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Natalie Cole

Source: Afro Newspaper/Gado / Getty

The Grammy Awards stand by their tribute to Natalie Cole. Ken Ehrlich, the show’s producer, felt that their decision to include Natalie Cole in the segment and not do a solo tribute was “appropriate.”

Ehrlich told Billboard,

“Frankly, I think it was appropriate. . . . at one point I was playing around with ‘Miss You Like Crazy,’ because I love that song. But when I looked again at the Grammy show we did where she won for ‘Unforgettable,’ and I saw the last 45 seconds of that number, where her father 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.”

Ehrlich also revealed that he cleared the tribute with Cole’s sister and she was initially okay with it.  So, there you have it!

Natalie Cole Through The Years
12 photos