Bio
Amy Winehouse (14 September, 1983 – 23 July, 2011) was an English singer and songwriter known for her powerful deep contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres including R&B, soul and jazz.
Winehouse's 2003 debut album, Frank, was critically successful in the UK and was nominated for the Mercury Prize. Her 2006 follow-up album, Back to Black, led to six Grammy Award nominations and five wins, tying the then record for the most wins by a female artist in a single night, and made Winehouse the first British female to win five Grammys, including three of the "Big Four": Best New Artist, Record of the Year and Song of the Year.
In 2007 she won a Brit Award for Best British Female Artist; she had also been nominated for Best British Album.
She won the Ivor Novello Award three times: once in 2004 for Best Contemporary Song (musically and lyrically) for "Stronger Than Me", once in 2007 for Best Contemporary Song for "Rehab", and once in 2008 for Best Song Musically and Lyrically for "Love Is a Losing Game".
Winehouse died of alcohol poisoning on 23 July 2011. Her album Back to Black subsequently became the UK's best selling album of the 21st century.
In 2012, Winehouse was listed at number 26 on VH1's 100 Greatest Women In Music.
She was born Amy Jade Winehouse, on September 14, 1983, in Enfield, London, England to a Jewish family with Russian ancestry on her mother's side. Her father, Mitchell Winehouse, was a taxi driver; her mother, Janis Winehouse (nee Seaton), was a pharmacist.
Her family shared her love of theatre and music. Amy was brought up on jazz music; she played her brother's guitar and received her own guitar at age 13.
Young Amy Winehouse was a rebellious girl. At age 14, she was expelled from Sylvia Young Theatre School in Marylebone, London. At that time she pierced her nose and tattooed her body.
She briefly attended the BRIT School in Croydon, and began her professional career at 16, performing occasional club gigs and recording low cost demos.
At age 19, she recorded her debut, Frank (2003), a jazz-tinged album that became a hit and earned her several award nominations. During the next several years, she survived a period of personal upheaval, a painful relationship, and has been struggling with substance abuse.
Her 2006's album Back on Black was an international hit, and Rehab made No. 9 on the US pop charts.
Her big break came in 2008. Winehouse became the first British female to win five Grammy Awards on the same night, February 10th, 2008, including Best New Artist and Record of the Year for Rehab.
Her Grammy performance was broadcast from London via satellite, because she was unable to appear in person in Los Angeles due to temporary problems with her traveling visa.
Following her success at the Grammy Awards, Winehouse gave a string of highly successful performances during the year 2008. In June, she was suddenly hospitalized with a serious lung condition. However, she left hospital for one evening to perform for Nelson Mandela on his 90th birthday celebration in London's Hyde Park. She sang her hits Rehab and Valerie, drawing cheers and applause form the crowds and a smile from Mandela.
Winehouse also performed for Roman Abramovich's party in Moscow; there she earned $2 million for her one-hour gig.
Winehouse developed a distinctive style of her own. Her signature beehive hairstyle became the model for fashion designers, while her vulnerability, her fragile personality and self-destructive behaviour has been regular tabloid news, and subject of criticism and controversy.
In April 2008 she was named the second greatest "ultimate heroine" by the British population at large, and a month later was voted the second most hated personality in the UK.
George Michael called her the "best female vocalist he has heard in his entire career," while Keith Richards warned that she "won't be around long" if her behaviour doesn't change.
Musically, Amy created a cross-cultural and cross-genre style. She experimented with an eclectic mix of jazz, soul, pop, reggae, world beat and R&B.
Her voice, phrasing and delivery sometimes sounded like a mix between Billy Holliday, Dinah Washington and Sarah Vaughan, and coupled with similarities in personal problems, she at times resembled another incarnation of legendary "Lady Blues".
Amy Winehouse died at the age of 27, on 23 July 2011, in her London home. She was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium and her ashes were laid to rest in Edgwarebury Jewish Cemetery in London, United Kingdom.