Natalie Cole’s family are NOT impressed with the way the Grammys declined to give the legendary Natalie Cole her proper respect. Natalie’s twin sisters, Timolin and Casey Cole, spoke out today about their opposition to Natalie basically being treated like a second rate singer after the Grammys threw her tribute into a video collage with about 10 seconds of homage shown to her, while EW&F’s Maurice White and three Caucasian legends-David Bowie, Glenn Frey, and Lemmy from Motörhead- were remembered in a live performance.

At first there was not even going to be a Maurice White tribute, the Grammys had only prepared a tribute to only the White entertainers who had passed away recently, but after receiving public backlash on social media, they quickly added the tribute for Maurice, but still ignored the public outcry to also include Natalie in the live tribute.

Here is what Natalie’s sisters had to say about this via Page Six and MailOnline:

‘Where is the tribute to our sister? It’s very bittersweet.

‘We were hoping that there will be some sort of actual tribute to her fitting of her artistry and stature. She had 21 Grammy nominations and nine wins.

‘She was such a force in the music industry and she transcended genres…I think she should be recognized for the impact she has had.’

Cole said that she was told the ‘In Memoriam’ segment would end with a clip of Natalie and her father Nat King Cole, who died 51 years ago on Monday, singing ‘Unforgettable,’ but said at the time that this wasn’t enough.

She added: ‘Why wouldn’t you have a medley of two or three songs? There are many hits that could be sung and great artists who could perform them.’

And it wasn’t just her family that were upset, musician Eric Benet commented: ‘I think David Bowie is in his grave right now disgusted.

‘So Grammys: Shame on you. Shame on you, shame on you. There would be no rock-and-roll if there was no R&B, and I feel like Black music…continues to be lessened in a number of different ways. But that’s another video.’ 

After the R.I.P. tribute segment of the Grammy Awards aired, social media didn’t take too kindly to the lack of Natalie Cole respect dished out by the organization and once again the #GrammysSoWhite hashtag quickly begin surfacing again. Here are some examples of what folks were saying about this on social media:

With the ever-growing popularity of social media, it is a new day and age of accountability. Organizations and corporations are now being forced to answer for their actions, and their reputations are now starting to be affected as a result of the wealth of information that people can now share with each other through social media. This is a wonderful new day we live in…the days of corporations and mainstream media machines not being held responsible for their actions, reactions, or biases are coming to an end because the people now have a collective voice and multiple platforms on which to make their voices heard. Natalie Cole wasn’t given her just due at the Grammys this year, but maybe next year, they’ll think twice about doing that to someone else, just like they were forced to think twice about failing to recognize Maurice White’s legacy this year.