It’s a sad day in the world of jazz, blues, and rock n’ roll soul: Amy Winehouse has died.
“They tried to make me go to rehab but I said ‘no, no, no’…”
Those haunting lyrics from her hit song “Rehab,” so resonant of her real life troubles, now seem sadly ironic since she was discovered dead in her London apartment today. Her death concludes what many would call her crash-and-burn career from being crowned at the Grammies as 2008’s Best New Artist to drunken fights, onstage concert disasters and drug abuse.
London’s Metropolitan Police reported to her flat in Camden Square at 3:54 p.m., but were unable to revive the soul singer. They declared her dead shortly thereafter and are currently investigating the circumstances of the death.
“We are deeply saddened at the sudden loss of such a gifted musician, artist and performer,” reads a statement from her U.S. record label. “Our prayers go out to Amy’s family, friends and fans at this difficult time.”
Bringing It “Back to Black”
Her first album, “Frank,” debuted in 2003, when the singer-songwriter was 19. British critics hailed Winehouse for her emotive songwriting style and character. She channeled her anguish into her songs, much like other soul singers Billie Holiday, Aretha Franklin, and Mary J. Blige.
Amy Winehouse rocketed to fame with her album “Back to Black” in 2006. She stood out as a true artist with her smoky vocals and one-of-a-kind sense of style: her black-haired bee-hive, sailor tattoos, and cat-like kohled eyes.
She became one of the most critically acclaimed young singer-songwriters of the 2000s, selling 5 million albums, scoring five Grammies and popularizing a trend of 1960s retro-soul music and moden R&B rhythms that would become her signature sound and be mimicked by other British musicians in her stead.
Poor, Amy Wineglass
But the whirlwind fame proved to be overwhelming to the British singer. She was soon on a downward spiral as she battled bouts of depression, bulimia, substance abuse as well as battled her increasingly self-destructive image in the British tabloids. She was often caught by the paparazzi half-dressed, stumbling out of bars, clutching cigarettes and bottles. She was cruelly dubbed by the U.K. tabloids as “Wino” and “Wineglass.” And despite what her defiant rebellion in “Rehab,” the soul singer allegedly went to rehab four times.
“I don’t care enough about what people think of me to conform to anything,” she said in a 2007 interview with CNN.
When management urged her to go to treatment for her issues, she came back with a vengeance through her song “Rehab.” It was an ironic sucker punch to the relentless media and judgmental scrutiny of the public and in weeks, was an international hit.
In an interview with the Daily Mail in 2008, her mother Janis said she wouldn’t be surprised if her daughter died before her time.
“I’ve known for a long time that my daughter has problems. We’re watching her kill herself, slowly,: she said. “I’ve already come to terms with her dead. I’ve steeled myself to ask her what ground she wants to be buried in, which cemetery. Because the drugs will get her if she stays on this road.”
As well her issues with drugs and alcohol, Winehouse had an abusive marriage to music video producer Blake Fielder-Civil. It’s alleged that Fielder-Civil was the one who introduced Winehouse to heroin and crack cocaine. Often they were both seen with cuts and bruises, fighting in the streets. They divorced in the summer of 2009.
The Last Act
She made her return to the stage in June, but Winehouse canceled her 12-stop European concert tour after a debut performance. At her first concert date in Belgrade, she mumbled through lyrics to unrecognizable songs, stumbled offstage, swore at the audience was eventually booed off the stage altogether.
Her last on stage appearance was a surprise at the iTunes Festival during her 15-year-old goddaughter Dionne Bromfield’s performance at the Roundhouse in Camden. Winehouse spent the past three years working on her new album, “Good for the Soul” as the long-awaited follow-up to her 2006 breakthrough multi-million selling “Back To Black.” The album was released last month.
Many have noted that Winehouse, having died 27-years-old, joins the notorious Forever 27. It’s in an eerie consequence that the troubled jazz singer dies at the same age as other legendary musicians Kurt Cobain, Janis Joplin, and Jimi Hendrix. Most agree that it’s a tragic end to a legendary talent.
So, we say our goodbyes to a true diva of soul as she goes back to black, one last time. In an interview with Harper’s Bazaar last October, when Amy was asked if she had any unfulfilled ambitions, she replied, “Nope! If I died tomorrow, I would be a happy girl.”
Her soon-to-be-released autopsy will determine cause of death. Check back to Her Campus for up-to-date details.