Courtesy photo

The past couple of years have been tough ones for singer Natalie Cole.

The daughter of vocal legend Nat "King" Cole was diagnosed with hepatitis C in 2008, the result of what she has said was intravenous heroin use decades ago. Not long after that diagnosis, she learned she had kidney disease.

On the same day in May that she learned a donor kidney was available, she had to leave a dying sister behind to get the transplant. The sister, Carole "Cookie" Cole, died of lung cancer while Natalie Cole was receiving her transplant.

Natalie Cole, 59, spent the summer recovering and is now back on the road. She comes to Salem on Thursday to perform with the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra.

Expect to hear the songs that made her famous, including "Unforgettable," her 1991 Grammy-winning "duet" single with Nat Cole. The vocal from his version was tracked onto hers about 30 years later, and it created a sensation. Their voices were combined again for the 2008 CD, "Still Unforgettable." This time, the duet came on the song "Walkin' My Baby Back Home."

Despite her health troubles, recent live performances have gone well. From the Times of Northwest Indiana's review of Cole's Oct. 2 show near Chicago: "The singer ... looked the picture of health and was in excellent vocal form through the 90-minute show."

-- Tad Dickens