Rosemary Clooney Legacy Leads Bette Midler To Decline Grammy Nomination

01/21/2004 4:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
LAUNCH Radio Networks

Bette Midler is not so sure she wants to take home the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album at the February 8 event in Los Angeles. Midler's CD Bette Midler Sings The Rosemary Clooney Songbook is going head-to-head with the late Clooney's own album, The Last Concert. Midler told the Boston Globe, "I'm mortified. I'd really like Rosemary to win that Grammy. I can't believe I'm up against her. I'm going to look into withdrawing. I just think it's bad form if I won. You know, she never won a Grammy."

Barbra Streisand, Rod Stewart, Tony Bennett, and K.D. Lang are also nominated for the same award.

Clooney, whose career spanned jazz and pop, died of lung cancer complications last June at age 74.

Meanwhile, Midler is currently on the road with her Kiss My Brass tour. She performed in Boston Tuesday (January 20). During each show, Midler uses a photo of Clooney as a backdrop during her performance of Clooney's song "Tenderly."

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