Saturday, July 23, 2011

Amy Winehouse is dead...

Obituary by Variety:

Grammy-winning chanteuse Amy Winehouse, who drew as much attention for her struggles with drugs and the law as she did for her soulful singing, has been found dead in her North London home, according to London police. She was 27.

The cause of death has not been announced by officials.

Earlier on Saturday, Winehouse's manager issued a statement saying that the singer was canceling all upcoming shows. "Amy Winehouse is withdrawing from all scheduled performances," said manager Tim Gatt. "Everyone involved wishes to do everything they can to help her return to her best and she will be given as long as it takes for this to happen."

With her distinctive beehive hairdo and frequent run-ins with the law for fighting and drugs, she provided tabloid fodder as well as filling out the top of the pops with her hit single "Rehab," which was named number one song of 2007 by Time magazine.

Winehouse's jazz-influenced debut album, "Frank," released in 2003 when she was 20, propelled her to success in Great Britain.

Her follow-up album, "Back to Black," released in 2006, added elements of rock 'n roll and R&B, and included such hit singles as "Rehab," and "You Know I'm No Good." It was the best-selling album of 2007 and the top iTunes album in the UK in 2007 and won five Grammys, for best new artist, record of the year song of the year, best female pop vocal performance and best pop vocal album. She toured during summer 2007, performing at Lollapalooza, atlhough many other appearances were also cancelled due to ill health. After performing at several 2008 summer festivals, her father announced that she would take a hiatus from performing due to her respiratory issues.

Born in the Southgate area of Enfield, London, Winehouse was introduced to a wide range of music at an early age. She attended Susi Earnshaw Theatre School and then began training at Sylvia Young Theatre School until her expulsion for allegedly not applying herself. She began playing guitar at age 13 and then began writing music. Her then-boyfriend, soul singer Tyler James, sent a demo tape to an A&R person, which led to her signing with Island/Universal. She hired singer Sharon Jones' band the Dap-Kings to back her up in the studio and on tour.

From 2005 to 2008, she was in and out of rehab, hospitals and jail, and in June 2008 she was diagnosed with early signs of emphysema, as well as a irregular heartbeat, which were said to be brought on from her addictions to cigarettes and crack cocaine. Her husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, a chronic drug user whom she married in 2007, was sentenced to 27 months in prison in July 2008 for his part in obstructing justice in an attack on a pub owner.

4 comments:

  1. I want to feel sad about Amy Winehouse, but my dominant emotion over the news of her death is resentment. Resentment of such wasted potential, and resentment that more Americans are mourning her passing that the 90+ perfectly decent Norwegians who were killed in cold blood.

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  2. I agree with you completely. Her death is sad, but so is the tragedy in Norway, even greater.

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  3. I don't want to sound like a cold barstard but really, I couldn't care less. I acknowledge her fantastic voice but I've never been a big fan and really, this has been coming a long time. Yes it's sad that someone people loved has died, but if you live like that I have no sympathy for you.

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  4. I think what's even sadder than Winehouse's death is the fact that members of our society, bombarded by images of death and destruction, can reach the point where they claim to no longer feel sympathy for somebody's untimely, unexpected death - especially when speaking of the death of someone who is described as nothing but gentle, kind and loving by her friends and family
    death is death and its about time people stepped out from behind their digital anonymity, and showed a little bit more respect for their fellow man

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