Singer Natalie Cole Dies At 65

Born in 1950, Cole grew up among musical royalty. Her father, Nat King Cole, was one of the most accomplished singers and jazz musicians of the postwar era, and her mother, Maria Hawkins Cole, was a singer for Duke Ellington. Their house, in Los Angeles' upscale Hancock Park neighborhood, was a regular spot for her parents' colleagues.

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.

After college in Massachusetts, Cole embarked on her own career. In 1975, she had a massive hit with "This Will Be" from her album "Inseparable," which showed off her tremendous pipes - she earned comparisons to Aretha Franklin - and command of a range of styles. The work won her a Grammy for best new artist.

She followed that with other hits, including "I've Got Love on My Mind," "Our Love" and "Someone That I Used to Love."

But failing sales and personal problems sidetracked Cole's career. She had done heroin in the early '70s, she told the Houston Chronicle, and then got hooked on cocaine. Her mother even filed for conservatorship in 1982.

A rehab stint in 1983 turned her life around.

Cole began a comeback in the late '80s that was capped by 1991's "Unforgettable ... With Love," an album that - thanks to the wonder of technology - included a duet with her father on one of his biggest hits, "Unforgettable." (On another song, "Route 66," she was accompanied on piano by another member of her family, her uncle Ike Cole.) 

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.

In 2008, Cole started suffering from kidney problems due to hepatitis C, which she attributed to her past drug issues. Despite chemotherapy, both kidneys failed, and in 2009, she went public with a request for a kidney donation.

Even then, despite her struggles, she was a determined performer.

She received a directed donation of a kidney from a deceased donor in May 2009. 

Cole maintained her recording and performing career, most recently recording an album in Spanish, "Natalie Cole in Español." She also appeared as a judge on "RuPaul's Drag Race" and guested on some "Real Housewives" programs.

Cole was married three times. She divorced her third husband, Kenneth Dupree, in 2004.