Amy Winehouse

Vinyl Discography (complete):

Biography:

Amy Winehouse was the first British jazz and soul singer to win five Grammy Awards. In 2012, Adele broke this record by winning 6 Grammy Awards.

Amy was born on September 14, 1983, at Chase Farm Hospital in north London. Her Jewish parents lived with her brother, Alex, who was four years older than her, in London Southgate. Her father, Mitchell Winehouse, was a fitter and taxi driver, and her mother, Janis Seaton, was a pharmacist.

Part of Jani's family came from Russia, several of whom were professional jazz musicians. Mitchell Winehouse's mother, Cynthia, was also a singer and had a relationship with English jazz legend Ronnie Scott. Her parents and grandmother fostered Amy's interest in jazz. Her father regularly sang Frank Sinatra's songs. Amy's first album, "Frank," was named after Sinatra.

Amy had a habit of singing constantly, sometimes to the annoyance of the teachers, who couldn't get her to stop. When Amy was nine, her parents divorced, and she went to live with her mother. She spent her weekends with her father. That same year, her grandmother suggested that Amy attend the Susi Earnshaw Theatre School on Saturdays for vocal training and to learn to tap dance. Amy attended the school for four years and, together with her friend Juliette Ashby, formed the Salt-n-Pepa-esque rap duo Sweet 'n Sour.

In 1996, Amy trained at the Sylvia Young Theatre School, also in London, and made her television debut in 1997 on "The Fast Show." However, Amy was suspended from school for poor performance and a nose piercing. She then continued her training at the BRIT School in Selhurst.

After practicing on her brother's guitar for a while, she got her own. At 13, she was writing her own songs. After graduating, she worked as a singer in a jazz band and as a showbiz journalist for the World News Entertainment Network. Amy had an on-again, off-again relationship with soul singer Tyler James, who sent her demo to Island/Universal. This led to a contract with 19 Management, founded by Simon Fuller, the former manager of the Spice Girls and one of the creators of the British Pop Idol and the Dutch Idols.

Winehouse recorded her debut album, "Frank," in Miami with producer Salaam Remi, which was released on October 20, 2003. The album was critically acclaimed and achieved platinum status in the UK in 2004. In the Netherlands, the album spent 15 weeks in the album top 100. In 2008, "Frank" was re-released in a deluxe edition.

During her world tour, Amy was joined by the band Dap-Kings, the backing band for New York soul singer Sharon Jones. This New York soul and funk band also played six songs, including "Rehab" and "You Know I'm No Good," on the Amy Winehouse album "Back to Black," Amy's second album, released in October 2006. At the Grammy Awards, where the album was nominated for six Grammys, she ultimately took home five awards. In the Netherlands, the song spent 99 weeks in the album top 100, including 14 weeks at number one, and was the best-selling album of 2008. In the United Kingdom, the album has sold over 2.8 million copies, and worldwide, it has now sold 11 million copies.
With Amy's growing success came problems, including a sharp increase in alcohol consumption. As early as 2004, her father, Mitch, gathered her colleagues to discuss her drinking problem. This was the first time they'd discussed detox. Amy disagreed. Nevertheless, Mitch convinced her to go to rehab. Although Amy had promised to go, little came of it in practice. This can be heard, for example, in the song "Rehab," with the line: "They tried to make me go to rehab, but I said no, no, no."

Amy was obsessed with her boyfriend Blake, whom she could talk to for hours on the phone. Blake had a negative influence on Amy, and her alcohol consumption dramatically increased. She also started using drugs. The downward spiral the two found themselves in seemed irreversible. Yet, Amy managed to break free after yet another argument with Blake. It was temporary, however, as the couple married in May 2007. They divorced in July 2009. Winehouse was increasingly in the news for her alcohol and drug problems. She had to cancel several concerts because she was unable to perform.

On July 28, 2008, Winehouse was hospitalized. It was reportedly because she had smoked marijuana for 36 hours. However, there are also rumors that she had taken other substances. On November 25 of the same year, Amy was hospitalized again. This time, it was reported that she had an allergic reaction to medication. Amy began drinking to a stupor in 2008 after withdrawing from illegal drugs. Around the summer of 2011, she had developed a pattern of total abstinence from alcohol for a few weeks, only to then resume drinking heavily.

On Saturday, July 23, 2011, Winehouse was found dead in the bedroom of her North London apartment by her bodyguard. Three days later, Amy was cremated. And on October 26, a few months later, it was officially announced that she had died of alcohol poisoning.

Amy died at 27 and is considered a member of Club 27. This club is the name for a group of famous musicians who died at the age of 27. There is no strict definition of who belongs to the club and who doesn't.

Amy was a huge fan of Paperblanks. In her Paperblanks notebooks, she wrote down her songs, both the music and the lyrics. One of her many books also included the lyrics for the song "Tears Dry On Their Own."

After her death, Amy's father, Mitchell, established The Amy Winehouse Foundation. The foundation helps young people with drug and alcohol problems. A portion of the proceeds from the Paperblanks books also goes to this foundation.