Amy Winehouse

Biography
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Jump to: Overview (5) | Mini Bio (1) | Spouse (1) | Trade Mark (5) | Trivia (36) | Personal
Quotes (31)

Overview (5)

Date of Birth 14 September 1983, Southgate, London, England, UK

Date of Death 23 July 2011, Camden, London, England, UK (alcohol poisoning)
Birth Name Amy Jade Winehouse
Wino
Ames
Nicknames
Gemma
Cherry
Height 5' 2" (1,59 m)

Mini Bio (1)

Amy Winehouse was a five-time Grammy Award-winning English singer-songwriter

known for such hits as 'Rehab' and 'You Know I'm No Good' among her other works.

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 theater and music. 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 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.

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. 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 behavior
doesn't change.

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. 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 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.

- IMDb Mini Biography By: Steve Shelokhonov

Spouse (1)

Blake Fielder-Civil (18 May 2007 - 16 July 2009) (divorced)

Trade Mark (5)

Long black hair styled into a '60s-inspired beehive

Extreme black eyeliner
Jangly, eccentric dancing while on stage
Deep soulful contralto vocals
Heavily tattooed arms

Trivia (36)

Attended the Brit School with singer Katie Melua.

Jazz, soul and R&B singer.
Nominated for a Mercury Music Award in 2004.
Nominated for two Brit Awards in 2003.
Won a Brit Award for "Best British Female" in 2007.
Received her first guitar at the age of 13.
Her second album "Back to Black" reached #1 in the UK Albums Charts (2006).
Trained at the Sylvia Young Theatre School when she was twelve years old, but was
expelled at age fourteen for "not applying herself" and piercing her own nose.
At around age ten, she founded a rap group named Sweet 'n' Sour with her childhood friend
Juliette Ashby. (She was "Sour").
Growing up in Southgate, she attended Ashmole School.
Her brother, Alex Winehouse, is co-founder of the Amy Winehouse Foundation.
Her mother, Janis Winehouse, is a retired pharmacist.
Her father, Mitch Winehouse, is a retired taxi driver.
Born in the Southgate area of Enfield, London, England.
Her "Back To Black" album was inspired by her relationship with Blake Fielder-Civil prior
to their marriage.
Her husband Blake appeared in the Lily Allen music video LDN.
Her husband Blake was one of five men arrested on a charge of trying to pervert the course
of justice (9 November 2007).
Due to her troubled personal life and struggles with addiction, she was a target of the
tabloids.
Earned six 2008 Grammy Awards nominations including "Album of the Year" and "Record
of the Year" for "Rehab" (6 December 2007).
Released on bail after being arrested on suspicion of attempting to interfere with a court
case involving her husband (18 December 2007).
Friends with singer Remi Nicole (aka Remi Nicole) and Kelly Osbourne.
Ranked #2 in Richard Selzer (aka Mr. Blackwell) 's 48th annual Worst Dressed Woman list
(January 2008).
Although she was finally granted an entry visa in the United States to perform at the 2008
Grammy Awards, she remained in London and sang two songs via satellite. During the
show, she was awarded five Grammys for "Best Pop Vocal Album", "Record of the Year",
"Song of the Year", "Best Female Pop Performance" (for "Rehab") and "Best New Artist"
(10 February 2008).
Her song "Love Is A Losing Game" won the 2008 Ivor Novello Award for best song
musically and lyrically.
Ties with Alicia Keys and Lauryn Hill for the most Grammys (5) won by a woman in a
single year.
First British artist to win 5 Grammys in a single year (2008).
Found not guilty of assault (23 July 2009).
Died in her London home in Camden.
Died at age 27, making her a member of the "27 Club". The "27 Club" is a group of
prominent musicians who have died at the age of 27. Other members include: The Rolling
Stones co-founder Brian Jones, guitarist Jimi Hendrix, singer Janis Joplin, The Doors
frontman Jim Morrison and Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain.
Godmother of Dionne Bromfield.
Winehouse's final recording, a duet entitled "Body and Soul" with Tony Bennett, was
released on 14 September 2011 to commemorate what would have been her 28th birthday.
The track appeared on Bennett's CD album "Duets II" (2011).
The singer's final stage appearance occurred three days before her death at Camden's
Roundhouse in London, supporting her goddaughter Dionne Bromfield (20 July 2011).
Best friend of Tyler James.
After she passed away, fans camped outside her house for days to show their respect to the
singer with flowers and makeshift shrines and mimicked Winehouse's signature look as a
tribute to her.
Her ex-husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, gave his daughter the middle name "Jade" in tribute
to Amy Winehouse whose middle name was also Jade.
On what would have been her 31st birthday, a life-size bronze statue of the singer was
unveiled in Camden, (north London), where she had lived.

