Friday, February 26 – Friday, March 4
 Natalie Cole |
In this broadcast, we pay tribute to Natalie Cole, the nine-time Grammy winner and daughter of Nat “King” Cole, who died of congestive heart failure on New Year’s Eve 2015 at the age of 65.
Our tribute begins with a 2010 conversation conducted soon after she received a life-saving kidney transplant. Cole had long suffered from a number of health problems – she was diagnosed in 2008 with hepatitis C, which she attributed to her past intravenous drug use. Soon after starting treatment for that condition, she suffered kidney failure and needed dialysis three times a week before receiving the transplant in 2009. Part 2 of our tribute is our final recorded conversation with Cole, from 2013, when she appeared in part to introduce what turned out to be her last studio album, “Natalie Cole en Español.” The album, recorded after her recovery from her kidney transplant, was inspired by the bond forged with the Latino family of her donor and her father’s Spanish-language recordings. |
