Natalie Cole Battles Hepatitis C From Hospital

Natalie Cole, R&B songstress, and daughter of music legend Nat “King” Cole, has landed in the hospital due to complications from Hepatitis C, according to reports published yesterday at Yahoo Music and other news sources. Cole has been in a New York City hospital since September 12 according to the reports.

The singer had been busy promoting a new album, Still Unforgettable, which is a sequel of sorts to her best-selling 1991 album Unforgettable…With Love, where she put a fresh spin on some of the best loved songs by her legendary father. That album earned Natalie Cole multiple awards, including several Grammys, and ended up as the best selling record of her career.

At the time of her hospitalization, Cole had taped several TV appearances, including NBC’s “Today,” and was reportedly mapping out a concert tour to support the album. The hospitalization is being blamed on the heavy promotional schedule, as well as an adverse reaction to the medication she was taking.

Natalie Cole initially burst on the music scene during the disco boom of the late seventies. After scoring several hits on the dance, pop, and R&B charts she disappeared from prominence for several years amidst rumors of heavy drug use. With the Unforgettable album, Cole emerged clean and reenergized in 1991, reinventing herself as a pop diva with her renditions of her famous father’s classic standards.

Cole first disclosed her illness earlier this year. Hepatitis C is a disease of the liver spread through the blood. Cole has said she believes she contracted the disease when she was using drugs.

"We’re canceling her activities in October, but we do expect her to have a complete recovery," Cole’s publicist Maureen O'Connor said. "She just needs some rest."


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