Personal Quotes (31)

I could never decide whether I wanted to be Michael Jackson or marry him. I don't care
what people say because he's a fucking genius.
I know there are people in the world who have worse problems than falling in love and
having it blow up in your face, but I didn't want to just wake up drinking, and crying, and
listening to the Shangri-Las, and go to sleep, and wake up drinking, and listening to the
Shangri-Las. So I turned it into songs, and that's how I got through it.
I'm not religious at all. I think faith is something that gives you strength. I believe in fate
and I believe that things happen for a reason, but I don't think that there's a high power,
necessarily. I believe in karma very much though.
I literally woke up one day and was like, 'I don't want to do this any more'. I used to use
drugs and I haven't used drugs in almost three years. It's not a hard thing (October 2010).
The minute I even start to think about what I'm doing I just lose it. I have to just shut my
eyes and flow.
If you don't throw yourself into something, you'll never know what you could have had.
I don't care about all that pop stuff and I couldn't go to the Smash Hits poll winners' party
without bringing a gun.
Tyler James is my best friend and because he's a singer, I've always had a real soft spot for
him.
I'm not a very 'poor me' kind of person. I wouldn't want it to be all roses because life isn't
like that.
If you split up with someone twice, there's usually a good reason why you shouldn't be
together.
When we hurt, we all make things seem a certain way, or make things look worse than they
are.
Life happens. There's no point in being upset or down about things we can't control or
change.
Life is short and I have made a lot of mistakes, but everything in life happens for a reason.
There are certain things you can give certain people and certain things you can't.
When you have had your heart broken once, it can never be broken again.
If you can't sort something out for yourself, then no one can help you.
There are worse things in life to worry about than bad press.
Life is funny and sad, sometimes both at the same time.
I don't care what people think about me. Never did, never will. Life is too short to be
worrying about that shit.
You are the only person who can sort yourself out, you can't rely on other people to sort out
your problems.
Life is so much more rewarding if you strive for something, rather than take what's given to
you on a plate.
When you get your heart broken you can't help but believe that only that person can put it
back together again.
I don't like to look back and think 'That was a horrible time'. I prefer to think 'I'm glad I
came through that'.
I'm not really a girl. I'm not even a boy's girl. I'm a man's man - and that doesn't mean I'm a
big dyke. Men are far more straightforward. They don't dwell on things and play
psychological games. I'm not saying all women are like that, or that some men don't play
those games, but on the whole, men are more easy-going and don't piss time up the wall.
Life is short. Anything could happen and it usually does, so there is no point in sitting
around thinking about all the ifs, ands and buts.
Everyone knows that there's certain things that aren't good for you, but there's a fine line
between enjoying yourself and being completely healthy. You can only be healthy to a
point, where you're not having fun anymore.
There's no point in saying anything but the truth. Because, at the end of the day, I don't
have to answer to you, or my ex, or a man in a suit from the record company. I have to
answer to myself.
I realize that I have a chance to bring certain things to certain people's attention. I've had a
flirtation with every eating disorder there is. I wouldn't tie myself down to one. Usually I
would be like, "Fuck off I'm a musician, why do you wanna talk about that?" but I've
realized that there are a lot of girls who are in exactly the same boat as me. People don't
know how hard it is, and how common it is, and how dangerous it can be. A lot of girls are
ashamed, like I was ashamed. I used to make myself sick and be ashamed. It's nothing to be
ashamed of, it's a compulsion, if you can control it great, if you can't then you are in the
grip of something bigger than you. It's not a physical thing; it's very much a psychological
thing. I'm glad I can talk about it.
I went through every eating disorder you can have. A little bit of anorexia, a little bit of
bulimia. I'm not totally OK now but I don't think any woman is.
I believe you only get to be in real love once.
I'm a realist and a dreamer.
To be in love with someone is to be able to let them go and do what they want and pray
they'll come back to you.