Natalie Cole's Family Outraged At Grammy's Tribute Snub
Natalie Cole’s family slammed the Grammy Awards over their “disrespectful tribute” to the late singer following the telecast Monday night, Entertainment Tonight reported. “This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)” singer, who died at the age of 65 in Los Angeles on Dec. 31, 2015, was remembered among many other iconic singers during the In Memoriam segment at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
"Sadly a FORGETTABLE tribute to Natalie Cole," Cole's sisters, Timolin and Casey, told ET Online . "Words cannot express the outrage and utter disappointment at the disrespectful tribute, or lack thereof, to a legendary artist such as our sister."
David Bowie, Lionel Richie, B.B. King and The Eagles' Glenn Frey were all remembered along with Cole for their contribution to the music industry during the awards ceremony.
http://www.syracuse.com/celebrity-news/index.ssf/2016/02/grammys_in_memoriam_snubs_natalie_cole.html
I owned most of Natalie Cole's albums in her post "Unforgettable" era when she had transitioned from an R&B singer in her early career into an interpreter of the so called "standards", mostly songs written from the mid 1930's to the mid 1960's. The music that in earlier times would have been associated with an Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, or, Nat King Cole.
Natalie Cole was without a doubt one of the best contemporary practitioners of this music , and continued to perform it regularly into her mid 60's.
Natalie Cole was nominated for 16 Grammy awards and won 9, and you would think this would have earned her a little more attention last night. But the reason why she wasn't given a spotlight tribute with live performers isn't hard to figure out at all. Natalie Cole was not a hitmaker, and her preferred genre is not all that "popular" today. The Grammy producers can acknowledge Glenn Frey and David Bowie with long tributes because they were rock stars, and BB King because the blues is "cool" ( everyone imagines themselves in a smoky bar on the wrong side of the tracks getting the blues, at some point) , but Natalie Cole was a star in a lost and, frankly, old, genre.
Unless your name is Tony Bennett, you are not getting on the Grammy stage with "pop standards".
They don't do much folk, classical, spanish language, or jazz, either, although all of those genres get their grammys too.
I didn't watch the Grammys last night though. I have since heard that some rapper dominated the stage. Oh well.
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The way the Grammys deals with their show is as if the Oscars only featured comedies or superhero movies and singled them out as the worthy genre. But money and ratings talk.
Par for the course with these liberal wankers. They are the same people that gave Al Gore a Grammy.
An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It, won a Grammy in the "spoken word" category.
Did they read excerpts on the stage that night ?
I generally don't watch any of the Hollywood award shows. I did tune in when Lady Ga Ga performed her tribute to David Bowie and that was because my husband kept hollering up for me to "turn on the t.v. Lady Ga Ga's getting ready to perform. This is going to be awesome!". Afterwards I turned the t.v. back off.
So, long story short. I have nothing of substance to add. sorry.....
John,
While it is true that Natalie had a lovely voice, she wasn't her father, and she wasn't as influential a music force as people like Bowie, BB King, and Glenn Frey, since they all went on to define a specific kind of music and do it for decades. Bowie literally was recording until his death. BB King changed music, and Glenn Frey defined the California sound for 2 decades. I think they did a lovely job of making her the most important singer in the annual death roll, and I think that is appropriate for her body of work.
Perrie,
I don't disagree with your assessment of who was more popular, but I disagree with the rest of it.
No one musical artist or band was or is universally popular. Far more didn't care for David Bowie's music than liked it. I think you could say the same for Frey and BB King too. Personally, I was not much of a fan of Bowie, never bought any of his records , and didn't care much about him, and I am quite sure I am not alone in that. I did have a few Eagles records and was one of the first people in my circle of friends to pick up on them.
I'm not saying Natalie Cole "deserved" to have a live tribute, but if she had been a rock star or rapper with nine grammies she would have got one.
My comment is on how many types of music are ignored on that show in order to highlight pop stars.
By their nature and they way they are categorized, they border on meaninglessness.
They have a "record of the year".
Were any classical records considered ? Jazz? Opera? Of course not. They rarely even consider country for record of the year.
It's a television show based mainly on popularity.
Dave Brubeck - "Take Five"
Tchaikovsky - "William Tell Overture"
While it is true that Natalie had a lovely voice, she wasn't her father, and she wasn't as influential a music force as people like Bowie, BB King, and Glenn Frey, since they all went on to define a specific kind of music and do it for decades
I agree. It was shown when she had herself singing along with recordings of her father. Some people thought it was wonderful, but her parts were no comparison to her father's singing. It only showed that she just wasn't as good as he was.
Besides, they can't do tributes to everyone who dies. In some years it would be a show in which it was all tributes and no time for awards.
Did they do longer tributes to others or just the collage video they normally do? I think you're right, John she really couldn't be pigeon-holed into the popular categories. I'm not sure going to the press all outraged does anything for her memory.
She was her father's daughter, but her talent, voice and presentation could hardly match his.
It seems that in this case ego trumped appreciation. Blessed be the humble.....
I agree. She inherited a lot of talent and was a great singer. That said her father was head and shoulders above most singers and is deservedly legendary. He was beyond just great. IMHO
What in the world are you people talking about ?
Yes, she was a great singer but: "The music that in earlier times would have been associated with an Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, or, Nat King Cole." She just wasn't in their league. I'm sorry, but she just was not.
Randy, Natalie Cole's talent as a singer has nothing to do with her father, other than a good singing voice was probably genetic.
She was a woman with a somewhat thin high pitched voice and her father was a man with a soft baritone. Their voices are not comparable. What is the point of saying one was better than the other ? Nat King Cole died 50 years ago also.
Appreciation of music is subjective and varies from listener to listener. Natalie Cole was very accomplished in her genre and won 9 Grammy awards. I'm not sure your trying to belittle her is a hill of beans.
I agreed that she was a great singer, but not good enough to be a legendary one, IMHO.
"Appreciation of music is subjective and varies from listener to listener."
Absolutely. It is a matter of personal taste. She cannot possibly be compared to her father for a number of reasons. However, she USED him to provide a stage for herself - witness the duets she did with a video of her father. By doing so she DID put herself in the position of being compared to him. IMO, I agree with Randy that she just wasn't in the same league with Ella, Frank, Peggy or Tony Bennett.
However, she USED him to provide a stage for herself - witness the duets she did with a video of her father. By doing so she DID put herself in the position of being compared to him. IMO, I agree with Randy that she just wasn't in the same league with Ella, Frank, Peggy or Tony Bennett.
I believe the technology had just become available when she made the record with her father. It certainly wasn't being used much before that. Also, she was changing her career path from R&B to standards and using that gimmick was good publicity for her. So what ? Has nothing to do with her talent.
There is no purpose in my continuing to comment on this article. I stick with my comment that the family's "outrage" was an uncalled for display of inflated ego. Granted she had a certain amount of talent, but she wasn't, IMO, legendary.