Natalie Cole’s Son Robert Yancy Found Dead At 39, Cause Of Death Revealed By Authorities
Robert Yancy, the only son of late singer Natalie Cole, was found dead in his San Fernando Valley, California home on Monday. He was only 39-years-old.
According to a report from TMZ, Yancy’s body was found in his apartment earlier this week, after a concerned friend, who hadn’t heard from him in some time, went to check on him. At 2:30 a.m. on Tuesday, authorities called to notify Yancy’s family that Robert had died of a heart attack, and while officials have his cause of death listed as “natural causes,” TMZ added that this could possibly change, pending autopsy and toxicology test results.
The Los Angeles Times wrote that Robert Yancy was preceded in death by his mother, R&B singer Natalie Cole, who died from congestive heart failure on December 31, 2015 at the age of 65. Three decades prior, his father, pastor and gospel musician Marvin Yancy, died on March 22, 1985 at the age of 34, with his cause of death likewise listed as a heart attack. Robert was also the grandson of pop and R&B legend Nat King Cole, who succumbed to lung cancer in 1965.
As Monsters and Critics noted earlier this year, citing an Autopsy: The Last Hours Of… episode, a long history of past drug addiction allegedly played a part in Natalie Cole’s untimely passing. Her son Robert Yancy, on the other hand, was not known as a drug abuser, and was reportedly “turning his life around” at the time of his death. The publication also speculated that Robert’s cause of death might have been hereditary, due to the similar circumstances behind his parents’ deaths.
Shortly after his mother’s passing, Yancy was vocally upset over the lack of a “special” tribute for Natalie Cole at the 2016 Grammy Awards, according to Entertainment Tonight. While David Bowie, Glenn Frey, and B.B. King, all of whom had died shortly before that year’s Grammys, got special musical tributes, Natalie only got a brief tribute to her legacy, which is something her only son took offense to in a statement quoted by ET.
“Here is a woman who has been in the business for four decades, had 21 Grammy nominations and won nine Grammys. It was shameless the way they minimized her legacy. We will find solace in her legacy as well as her endless fans around the world.”
Robert Yancy, the son of legendary singer Natalie Cole has died, and he was only 39. ? https://t.co/01uxDo5BCO pic.twitter.com/wHzXaulj9H
— theGrio.com (@theGrio) August 15, 2017
Like his grandfather Nat King Cole and mother Natalie Cole, Robert Yancy was involved in music prior to his death, albeit mostly behind the scenes. According to a report from Heavy, Robert worked as a live drummer in his late mother’s backing band, and also did some gigs as a young session musician, playing percussion on Natalie’s 1993 album Take a Look, and playing saxophone on all-female R&B trio SWV’s holiday-themed 1997 album A Special Christmas.
[Featured Image by Larry Busacca/Getty Images]
