Amy Winehouse HHV Records 10 Items

The beginning of a legendary story

The legendary story of Amy Winehouse begins on September 14, 1983 in Southgate, London. Records of Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra lined up in the family closets at that time and were lovingly sung by the daughter of the cab driver Mitch Winehouse. After her parents’ divorce, she focused more and more on music, was promoted by one of the best theater schools in London and, after her teacher’s recommendation, started with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra. She became the new underground tip in the London music scene, attracting the attention of manager Nick Godwyn. At just 19 years old, she signed her record deal with Island Records. Amy always brought her strong will through at that time; also with the selection of the producer of her first album, Salaam Remi. And the managers wondered… with the guy from the Fugees?

Sex, Drugs & Rehab

Amy attracted attention in school not only because of her unique voice, but also because of her rebellious behavior. She was expelled from theater school after only a few semesters and thus started her career as a drop out. After the successful debut album Frank 2003, Winehouse also makes her first negative headlines. Night partying in the streets of London’s Camden Town party district is captured by paparazzos, and in time even gets her own column in the British newspaper. In the nightly high she also meets Blake Fielder-Civil and with him the drugs… Her money ran out, she quarreled with Fielder-Civil and her family wants to send her to rehab. She fired her manager and a few weeks after that her grandmother died. Her self-doubt was growing and she was on the verge of a breakdown. Mark Ronson as a producer was then something like a shrink with whom Winehouse could pack all her worries into songs. Work on the album Back to Black began in 2006 and quickly came to an end. Due to the mostly autobiographical lyrics and her life-drawn voice, Amy Winehouse only needs a few months to finish the album. Winehouse and Fielder-Civil get married and her drug excesses get more and more attention in the press. After a heroin overdose in August 2007, she ends up in the hospital and shortly after decides to turn her life around and go to rehab on the Caribbean island of St. Lucia. The comeback tour scheduled for 2011 was canceled after the first concert. The reason for this is the totally drunk Amy Winehouse, who dies of alcohol poisoning only a few weeks after, at the age of only 27.

Musical influences and awards

Musically, Amy moved in the direction of soul, jazz, hip hop and pop. Black music fans will definitely get their money’s worth here. In songs like Fuck Me Pumps, she disses the dating scene in hip hop fashion, not leaving a dry eye in the process. Producer Salaam Remi nevertheless succeeds in making Frank a commercial R&B record, in which the 19-year-old can also prove her jazz qualities. The album received mostly positive reviews and was nominated for two Brit Awards. Although Winehouse has only released two albums, she has sold more than 25 million records in her career of just eight years. Also available is the posthumously released 2011 album Lioness: Hidden Treasures, which includes a collaboration with NAS and Tony Bennett, several covers such as Girl from Ipanema, and also unreleased tracks by the singer. Also sought after are live vinyls of the singer, as well as the Ska EP that was supposed to announce her third album. In 2008, she advanced to the list of the richest young Britons with an estimated fortune of ten million pounds, about 12.6 million euros at the time. The album Back to Black went down in history as the most successful debut by a British singer in the United States, also winning five Grammys and being named the best album of 2006.