“I never thought I’d live this long,” Natalie Cole told the sold-out-to-the-rafters crowd Saturday night at New York’s City Winery. “I thought I’d be dead by 30.”

Instead, she’s lived twice as long, and celebrated her 60th birthday on Saturday night with style, grace, and her amazing voice.

The Saturday-night show was the second in a row, and capped a birthday week that included her singing on Quincy Jones‘ remake of “We Are the World” this past Monday. In between, though, Natalie managed to have a little trouble — she fell in her home and broke her elbow. The result was a black sling to go with her slinky black dress.

But elbows aside, Natalie rarely performs in New York, so her appearance was really a treat. (She would have done better to leave her rude corpulent female road manager at home, but that’s another story.) The show was mostly standards, which was just fine. Of course, there was “Unforgettable,” with a video of late dad, the original R&B superstar, Nat “King” Cole.

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