Keyshia Cole's mother Frankie dies at the age of 61 after overdosing at her home on her birthday

Posted by Noelle Montes on Sunday, May 5, 2024

Heartbroken: Keyshia Cole's mother, Frankie Lons, died on her birthday following a decades-long struggle with addiction. They are pictured together leaving the Late Show with David Letterman in New York City in 2008

Heartbroken: Keyshia Cole's mother, Frankie Lons, died on her birthday following a decades-long struggle with addiction. They are pictured together leaving the Late Show with David Letterman in New York City in 2008

Heartbroken: Keyshia Cole’s mother, Frankie Lons, died on her birthday following a decades-long struggle with addiction. They are pictured together leaving the Late Show with David Letterman in New York City in 2008

R&B singer Keyshia Cole is in mourning after her biological mother died on Sunday following a decades-long struggle with addiction.

Frankie Lons, who appeared alongside her daughter on the reality show Keyshia Cole: The Way It Is in 2006, suffered a drug overdose while she was celebrating her 61st birthday at her home in Oakland, California. 

Cole was given up for adoption at a young age by Lons and her biological father, Virgil Hunter, and raised by family friends before reuniting with her birth parents after she found success as a singer.

Keyshia’s younger sister, singer/songwriter Elite Noel, took to her Instagram stories confirmed the tragic news.

‘Worse pain ever ….. to see my mama in a body bag on her birthday! My heart so f***in broke.’ 

Cole’s brother, Sam, also confirmed Lons had relapsed on her ‘long, hard-fought journey to sobriety.’ (TMZ was the first to report Lons’ death.)

In a 2018 post, Keyshia reflected on the pain of watching her mother struggle with addiction.  

Heartbreaking: Keyshia's younger sister, singer/songwriter Elite Noel, took to her Instagram stories and confirmed the tragic news

Heartbreaking: Keyshia's younger sister, singer/songwriter Elite Noel, took to her Instagram stories and confirmed the tragic news

Heartbreaking: Keyshia’s younger sister, singer/songwriter Elite Noel, took to her Instagram stories and confirmed the tragic news

‘Every time my mom relapse, it breaks my heart more than it’s already been broken,’ she wrote. ‘I’m hoping, if any of u are dealing with a family member who’s battling with drug addiction, that you, yourself are learning how to cope with the struggle of it all.

‘And all the pain it brings to see a loved one constantly relapsing. See them go back to the streets Because that’s what they’re used to, or would rather be. I really miss you! And will always love u.’ 

Frankie first appeared in her daughter’s 2006 reality show, Keyshia Cole: The Way It Is, and later on Keyshia Cole My New Life in 2019, where they discussed the possibilities of Lons dying. 

She found reality television success and starred in her own spin-off show, Frankie & Neffe, alongside Cole’s sister, Neffeteria Pugh. 

‘Some things happen out there in the streets and it scares a child, the thought,’ Cole said.

‘One day chicken and the next day feathers. If I die today you’re going to move on and you’ve got to make it. You’ve got to live for Keyshia,’ Lons replied. 

‘You have to live for you and your family not nobody else. You don’t have to do nothin’ but die and pay taxes, but you have to move on if anything happens to me. You can mourn, but at the end of the day you’ll see me later. Up there.’

‘That’s not OK, that’s not something to say because that’s not going to make me happy, in this moment, that moment, to never not have you,’ Keyshia responded.

Cole added: ‘I couldn’t imagine my kids having to fend for themselves without my protection. Even though I’m a grown woman, I feel like you should still want to be there.’

‘It scares me to think that one time I’m gonna come and I’m not gonna find you,’ she told her mom. 

Frankie said: ‘I’m a be always where you can find me. Even when God calls me. A mother’s love will always protect you.’ 

Struggle: Keyshia was frank about her mother's battle with addiction.  'Every time my mom relapse, it breaks my heart more than it's already been broken,' she wrote on Instagram in August 2018

Struggle: Keyshia was frank about her mother's battle with addiction.  'Every time my mom relapse, it breaks my heart more than it's already been broken,' she wrote on Instagram in August 2018

Struggle: Keyshia was frank about her mother’s battle with addiction.  ‘Every time my mom relapse, it breaks my heart more than it’s already been broken,’ she wrote on Instagram in August 2018 

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk

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