Natalie Cole’s family ‘outraged’ by ‘disrespectful tribute’ at the Grammys

They are unhappy that the late jazz singer never got her own tribute segment

The family of Natalie Cole have expressed their anger at the Grammy Awards over a tribute to her life.

The singer, who passed away on December 31 and was the daughter of Nat King Cole, was featured in a memorial montage at the ceremony last night (February 15), but Cole did not receive an individual tribute performance like David Bowie, BB King and Glenn Fey.

Her sisters Timolin and Casey have since addressed the lack of remembrance, broadening the brief mention of her death as “forgettable”.

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Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, they said: “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 Adam Yancy added: “Here is a woman who has been in the business for four decades, had 21 Grammy nominations and won nine Grammys.

“She deserves more than [to be a part of] a minute-and-a-half tribute. It was shameless the way they minimized her legacy.”

He concluded: “We will find solace in her legacy as well as her endless fans around the world.”

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Cole – whose hits include ‘Unforgettable’, ‘Our Love’ and ‘This Will Be’ – had battled drug problems in the past and spent six months in rehab in 1983, a topic which Cole had written frankly about in her 2000 memoir ‘Angel On My Shoulder’. She was diagnosed with hepatitis C in 2008, and in May 2009 underwent a kidney transplant.

Following her passing last year, her family revealed that the cause of death to be heart failure brought on by a rare lung disease. She was 65.

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