Rant: Drug Addicts Deserve Grammys

There are two types of Amy Winehouse fans. Those who love her for the tabloid mess she is, and those who loved her until she became the tabloid mess that she is. Most fall under the latter, considering themselves to be a legit Wino supporter until drugs, alcohol and taking 5 a.m. walks in the winter wearing just a bra came into play.

Few people doubt that Winehouse embodies a selective talent that she publicly wastes on substance abuse and a good-for-nothing enabler of a husband. However, something funny happened at the Grammy Awards this weekend. She won. She won a lot. Coming off the heels of her own stunned reaction though, were comments made about it by none other than – underwhelming gasp – Natalie Cole.

Cole told People at a post-Grammy party that Winehouse didn’t deserve her near clean sweep of five awards Sunday night because it just means we are rewarding the kind of barely rehab-able mess that she is. As a multiple Grammy winner and former substance abuser herself, Cole told the magazine, “I think it sends a bad message to our young people who are trying to get into this business, the ones who are trying to do it right and really trying to keep themselves together," adding, “This is about discipline and hard work, and you don't get to just do your drugs and go onstage and get rewarded." Um, you don’t?

Natalie -- welcome to the music industry! Do you also believe that Kurt Cobain should not be marked as the voice that gave birth to an entire generation for shooting himself up with heroin before putting a gun to his head? See also: Jerry Garcia, Sid Vicious and Bradley Nowell. Why is Winehouse different – because of round-the-clock stalker-razzi that track her every move?

The question should be when do we not reward musicians for being crackheads? We love that shit! It’s like some subconscious manifestation of a life we could only dream of having if we too could play awesome guitar, have enough willpower to stop eating in the name of anorexia and have unlimited access to free clothes and booze. Wino is not a lot different than most musicians these days and decades past other than tabloids having a stake in her. And lets face it, the best thing Amy Winehouse could do for her career right now is die of a drug overdose.


RELATED: natalie cole, amy winehouse, bradley nowell, kurt cobain, jerry garcia, sid vicious

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