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Amy Winehouse | |
|---|---|
 Winehouse in 2007 | |
| Born | Amy Jade Winehouse 14 September 1983 Southgate, London, England |
| Died | 23 July 2011 (aged 27) Camden Town, London, England |
| Cause of death | Alcohol poisoning |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 2002–2011 |
| Works | |
| Spouse |
Blake Fielder-Civil
(m. 2007; div. 2009) |
| Partners |
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| Awards | Full list |
| Musical career | |
| Genres | |
| Labels | |
| Website | amywinehouse |
Amy Jade Winehouse (14 September 1983 – 23 July 2011) was an English singer and songwriter. She was known for her deep, expressive contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres, including soul, rhythm and blues, reggae and jazz.
A member of the National Youth Jazz Orchestra during her youth, Winehouse signed to Simon Fuller's 19 Management in 2002 and soon recorded a number of songs before signing a publishing deal with EMI. She also formed a working relationship with producer Salaam Remi through these record publishers. Winehouse's debut album, Frank, was released in 2003. Many of the album's songs were influenced by jazz and, apart from two covers, were co-written by Winehouse. Frank was a critical success in the UK and was nominated for the Mercury Prize. The song "Stronger Than Me" won her the Ivor Novello Award for Best Contemporary Song from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors.
Winehouse released her follow-up album, Back to Black, in 2006, which went on to become an international success and one of the best-selling albums in UK history.[1] At the 2007 Brit Awards, it was nominated for British Album of the Year and Winehouse received the award for British Female Solo Artist. The song "Rehab" won her a second Ivor Novello Award. At the 50th Grammy Awards in 2008, she won five awards, tying the then record for the most wins by a female artist in a single night and becoming the first British woman to win five Grammys. These included three of the General Field "Big Four" Grammy Awards: Best New Artist, Record of the Year and Song of the Year (for "Rehab"), as well as Best Pop Vocal Album.
Winehouse struggled with substance abuse, mental illness and addiction. She died of alcohol poisoning on 23 July 2011, at the age of 27. Her brother believed that bulimia was also to blame. After her death, Back to Black briefly became the UK's best-selling album of the 21st century.[2] VH1 ranked Winehouse 26th on their list of the 100 Greatest Women in Music. Her life and career was dramatised in a 2024 biopic, Back to Black, directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson.
Early life[edit]
Amy Jade Winehouse was born on 14 September 1983 at Chase Farm Hospital in Gordon Hill, Enfield, to Jewish parents.[3] Her father, Mitchell "Mitch" Winehouse, was a window panel installer[4] and taxi driver; her mother, Janis Winehouse (née Seaton),[5] was a pharmacist.[6] Her mother was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2003.[7] Winehouse's great-great-grandfather Harris Winehouse emigrated from Minsk, Belarus, to London in 1891.[8] She had an older brother, Alex (born 1979).[9] The family lived in London's Southgate area,[3] where she attended Osidge Primary School and then secondary at Ashmole School.[10][11] Winehouse attended a Jewish Sunday school while she was a child.[12] During an interview following her rise to fame, she expressed her disapproval towards the school by saying that she used to beg her father to permit her not to go and that she learned nothing about being Jewish by going anyway.[13] In the same interview, Winehouse said she only went to a synagogue once a year on Yom Kippur "out of respect".[12]
Many of Winehouse's maternal uncles were professional jazz musicians.[14] Amy's paternal grandmother, Cynthia, had been a singer and had dated the English jazz saxophonist Ronnie Scott.[15] She and Amy's parents influenced Amy's interest in jazz.[15] Her father, Mitch, often sang Frank Sinatra songs to her, and whenever she was chastised at school, she would sing "Fly Me to the Moon" before going up to the headmistress to be told off.[16] Winehouse's parents separated when she was nine,[17] and she lived with her mother in Whetstone, London and stayed with her father and his girlfriend in Hatfield Heath, Essex on weekends.[18]
