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A news report by the ITV on footage leaked to the sun of Amy high on Valium and smoking a crack pipe.

The video describes her as "a wasted talent" referring to her as a "drugged up star"

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Winehouse was just one vcictim during a period in which many stars were targeted by tabloid media. often their tactics were cheap and focused primarily on 'getting the scoop' with seemingly no actual concern for the wellbeing of how they were reporting on

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This interview demonstrates her witty, sarcastic and genuinely likable personality of the young star.

Several questions also bring up interesting points about her star image.

Jonathan Ross mentions how she "sounds common", to which Amy explains she was offered elocution lessons but they didn't stick with her.

He also brings up how she was managed by ... who also managed S-club seven and the Spice Girls, going onto ask if they tried to mould her into something else. She responds with a joke and then explains that she has her own style and writes her own songs, giving them very little room to add to this.

In general these questions and the responses from Amy give the impression of a witty, down to earth and authentic star. the following stripped back performance supported only by an acoustic guitar also demonstrates her extreme musical talent

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Amy Winehouse - Jonathan Ross 2004 HQ (I Heard Love Is Blind + Interview)

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The song is one of the finest examples of her open and honest style of lyriscism.

She speaks openly about her addiction in her reluctance to go to rehab and can be seen as her seeing her piece on the media discussions of her addiction.

the lyrics also demonstrate her desperation with lines such as "i dont ever wanna drink again, i just need a friend'

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This documentary, released 4 years after her death can be seen as playing a big part in the reforming of her image as a troubled and exploited figure, rather than a reckless addict.

constructed using hundreds of hours of archival footage, much of it take from home footage, aswell as interviews with those close to her. It provides an intimate portrayal that ultimately shifts much of the blame onto the people around her that exploited her, primarily her father, Mitch Winehouse

this is by no means to say that there was no sympathy for her during her life and around the time of the death, by the documentary seems to speak her side of the story in a powerful way

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The headline of "The Diva and Her Demons" immediately surmises how many media outlets focused on her supposed diva like personality and her struggles with addiction above her music. In the context of this article the term diva seem loaded with negative conations, especially when placed alongside 'her demons'

the following quotes taken from the article speak to the disgusting way Amy was reported on:

"one of the world’s tiniest pop stars is crouched next to a garbage pail"

"a plastic bag to hold her cosmetics"

"Her soda spilled inside her fake Louis, he says, pointing at the beaten-up mock Lois Vuitton purse atop the rubbish."

"the scars that cover her left forearm come from wounds she inflicted on herself ages ago, though they look considerably fresher than that"

"ratty beehive"

"an assortment of old-school pinup-girl tattoos, some with their tits hanging out"

"She’s not above putting on an exaggerated pout when she doesn’t want to do something, and stomping off when that doesn’t wor"

At no point in the article is an ounce of concern shown for her, instead they practically mock her appearance and flaws

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longside the world's tallest free-standing tower, one of the world's tiniest pop stars is crouched next to a garbage pail, collecting a pile of eyeliner pencils and mascara tubes between her hands. While Amy Winehouse wanders the courtyard of Toronto's 1,815-foot CN Tower in search of a plastic bag to hold her cosmetics, the man who was her fiancé on that May but who would be her husband five days later smokes a cigarette from my pack and looks bored. Blake Fielder-Civil - or "Baby," as Winehouse calls him, in an array of inflections that strains imagination - gestures toward the trash can. Her soda spilled inside her fake Louis, he says, pointing at the beaten-up mock Lois Vuitton purse atop the rubbish. "She had that bag for ages."

In the universe of a twenty-three-year-old, "ages" is as relative as age is. Winehouse might say she's been singing for ages, though it's been less than a decade. Or that she's been in love with her Baby for ages, though it's been only a couple of years, with a span of months off in between. Or that the scars that cover her left forearm come from wounds she inflicted on herself ages ago, though they look considerably fresher than that. She might say any of those things, if she said much of anything at all.
Amy Winehouse Found Dead in London
During those months when Winehouse and her Baby were not together - among the things she will not say, even upon prolonged consultation with Fielder-Civil, is how many months it was - Winehouse wrote an album's worth of heartbroken songs that has made her famous at home in the U.K. and increasingly so here in the States. Back to Black, a stylized collection of R&B throwbacks that sound like a British hip-hop brat's interpretation of Sixties Motown soul in the best possible way, gave Winehouse the highest-charting U.S. debut ever by a British female. Prince has taken to covering her "Love Is a Losing Game" and suggested that she join him onstage during his upcoming 21 Nights in London Tour. The Arctic Monkeys have added their own version of "You Know I'm No Good" into their set, and rap's top MCs are also fawning over Winehouse: Jay-Z appears on a new remix of her hit single "Rehab," Snoop Dogg has proclaimed his fanhood and Ghostface Killah was wowed enough by "You Know I'm No Good" that he rhymes over the track on his album More Fish.

