Cole to Winehouse: Give Up Grammys

Amy Winehouse give up those Grammys! That’s Natalie Cole’s latest refrain.

Cole, 58, famous for her duet “Unforgettable” with her late father Nat King Cole, expressed her disappointment after Winehouse accepted five Grammys via satellite at Sunday’s awards ceremony. Visa complications stemming from the 24 year-old’s very public substance abuse problems and recovery attempts prevented her from making the trip from London to the Staples Center (SPLS) in Los Angeles.

“I don’t think she should have won,”  Cole told US Weekly. Cole, who is a Grammy-winning singer who spent time in the early 80s dealing with her own drug addictions, says Winehouse is being rewarded for bad behavior. “I think it sends a bad message to our young people who are trying to get into this business.”

Winehouse checked into rehab last month following the leak of a videotape of her apparently smoking crack cocaine and discussing ecstasy and Valium (RHHBY.PK). She plans to continue treatment. According to Winehouse’s mother, Janis, her daughter is “on the road to recovery.”

Winehouse’s success, her album from Island Records (VIV), Back to Black, has sold more than 4 million copies to date worldwide, means that she can afford people to handle her affairs while she recovers. Still Winehouse should grant someone power of attorney to maintain her finances while she is in rehab, says Morris Armstrong, a financial planner in Danbury, CT. “Everyone should have a power of attorney set up through a lawyer [so] you are covered if you are near death or incapacitated,” says Armstrong.  “It should be chosen when you are putting together your will and health care proxy. Choose someone you trust to do everything you would do but can’t and get it notarized.”