*Keyshia Cole’s biological mother, Frankie Lons, has died of a drug overdose, passing away on her birthday.
Lons had battled drug addiction for years, which Cole openly discussed with fans.
Per TMZ, Cole’s brother, Sam, said “Frankie overdosed at her Oakland home Sunday … the same day she was celebrating her born day, when she apparently took drugs while partying — relapsing on what we’re told was a long, hard-fought journey to sobriety,” the outlet writes.
Here’s more from the report:
Sam says he was checking in with Frankie daily, trying to help her stay clean … a well-documented battle that Keyshia and co. had captured and shared publicly in recent years … via television, social media and other channels. Sam also says the family wants the world to remember Frankie as someone who loved her kids, and who wanted her children to be together … despite their turbulent history.
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Keyshia reunited with Frankie later in life as an adult after her mother and her biological father, Virgil Hunter, gave her up for adoption at a very young age. Cole was raised by family friends. After she hit it big as an R&B singer, she and Frankie took fans inside their relationship on the reality series “Keyshia Cole My New Life”.
Over the years, Keyshia was quite vocal about her mother’s addiction struggles. In several Tweets posted in 2017, Keyshia explained that Frankie’s struggle with addiction had deteriorated to the point that she chose drugs over her own daughter, and it took a toll on their relationship.
“I told my mother the other day I was afraid to lose her because she keeps going back to the streets,” Cole tweeted. “You know what she said? In return? She said, ‘YOU’LL be aight.’”
Frankie was celebrating her 61st birthday at the time of her death.
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