Memorial Page for Amy Winehouse (née Amy Jade Winehouse)

Amy Winehouse (born 14 September 1983 in London; died 23 July 2011 in London) was a British singer and songwriter — and one of the most distinctive voices in the history of popular music. She fused jazz, soul and rhythm and blues with lyrics that told her own story without compromise. She released only two studio albums, yet they were enough to shape a whole generation of singers. Listening to Amy Winehouse, you never hear a role being played — you hear a human being.

A Childhood Full of Jazz

Amy Jade Winehouse grew up in Southgate, in the north of London. Her father Mitch drove a taxi, her mother Janis worked as a pharmacist — and at home, her father’s jazz records became the soundtrack of her childhood. At twelve she entered the Sylvia Young Theatre School; as a teenager she sang with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra, schooling her voice between standards and swing.

“Frank” — A Voice Introduces Itself

Her debut album “Frank” was released by Island Records on 20 October 2003. She was twenty years old and sounded as if she had already lived a whole life: steeped in jazz, cheeky, vulnerable. Critics took notice — “Frank” was nominated for the 2004 Mercury Prize, and in May 2004 she received the Ivor Novello Award for “Stronger Than Me”, one of Britain’s most respected songwriting honours.

Those who saw her on stage in those days — as at the North Sea Jazz Festival in The Hague in July 2004 — met a young woman with her hair down and a big laugh, already carrying everything that would define her art: wit, warmth, and a voice you did not forget.

“Back to Black” — The Album of Her Life

Three years later she had found a sound of her own. On 27 October 2006 came “Back to Black”, produced by Salaam Remi and Mark Ronson: the sound of the 1960s — soul, girl groups, horns — carrying lyrics that spoke of love and loss with unsparing honesty. Songs like “Rehab”, “You Know I’m No Good”, “Tears Dry on Their Own” and “Love Is a Losing Game” made the album a global success: number one in 20 countries, the UK’s best-selling album of 2007, and more than 20 million copies sold to date.

The summer of 2007 belonged to her. With her towering beehive, winged eyeliner and her band she stood on the great festival stages of Europe and America — a style that instantly became her trademark, and concerts that moved between raw energy and quiet vulnerability. In October 2007 “Valerie”, her duet with Mark Ronson, climbed to number two on the UK charts. That same year she married Blake Fielder-Civil; the marriage ended in divorce in 2009.

Five Grammys in One Night

On 10 February 2008, Amy Winehouse made music history. Because her US visa did not arrive in time, she joined the Grammy ceremony by satellite from London’s Riverside Studios — and won five times: Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for “Rehab”, plus Best Pop Vocal Album and Best New Artist. She was the first British woman to win five Grammys in a single night. She fell into her mother’s arms and dedicated the moment to her home town: “This is for London!”

Pictures from that time show both sides of those years: the icon the whole world knew — and the young woman from north London, a flower in her hair, away from the noise.

The Final Years — Quiet Moments, Great Duets

In January 2011 she stood on big stages once more, touring Brazil — as at the Summer Soul Festival in Florianópolis on 8 January.

On 23 March 2011, at London’s Abbey Road Studios, she recorded the duet “Body and Soul” with her idol Tony Bennett for his album “Duets II” — it remained her final studio recording. Bennett later said she was the only singer of her generation who still sang “the right way”. Her last public appearance came on 20 July 2011 at the Roundhouse in Camden, at the side of her goddaughter Dionne Bromfield.

Farewell

Amy Winehouse died at her home in Camden on 23 July 2011. She was only 27; the inquest later found alcohol poisoning. In the days that followed, a sea of flowers, letters and candles grew outside her house — and far beyond London, people said goodbye to a voice that had accompanied them through their own lives. She was laid to rest at Edgwarebury Cemetery in north London.

What Remains

Amy Winehouse left more than music. On 14 September 2011 — what would have been her 28th birthday — her family founded the Amy Winehouse Foundation. It educates young people about the effects of drug and alcohol misuse and supports disadvantaged youth, not least through music: the Resilience Programme launched in British schools in 2013, and the Amy’s Yard studio project followed in 2015.

Her music lived on: the posthumous album “Lioness: Hidden Treasures” was released on 2 December 2011 and entered the UK charts at number one. In February 2012, “Body and Soul” won the Grammy for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.

And Camden kept her close: on 14 September 2014 — her 31st birthday — a life-size bronze statue by sculptor Scott Eaton was unveiled at the Stables Market, beehive and hand on hip. The borough made an exception to its rule of waiting twenty years after a person’s death before raising a memorial. Adele put into words what Amy’s example meant to a whole generation of singers: “I owe 90 per cent of my career to her.”

Two albums, a handful of years in the spotlight — and songs that do not grow old, because they are true. Forever 27. Forever unforgotten.