Those who have only heard her voice express shock upon seeing the body that produces it: The sultry, crackly, world-weary howl that sounds like the ghost of Sarah Vaughn comes from a pint-size Jewish girl from North London, world-weary though she may be. In Toronto, she is attired in the nearest thing she's got to a uniform: Rizzo from the neck up, Kenickie from the neck down. She's wearing her ubiquitous ratty beehive atop a thick mane of dark waves, oversize candy-cane plastic earrings and her black eyeliner drawn into exaggerated Cleopatra swooshes. Her exceptionally thin frame fails to fill out her pencil-straight black jeans, but she wears her black wifebeater nice and snug, and her arms display an assortment of old-school pinup-girl tattoos, some with their tits hanging out, others - like the one with "Cynthia" inked next to it - in coquettish Fifties garb. Winehouse has also become notorious for allegedly drunken public appearances, including one time in January when she ran offstage during a performance to barf. At an awards show in the U.K. last fall, she heckled Bono during his acceptance speech with "Shut up! I don't give a fuck!" And on the popular British game show Never Mind the Buzzcocks, she was visibly inebriated enough that host Simon Amstell joked, "This isn't even a pop quiz show, it's an intervention." Then there are her album's frequent references to booze, weed and blow - most notably "Rehab," which narrates how her former management company, run by American Idol and Spice Girls mastermind Simon Fuller, tried to make her go to rehab, but, oh, you know what happened next.
Photos: Amy Winehouse Remembered
"Amy is bringing a rebellious rock & roll spirit back to popular music," says Mark Ronson, the DJ-producer who helmed more than half of the tracks on Back to Black. "Those groups from the Sixties like the Shangri-Las had that kind of attitude: young girls from Queens in motorcycle jackets. Amy looks fucking cool, and she's brutally honest in her songs. It's been so long since anybody in the pop world has come out and admitted their flaws, because everyone's trying so hard to project perfection. But Amy will say, like, 'Yeah, I got drunk and fell down. So what?' She's not into self-infatuation and she doesn't chase fame. She's lucky that she's that good, because she doesn't have to."

She is not, however, unflappable. She often seems sullen, weighed down by ennui or possibly just hung over. She's outwardly polite, but not so consummate a pro that she ever fully disguises her impatience. She's not above putting on an exaggerated pout when she doesn't want to do something, and stomping off when that doesn't work. Her Baby is also an expert at the latter maneuver.

While in line at a security checkpoint at the CN Tower, Fielder-Civil declares to no one in particular that he's going back to the hotel and bolts. Winehouse runs after him in a panic. "What's just happened?" one of her backup singers asks, while the rest of Winehouse's entourage watches through the window to see the singer search the grounds of the tower like a lost child. But when her manager brings her back inside, black liner smeared beneath her tear-soaked eyes, nobody works up the nerve to actually ask about it. Though her thoughts run elsewhere and her nose, well, it just runs, Winehouse suggests we take a crack at "doing some words" together over lunch in the observation deck. After my first several questions provoke clipped responses, I try what has always been a foolproof icebreaker, whether in bars or on tour buses: Ask the tattooed about their ink.

How old were you when you got your first tattoo?
About fifteen.

What is it?
I got Betty Boop on my back. I just like tattoos.

What did your parents think of that?
My parents pretty much realized that I would do whatever I wanted, and that was it, really.

How many tattoos do you have altogether?
Twelve or thirteen.

Have you always been interested in traditional-style pinup girls and that sort of thing?
Yeah, I guess so.

Who's Cynthia?
That's my grandma, God rest her soul.

Have you ever had one covered up, or are there any you don't like to look at?
I don't regret anything.

Then how do you deal with things that you wish hadn't happened?
I don't know. Ask me that after I've been home and seen Blake.

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In love and on top of the charts, all Amy Winehouse had to do was survive both.

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My bizarre night in the disturbing world of Amy Winehouse

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My bizarre night in the disturbing world of Amy Winehouse

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this DailyMail article from 2008 again targets Winehouse for her appearance:

one photo is captured "Shambolic Existence"

"emaciated tattooed limbs, the jungle of a black beehive weave and the hallucinatory glow of her transparent green eyes."

"All around her, Winehouse’s home is in disarray: discarded bags of crisps, crumpled nuggets of tinfoil, beer bottles, lingerie boxes and scattered old credit cards tell of a long night that hasn’t ended in weeks, maybe months."

the above cover photo was captioned: "Bad state: Amy earlier this week with acne on her face"

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My bizarre night in the disturbing world of Amy Winehouse

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A journalist who was invited to Amy Winehouse's London flat tells how she witnessed at first-hand the shambolic squalor in which the singer exists at her London home.

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'I believe in casual sex. I know it's sad that I think cheating on people is fine. But I think it's like smoking a spliff. Oops, I've gobbed on meself!'

