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Natalie Cole’s Sister Is ‘Outraged’ After Grammys Fail To Tribute Late Singer, Producers Defend Decision

By Niki Cruz
Published on: 07:34 PST, Feb 17, 2016

Natalie Cole’s family is still reacting to the lack of a personal tribute the late singer received at the Grammy Awards. As the Inquisitr reported, Natalie Cole was the last star to be recognized in the “In Memoriam” tribute. They held on her singing her father Nat King Cole’s legendary song “Unforgettable” to his image, but that wasn’t enough.

At the time, her sisters, Timolin and Casey, told Entertainment Tonight of their disappointment.

“Sadly a FORGETTABLE tribute to Natalie Cole. Words cannot express the outrage and utter disappointment at the disrespectful tribute, or lack thereof, to a legendary artist such as our sister.”

Cole’s son Robert said of the tribute or lack thereof, “She deserves more than [to be a part of] a minute-and-a-half tribute. 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.”

Others reacted in similar fashion to the lack of special tribute, given that there were medleys dedicated to The Eagles’ Glenn Frey, Lemmy Kilmister, and the late David Bowie.

Despite the outrage from some individuals, the producers have decided to stand by their choice to honor Natalie Cole in the way that they did.

Producer Ken Ehrlich said, “Frankly, I think it was appropriate.”

He went on to call it “touching and emotional.” As for the family’s reaction to the tribute, Ehrlich said he was shocked about their response.

The producer told Billboard, “For the record, there was an email exchange, and I told Timolin what we were doing, and she seemed to be very happy with it.”

Of using the clip of her singing “Unforgettable” instead of the originally slated “Miss You Like Crazy,” he said, “I saw the last 45 seconds of that number, where her father (Nat King Cole, on the big screen) throws her a kiss, she throws him a kiss, and then she turns to the audience and throws everybody a kiss — that just was so touching and so emotional to me that that felt like it had to be the end of the whole ‘In Memoriam’ segment. I hadn’t looked at that clip in several years, but when I saw it again, I knew it was right.”

Co-writer David Wild echoed the statement by saying that the Natalie Cole tribute was impactful.

“Before she passed, we always would have her on the show to present, and she was one of his favorites. In fact, he went to her service.”

He continued, “That clip really impacted him, and he thought, he’s not gonna do better at Natalie than Natalie. When he found that clip and showed it to me, he was sort of in tears, because it meant so much to him.”

Natalie Cole died at the age of 65 due to heart failure. She was battling several illnesses at the time.

Do you think Natalie Cole deserved a better tribute from the Grammys, or did the footage suffice?

[Photo by Imeh Akpanudosen/Getty Images for SeriousFun Children’s Network]

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