In 1992, her grandmother Cynthia suggested that Amy attend the Susi Earnshaw Theatre School, where she went on Saturdays to further her vocal education and to learn to tap dance.[19][20] She attended the school for four years and founded a short-lived rap group called Sweet 'n' Sour, with Juliette Ashby, her childhood friend,[21] before seeking full-time training at Sylvia Young Theatre School.[22] Several years later it was reported that Winehouse had been expelled at 14 for "not applying herself" and also for piercing her nose,[9][23] but these claims were denied by Sylvia Young: "She changed schools at 15...I've heard it said she was expelled; she wasn't. I'd never have expelled Amy."[24] Mitch Winehouse also denied the claims.[4] An English teacher at the Sylvia Young Theatre School remembered Amy as a gifted writer, predicting that she would become a novelist or journalist.[25] She attended the Mount School, Mill Hill and the BRIT School in Selhurst, Croydon, dropping out at age 16.[26][27]
After toying around with her brother Alex's guitar, Winehouse bought her own guitar when she was 14 and began writing music shortly afterwards. Soon after, she began working for a living as an entertainment journalist for the World Entertainment News Network and also singing with local group the Bolsha Band.[9][28] In July 2000, she became the featured female vocalist with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra. At home she learned from and practised singing songs by Frank Sinatra, Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughan and Minnie Ripperton—singers who she said "will get under the song" and remake it as their own rather than sing it straight as written.[28] Winehouse's best friend, soul singer Tyler James, sent her demo tape to an A&R person.[15]
Career[edit]
2002–2005: Career beginnings and Frank[edit]
Winehouse was signed to Simon Fuller's 19 Management in 2002 and was paid £250 a week against future earnings.[29] While being developed by the management company, Winehouse was kept as a recording industry secret,[30] although she was a regular jazz standards singer at the Cobden Club.[29] Her future A&R representative at Island, Darcus Beese, heard of her by chance when the manager of the Lewinson Brothers showed him some productions of his clients, which featured Winehouse as key vocalist. When he asked who the singer was, the manager told him he was not allowed to say. Having decided that he wanted to sign her, it took several months of asking around for Beese to eventually discover who the singer was. However, by that time Winehouse had already recorded a number of songs, signed a publishing deal with EMI, and formed a working relationship with producer Salaam Remi.[30]
Beese introduced Winehouse to his boss, Island head Nick Gatfield, who shared his enthusiasm in signing the young artist. Winehouse was signed to Island while rival interest in her had started to build with representatives of EMI and Virgin Records starting to make moves. Beese told HitQuarters that he felt the excitement over an artist who was an atypical pop star for the time was due to a backlash against reality TV music shows, whose audiences starved for fresh, genuine young talent.[30]
Winehouse's debut album, Frank, was released on 20 October 2003. Produced mainly by Salaam Remi, many songs were influenced by jazz and, apart from two covers, Winehouse co-wrote every song. The album received critical acclaim[31][32] with compliments given to the "cool, critical gaze" in its lyrics.[33] Winehouse's voice was compared with those of Sarah Vaughan and[34] Macy Gray, among others.[33]
The album entered the upper reaches of the UK Albums Chart in 2004 when it was nominated for the Brit Awards in the categories of British Female Solo Artist and British Urban Act. It went on to achieve platinum sales.[35][36] Later in 2004, she and Remi won the Ivor Novello Award for Best Contemporary Song, for their first single together, "Stronger Than Me."[37] The album was also shortlisted for the 2004 Mercury Music Prize. In the same year, she performed at the Glastonbury Festival (on the Jazz World stage), the V Festival and the Montreal International Jazz Festival. After the release of the album, Winehouse commented that she was "only 80 percent behind [the] album" because Island Records had overruled her preferences for the songs and mixes to be included.[15] The further singles from the album were "Take the Box," "In My Bed"/"You Sent Me Flying" and "Pumps"/"Help Yourself."[citation needed]
2006–2008: Back to Black and international success[edit]
