Amy Winehouse
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About Amy Winehouse
Amy Jade Winehouse, born 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, was a pharmacist.
Amy was brought up on jazz music; She received her first guitar at age 13 and taught herself how to play. 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 struggles 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. Amy 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 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.
Amy Winehouse developed a distinctive style of her own. Her signature beehive hairstyle has become the model for fashion designers, while her vulnerability, her fragile personality and self-destructive behavior was regular tabloid news, and subject of criticism and controversy. Musically, Amy Winehouse created a cross-cultural and cross-genre style. She experimented with an eclectic mix of jazz, soul, pop, reggae, world beat and R&B. She had a special ability to channel hurt and despair into her performances.
Amy Winehouse died at the age of 27, on 23 July 2011, in her London home following a long-running battle with alcohol addiction. She was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium and her ashes were laid to rest in Edgwarebury Jewish Cemetery in London, United Kingdom. Her death caused considerable mourning worldwide.
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