Frankie Lons, the biological mother of R&B songstress Keyshia Cole, died in her Oakland, California, home on Sunday, July 18, 2021. She was 61.
Multiple family members confirmed on both social media and to the traditional press that Francine “Frankie” Lons died on her birthday, including Lons’ daughter Elite Noel, who posted this message on her Instagram Live platform:
“Worse pain ever … To see my mama in a body bag on her birthday,” Noel penned. “My heart is so f—-ing broke.”
Lons’ brother, Sam Lons, confirmed to TMZ that his sister died at her Oakland home due to a drug overdose after relapsing once again during her birthday party. The charismatic and beloved Lons famously spent the balance of her adult life battling drug addictions.
In fact, Lons was forced to give up Keyshia Cole, who was raised by family friends, due to Lons’ struggle with narcotics and subsequent stints in prison. They were later reunited after Cole became an adult and a recording star.
Sam Lons said he monitored his sister every day in an effort to help his sister Frankie maintain sobriety.
Lons rocketed to national fame during the highly-rated BET reality show, “Keyshia Cole: The Way It Is,” that garnered up to six million viewers at its peak from 2006 to 2008. The show was a brutal, unfiltered look at the fractured family and the success of the show spawned two spinoff reality shows, “Frankie & Neffe” from 2009-2015, and “Keyshia Cole: All In” in 2015.
In April of 2020, Cole posted this message for her six million Instagram followers to celebrate her mother maintaining sobriety for 60 straight days, but also bemoaning her frequent relapses over the years.
Flip the page to view the one-on-one interview Cole had with her mother for Fox Soul where the mother and daughter had a candid conversation about their turbulent past.