After the release of her first jazz-influenced album, Winehouse's focus shifted to the girl groups of the 1950s and 1960s. Winehouse hired New York singer Sharon Jones's longtime band, the Dap-Kings, to back her up in the studio and on tour.[38] Mitch Winehouse relates in Amy, My Daughter how fascinating watching her process was: her perfectionism in the studio and how she would put what she had sung on a CD and play it in his taxi outside to know how most people would hear her music.[39] In May 2006, Winehouse's demo tracks such as "You Know I'm No Good" and "Rehab" appeared on Mark Ronson's New York radio show on East Village Radio. These were some of the first new songs played on the radio after the release of "Pumps" and both were slated to appear on her second album. The 11-track album, completed in five months,[39] was produced entirely by Salaam Remi and Ronson, with the production credits being split between them. Ronson said in a 2010 interview that he liked working with Winehouse because she was blunt when she did not like his work.[40] She in turn thought that when they first met, he was a sound engineer and that she was expecting an older man with a beard.[41]
Promotion of Back to Black soon began and, in early October 2006 Winehouse's official website was relaunched with a new layout and clips of previously unreleased songs.[35] Back to Black was released in the UK on 30 October 2006. It went to number one on the UK Albums Chart for two weeks in January 2007, dropping then climbing back for several weeks in February. In the US, it entered at number seven on the Billboard 200. It was the best-selling album in the UK of 2007, selling 1.85 million copies over the course of the year.[42] The first single released from the album was the Ronson-produced "Rehab". The song reached the top ten in the UK and the US.[43][44] Time magazine named "Rehab" the Best Song of 2007. Writer Josh Tyrangiel praised Winehouse for her confidence, saying, "What she is is mouthy, funny, sultry, and quite possibly crazy" and "It's impossible not to be seduced by her originality. Combine it with production by Mark Ronson that references four decades worth of soul music without once ripping it off, and you've got the best song of 2007."[45] The album's second single and lead single in the US, "You Know I'm No Good," was released in January 2007 with a remix featuring rap vocals by Ghostface Killah. It ultimately reached number 18 on the UK singles chart. The title track, "Back to Black," was released in the UK in April 2007 and peaked at number 25, but was more successful across mainland Europe.[46] "Tears Dry on Their Own," "Love Is a Losing Game" were also released as singles, but failed to achieve the same level of success.[citation needed]
A deluxe edition of Back to Black was also released on 5 November 2007 in the UK. The bonus disc features B-sides, rare, and live tracks, as well as "Valerie". Winehouse's debut DVD I Told You I Was Trouble: Live in London was released the same day in the UK and 13 November in the US. It includes a live set recorded at London's Shepherd's Bush Empire and a 50-minute documentary charting the singer's career over the previous four years.[48] Frank was released in the United States on 20 November 2007 to positive reviews.[49][50] The album debuted at number 61 on the Billboard 200 chart.[51] In addition to her own album, she collaborated with other artists on singles. Winehouse was a vocalist on the song "Valerie" on Ronson's solo album Version. The song peaked at number two in the UK, upon its October single release. "Valerie" was nominated for a 2008 Brit Award for British Single of the Year.[52][53][54] Her work with ex-Sugababe Mutya Buena, "B Boy Baby," was released on 17 December 2007. It served as the fourth single from Buena's debut album, Real Girl.[55] Winehouse was also in talks of working with Missy Elliott for her album Block Party.[56]
Winehouse promoted the release of Back to Black with headline performances in late 2006, including a Little Noise Sessions charity concert at the Union Chapel in Islington, London.[57] On 31 December 2006, Winehouse appeared on Jools Holland's Annual Hootenanny and performed a cover of Marvin Gaye's "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" along with Paul Weller and Holland's Rhythm and Blues Orchestra. She also performed Toots and the Maytals' "Monkey Man". At his request, actor Bruce Willis introduced Winehouse before her performance of "Rehab" at the 2007 MTV Movie Awards in Universal City, California, on 3 June 2007.[58] During the summer of 2007, she performed at various festivals, including Glastonbury Festival[59] and Lollapalooza in Chicago.[60]
