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PEOPLE & ARTS A31
Producer says Grammys doesn’t have Oscars diversity issue
Clockwise: In a Wednesday, June 26, 2013 file photo, Grammy winning singer-songwriter Natalie Cole poses for a portrait in pro-
motion of her new album “Natalie Cole en Espanol,” in New York. In this May 8, 2004 file photo, David Bowie performs at Chastain
Park Amphitheatre in Atlanta. In this May 2, 2012 file photo, Glenn Frey of the Eagles performs at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at
Encore Park in Atlanta.In this Sept. 14, 1995 file photo, Ralph Johnson, from left, Phillip Bailey, Maurice White and Verdine White, of
Earth, Wind & Fire are honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles. if it weren’t for the great
MESFIN FEKADU
AP Music Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A vet-
eran Grammys executive
producer says his awards
show does not have a di-
versity issue like the Oscars
and that it is not fair to com- which paid tribute to her
pare the two programs.
Ahead of Monday’s show,
news outlets reported that
the Grammys could be un-
der fire since it planned to
pay tribute to white per-
formers such as David Bow-
ie and The Eagles’ Glenn
Frey with live performanc-
es, though the legacy of
black acts such as Natalie
Cole and Maurice White of
Earth, Wind & Fire recently
passed and were not re-
ceiving the same treat-
ment.
Ken Ehrlich said he first
thought of booking a per-
former to honor Cole, but
then he watched her 1992
Grammys performance of
her singing in sync with her
father, Nat King Cole, who
appeared in video. It was
the same year she won
album of the year for “Un-
forgettable... with Love,”
father with reworked ver-
sions of some of his best-
known songs.
Ehrlich called the video of
the performance “unbe-
lievably touching” and said
it will be played at the end
of the “In Memorium” sec-
tion of the awards show.
Natalie Cole died on Dec.
31. Earth, Wind & Fire — who
were set to receive a life-
time achievement award
before White passed — will
accept the honor on live
TV, speak about White’s
legacy and present one of
the top awards, record of
the year, Ehrlich said. White enced and been shaped
died on Feb. 4 and Ehrlich
Monday 15 February 2016
ture, so I don’t think the
same rules apply,” he
said. “There wouldn’t be
a Grammys show today
African-American artists
Associated Press who built the culture and
wrote the music and we try
to reflect that every year. I
don’t think it’s fair to level
criticism, the same kind of
criticism against us that the
Oscars are experiencing.”
Ehrlich added that the mu-
sic and movie industries
are like apples and or-
anges: “They might be the
same shape, they might
get to you in the same
form, but they’re entirely
different art forms and they
come from entirely differ-
ent places.” Other per-
formers at the Grammys,
airing from Staples Center
in Los Angeles, will include
Adele, Rihanna, Taylor
Swift, the Weeknd, Car-
rie Underwood and Kend-
rick Lamar, who is the top
nominee with 11. Members
of the Eagles and Jack-
son Browne will perform to
honor Frey, who died on
Jan. 18. And Lady Gaga,
who Ehrlich booked to per-
form on the show before
Bowie died, said the pop
star asked to sing in tribute
to the icon when died on
Jan. 10. “She (said) to me,
‘I would really love to do a
David Bowie segment and
(I said) to her, ‘Of course.q
added that there will also
be a surprise with Earth,
Wind & Fire.
B.B. King, who died last
year, will also be honored
with a performance tribute
by Bonnie Raitt, Gary Clark
Jr. and Chris Stapleton, Eh-
rlich said.
The producer said though
the Oscars have received
a backlash for a second
straight year of all-white
acting nominees, the
Grammys are not even
comparable.
“The fact of the matter is
popular music is, it came
from New Orleans, it came
from Memphis, it came
from Kansas City, it came
from the Islands, it came
from Africa, and the music
we listen to today, not just
hip-hop, not just R&B, but
all music has been influ-
by African-American cul-