Nine-time Grammy Award winner Natalie Cole died on New Year’s Eve at Cedar Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles, from a combination of congestive heart failure and long-standing complications from a kidney transplant and Hepatitis C, TMZ reports.
The daughter of legendary crooner Nat King Cole and singer Maria Hawkins Ellington, was 65.
“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.
The singer’s greatest hits included: “This Will Be (An Everlasting Love),” “Our Love” and “Unforgettable.” Cole won nine Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year and Record of the Year in 1992 for “Unforgettable … With Love,” a virtual duet made with the recordings of her late father.
In recent months she had cancelled many appearances citing a medical procedure and subsequent stay at the hospital.