The rest of her tour, however, did not go as well. In November 2007, the opening night of a 17-date tour was marred by booing and walkouts at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham. A critic for the Birmingham Mail said it was "one of the saddest nights of my life...I saw a supremely talented artist reduced to tears, stumbling around the stage and, unforgivably, swearing at the audience."[61] Other concerts ended similarly, with, for example, fans at her Hammersmith Apollo performance in London saying that she "looked highly intoxicated throughout,"[62] until she announced on 27 November 2007, that her performances and public appearances were cancelled for the remainder of the year, citing her doctor's advice to take a complete rest. A statement issued by concert promoter Live Nation blamed "the rigours involved in touring and the intense emotional strain that Amy has been under in recent weeks" for the decision.[63] Mitch Winehouse wrote about her nervousness before public performances in his 2012 book, Amy, My Daughter.[64] On 13 January 2008, Back to Black held the number-one position on the Billboard Pan European charts for the third consecutive week.[65]
On 10 February 2008, Winehouse received five Grammy Awards, winning in the following categories: Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for the single "Rehab", and Best Pop Vocal Album.[66] The singer also earned a Grammy as Best New Artist, earning her an entry in the 2009 edition of the Guinness Book of Records for Most Grammy Awards won by a British Female Act.[67] Additionally, Back to Black was nominated for Album of the Year.[68][69] Ronson's work with her won the Grammy Award for Producer of the Year, in the non-classical category.[70] She ended her acceptance speech for Record of the Year with, "This is for London because Camden Town ain't burning down," in reference to the 2008 Camden Market fire.[71] Performing "You Know I'm No Good" and "Rehab" via satellite from London's Riverside Studios at 3 a.m. UK time, she couldn't be at the ceremony in Los Angeles as her visa approval had not been processed in time.[4]
After the Grammys, the album's sales increased, catapulting Back to Black to number two on the US Billboard 200, after it initially peaked in the seventh position.[72] On 20 February 2008, Winehouse performed at the 2008 Brit Awards at Earls Court in London, performing "Valerie" with Mark Ronson, followed by "Love Is a Losing Game". She urged the crowd to "make some noise for my Blake."[73] A special deluxe edition of Back to Black topped the UK album charts on 2 March 2008. Meanwhile, the original edition of the album was ranked at number 30 in its 68th week on the charts, while Frank charted at number 35.[74]
In Paris, she performed what was described as a "well-executed 40-minute" set at the opening of a Fendi boutique in early March.[75] By 12 March, the album had sold a total of 2,467,575 copies—318,350 copies had been sold in the previous 10 weeks—putting the album on the UK's top-10 best-selling albums of the 21st century for the first time.[76] On 7 April, Back to Black was in the top position of the pan-European charts for the sixth consecutive and thirteenth aggregate week.[77] Amy Winehouse – The Girl Done Good: A Documentary Review, a 78-minute DVD, was released on 14 April 2008. The documentary features interviews with those who knew her at a young age, people who helped her achieve success, jazz music experts, and music and pop culture specialists.[78]
At the 2008 Ivor Novello Awards in May, Winehouse became the first-ever artist to receive two nominations for the top award: Best Song Musically & Lyrically. She won the award for "Love Is a Losing Game" and was nominated for "You Know I'm No Good".[79] "Rehab", a Novello winner for best contemporary song in 2006, also received a 2008 nomination for best-selling British song.[80] Winehouse was also nominated for a 2008 MTV Europe Music Award in the Act of the Year category.[81]
Although her father, manager and various members of her touring team reportedly tried to dissuade her, Winehouse performed at the Rock in Rio Lisboa festival in Portugal in May 2008.[19] Although the set was plagued by a late arrival and problems with her voice, the crowd warmed to her. In addition to her own material she performed two Specials covers.[82] Winehouse performed at Nelson Mandela's 90th Birthday Party concert at London's Hyde Park on 27 June 2008,[83] and the next day at the Glastonbury Festival.[84] On 12 July, at the
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