WHITFIELD: Multiple Grammy winner Natalie Cole died on New Year's Eve at the age of 65. She had several hit songs but was perhaps most well-known for her "Unforgettable" virtual duet with her late father, Nat King Cole. Here's CNN's Jeremy Roth.</s>JEREMY ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): She was the daughter of a singing legend who found her own musical success. As the child of Nat King Cole and orchestra singer Maria Hawkins Ellington, Natalie Cole was exposed to a rich performing tradition from a young age. Her 1991 version of her late father's standard, "Unforgettable," a virtual duet alongside his voice, helped the album sell millions of copies and win six Grammys in 1992. Cole was open about a year's long struggle with drug abuse. She was diagnosed in 2008 with hepatitis C and went on a public search for a kidney transplant. Here's Cole on CNN's "LARRY KING LIVE" in 2009.</s>NATALIE COLE, AMERICAN SINGER, SONGWRITER: It's like a virus, you know, and they treat it very aggressively. And -- but I've had it forever and I had it from drug use.</s>ROTH: A nurse at the hospital where Cole was being treated was so moved by the star's struggle that, when her niece suddenly died, she arranged for Cole to receive her kidney. Meanwhile, her family says, in her absence, they're now left with, quote, "heavy hearts," but add that she died how she lived, with dignity, strength and honor. Natalie Cole was 65 years old.</s>WHITFIELD: Hello, again, everyone. And Thanks so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. While some residents are beginning to clean up from that catastrophic flooding in Illinois and Missouri, others are bracing for the worst. In Southern Illinois officials are anxiously monitoring a second levee after one levee has already overtopped. Overtopped levees can lead to erosion or worse, breaches.
Natalie Cole Dies at 65.