep C. We have the ability to eliminate Hep C like Polio and Smallpox. The US should devote the resources necessary to do so.
Cole continued to tour, receiving dialysis three times per week between performances. During a March 2009 appearance on Larry King Live, her fans’ love for her was apparent. The show received dozens of emails from fans offering her replacement kidneys.
While fighting her own battles, Cole was helping her sister, Cookie, battle cancer. Her sister died the morning Cole got a successful kidney transplant in May 2009.
Wombat-socho has the ginormous "Rule 5 Sunday: Happy New Year!" ready for browsing at The Other McCain.
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