By Elliott West
“I don’t care what people think about me. Never did, never will. Life is too short to be worrying about that”.
Amy Winehouse
Introduction
The jet-black beehive, heavy eyeliner, the body awash with tattoos and the crackling noise of a cigarette when lit accompanied by a voice that was a gift from god. This could only be a description of one woman, the highly talented singer, Amy Winehouse whose soulful voice penetrated your soul and just made you want to sing and dance. An artist in her own league but misguided in life, tempted by the destructive pathway of alcohol and drugs, a road that doesn’t forgive and has no resolution. So how did this musical angel, so beautiful and caring, leave this earth so young? In this piece, I will try to establish what went wrong and turned Amy’s life upside down, playing out a car crash for all the world to see.
The Split
Like so many emotional scars, they stem from childhood. In Amy’s case, it came when her parents, Janis and Mitch Winehouse split up. As a result, Amy started bunking school, smoking marijuana and getting tattoos. A method of blocking out reality. This was an early sign of what was to come in Amy’s life but then it was just at the rebellious stage. A stark contrast to the rules laid down in her Jewish household in Southgate. Yet despite this pain inflicted on her at an early age, Winehouse turned to music and at the age of 13, bought her first guitar, writing some of her early heartfelt songs and busking around London.
Amy wouldn’t have to wait long for her first break. At the age of 16, her ex-boyfriend Tyler James, a soul singer, sent a demo tape of her singing with her jazz band to his manager. This was Amy’s dream and one that her mother said her daughter had from an early age. This would then lead to a contract with the Island/Universal label and a publishing deal with EMI. Aged 20, she would release her first album, Frank in 2003, an album that alluded to her addictions with the song ‘Mr Magic’ with a theme of substance abuse.
The Path of Destruction
So successful was the debut album that Amy was able to buy her first property, a flat in Camden. She instantly fell in love with this bustling and vibrant part of North London and could often be spotted in local pubs such as the Hawley Arms. However, it was during this time that Winehouse met Blake Fielder-Civil, a musician that was heavily into drugs. Amy fell for him and a chaotic romance ensued. She would quickly change with her personality becoming more distant. Blake was a bad love that she didn’t need in her life but she quickly became consumed by him. He introduced her to Class A drugs, something she swore she would never take, calling them ‘stupid’. Yet even still, she started taking heroin and other hard drugs. A romance where Blake was always in the background, chained to Amy by matching tattoos with each other’s names on their arms. A fractured love that led to marriage in 2007 and one that included infidelity and various spells in prison for Blake.
Yet despite this downward spiral, Amy still managed to find the inspiration to create some of her best work. Songs like ‘Black To Black’, ‘Rehab’and ‘You Know I’m No Good’ echo her inner turmoil but produced an album that was laced with a vibe of the 1960s and one that leans heavily on musical influences from growing up, artists such as Frank Sinatra, Dinah Washington and Ella Fitzgerald. As for her marriage to Blake, well that ended before it started with a divorce two years later in 2009 but Blake had gotten under her skin and produced poison and emotional scars that would haunt her for the rest of her short life.
Rehab
By late 2005, her Dad Mitch and others tried to persuade Amy to enter rehabilitation for her alcohol and drug dependencies with all parties worried that these evils would inflict a fatal blow on her voice or even ultimately take her life in one foul swoop. Although Amy agreed to these several stays its effect never seemed to gel with the singer. It was like a temporary fix rather than a cure. By 2007, Blake had got back into her life, a disastrous move that led to several erratic and bizarre performances with Amy slurring her words and unstable on her feet. Her team tried to disguise the facts by pulling the plug on several concerts, blaming it on exhaustion.
Amy and Blake were arrested in Norway in October 2007 for marijuana possession and in the December of that year, Amy was spotted and photographed walking around Camden in just her bra and jeans, looking emaciated and bedraggled. Yet she still managed to appear via satellite at the 2008 Grammys where she won five awards, thanking her ‘Blake incarcerated’ who had been sent to prison for a bar brawl in 2006.
The Failed Comeback
Amy Winehouse was convinced that she could bounce back and produce another smash album but sadly her lifestyle became her noose. Gone were the rapturous applause and her poor performances were now accompanied by loud booing. Too drunk to perform, many were cancelled with more no-shows than performances. A disastrous period of her life culminated in a concert in St Lucia in 2009 where she walked off the stage after not being able to remember the lyrics. Her excuse was that she was “bored”.
Although Amy managed to give up drugs, she instead leaned heavily on a legal drug, alcohol. She did experience several short periods of sobriety but quickly fell off the wagon each time. Although she expelled Blake from her life once and for all in 2009, divorcing him, citing infidelity and checking again into rehab in 2011, her promise of new music never occurred apart from a duet with Tony Bennett. Her last performance was disastrous in Belgrade, Serbia in June of that year. Amy was found dead at her home in Camden. A coroner later said she had died from accidental alcohol poisoning with an alcohol level of 46 percent in her blood. A singer who would join a small number of musical artists who died at 27. A club that has been dubbed the ‘27 Club’ and includes Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison and Kurt Cobain.
Her Legacy
The dust may have settled on the mass of memorabilia of Amy’s in a secret lockup, most now sold off to private collectors in auctions but her voice still loudly resonates, often heard being played in a passing car or on an advert or television programme. Good work continues with the Amy Winehouse Foundation helping thousands of people with help, support and to make informed choices in their lives, keeping the spirit of Amy alive, a lady who loved children and young people. Winehouse may have been flawed but no one can take away how much she achieved in her short life. Her voice was unique and created a fanbase of millions. A woman who sent you to a special place when she started to sing.
