Police have confirmed that soul singer Amy Winehouse was found dead in her apartment Saturday, July 23, 2011. The cause of death is unconfirmed at this time.
Sadly, most people will remember her for the tabloid headlines that gleefully reported her drug and alcohol use, erratic behaviour and run-ins with the law. But Winehouse, who, like so many of her musical peers, died at the young age of 27 years old, deserves to be remembered as more than just another example of celebrity excess.
Winehouse was a talented singer, a frank and honest songwriter (for proof, just listen to Wake Up Alone) and she embodied a tawdry glamour that was equal parts tough and vulnerable. With her trademark beehive and thick black eyeliner, she had a look that hearkened back to the Ronettes and caught people’s attention. But it was the songs that kept fans on her side.
Over two albums, Frank and Back To Black, Winehouse sang about love, sex and booze, not necessarily in that order. And she did it well. Her debut, the jazzy Frank, made the Mercury Prize short list and the single, Stronger Than Me, won the Ivor Novello songwriting award. On early single Fuck Me Pumps, she deftly skewers club girls on the make with a wit that’s woefully absent from the average pop single.
It was Back To Black that made Winehouse an international sensation. Produced by Salaam Remi and Mark Ronson, and with the Dap-Kings providing the perfect musical accompaniment to Winehouse’s soulful voice, Back To Black was a commercial and critical smash, winning a host of awards, including the Grammy for Record of the Year.
Considering her biggest hit was Rehab, a song about her refusal to go and cure herself of her addictions, it wasn’t surprising that she was battling some demons. When you think that she was just 22 when Rehab was released, the story gets even sadder. This wasn’t a middle-aged star’s survivor’s tale it was a young woman singing about drinking to heal a heart that seemed to be forever broken.
In a May, 2007 cover story with NOW, Winehouse spoke of how she started singing the song on the way back from shooting pool with Ronson during the recording of the album.
“I started singing to myself about rehab as a joke and Mark asked, ‘Who does that song?’ I’m like, ‘What song? I just made it up.’
“So Mark gets all excited, like, ‘That’s so cool, you should write a song around that!’ So I said, ‘A song about not going to rehab? That’s stupid. But it’s a true story so I could come up with something, no problem.’ We went back to the studio and it came together just like that.”
Following the success of Back To Black, Winehouse’s musical output was minimal, although she provided a rousing cover of the Zutons’ Valerie on Ronson’s album, Version. A third album has long been rumoured, but nothing ever materialized.
Interview Clips
Amy Whinehouse found there was an upside to the break up of a long-term relationship.
According to Winehouse, reports of her feud with Lily Allen at the Brit Awards are completely unfounded.
Music Clip
Mark Ronson & Amy Winehouse : Valerie