Amy Winehouse is talking about the benefits of infidelity between gobfuls of patatas bravas and sangria in a Camden tapas bar. It's the same restaurant in which she recently celebrated her twentieth birthday, and the staff all know her. She greets them with sweet singsong cockneyisms that bear no resemblance to her smoky Afro-American jazz singing voice. She has - like so many stars - a huge face perched on top of a tiny body. Pouting mouth, huge eyes, the last vestiges of teenage spots. She is still wearing the tight black-and-white woollen mini-dress that she performed in at the Virgin Megastore in London's Oxford Street earlier this evening, and when she takes a toilet break she unleashes a butt-swinging Jessica Rabbit walk that makes every man in the place turn round and leer. She appears to have no idea of the reaction she provokes.

The outburst about casual sex is provoked by a lyric on her debut album, Frank, an extraordinary and precocious blend of jazz, soul and hip hop. The song is called 'I Heard Love is Blind', and concerns Winehouse justifying an illicit shag to her boyfriend by insisting that, as the other man looked like him ('Just not as tall but I couldn't tell/ It was dark and I was lying down'), he should be flattered, and anyway, 'What do you expect? You left me here alone'.

Disarmingly honest in both song and in person, Winehouse admits that the songs that have won her two nominations for the Brit awards next month (for best female and best urban act) and widespread insistence that she will be one of the stars of 2004 are nearly all about one ex-boyfriend. So, when she also confirms that there's no serious relationship at present, I point out the obvious problem here. If I was thinking of asking you out, the other things I'd be thinking are that 1) You're going to write a song dissing me on your next album; and 2) You're going to tell any passing journalist any further details about me that the song misses out. Shouldn't you be a little more discreet?

'Yeah, I'm an open book. Some men do think I'm a psycho bunny-boiler. But I think that's funny. If you're nice to me I'll never write anything bad about you. 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 ... I shouldn't say God ... or a man in a suit from the record company. I have to answer to myself.'

Two days before our sex 'n' sangria night out, Winehouse plays her first major hometown headline show at Bush Hall, west London. It's a public showcase for her management company's roster and she's supported by male soul singer Tyla James, who gave Amy her first break at the age of 16. Manager Nick Godwin and A&R man Nick Shymanski were looking for a jazz singer. 'It was around three-and-a-half years ago,' Godwin recalls. 'Tyla James brought us in a cassette and said, "This is a friend of mine. You should have a listen." We put it on and there was this amazing voice, fantastic lyrics ... they were eight- or nine-minute poems, really. Quite awkward guitar playing, but utterly breathtaking.'

Felix Howard, co-author of a number of tracks on Frank and a former writer for the Sugababes and Tom Jones, heard one of those recordings. 'It was unlike anything that had ever come through my radar. When she showed up for our first session she was wearing a pair of jeans that had completely fallen apart with "I Love Sinatra" embroidered on the arse. That's so Amy. I just fell in love with her. Also, she has the power to scare the shit out of very seasoned, salty jazz people. I was doing her session with some very serious players. And when she started singing, they were like, "Jesus Christ!"'

But then,Winehouse's family appears to be steeped in music, especially jazz. Her grandmother on her father's side dated British jazz legend Ronnie Scott in the 1940s, and her uncles on her mother's side are pro jazz players. According to her father, Mitch, now divorced from Amy's mum: 'The influence comes from my ex-wife's family ... there are some excellent musicians in there. But it's more what we listened to at home: Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Dinah Washington.'

But Amy - you must have gone through a pop phase?

'No, never. Apart from when I was six or seven, when I liked Kylie and loved Madonna. I listened to Madonna's Immaculate Collection every day until I was about 11, and then I discovered Salt 'n' Pepa and TLC. That was, "Oh my God ... this is my music!" Me and my best friend Juliet started our first ever band, Sweet 'n' Sour. We were rappers. I was Sour, of course.'

If there is a shadowy nemesis in the Amy Winehouse story, then - according to biz gossips - it could be the most powerful man in the British music industry. The perception is already out there that Amy is yet another puppet on the strings of Simon Fuller, inventor of The Spice Girls, Pop Idol and almost everything else huge in manufactured pop over the past decade. Fuller funds Winehouse's management company, Brilliant/19. She knows that there is suspicion around her involvement with him.

'Yeah. But I'm not worried. I've met him twice. My A&R man is paranoid about it because he doesn't want people to think he [Fuller] did it. I'll tell you what people should worry about. The fact that Simon, when S Club started fucking up ... he replaced them. SClub 7, SClub 8 ... its all the same. Now that's fucked. He's mad, that Simon Fuller.'

So, if you haven't sold enough records in six months' time, aren't you worried that he'll come in and take over?

'I don't think he cares if he gets a return on me. He's got Pop Idol and his empire. He's a smart man, and he's clever enough to know he can't fuck with me.'

Mr Fuller is indeed conspicuous by his absence from Winehouse's performances at Bush Hall and the Virgin Megastore, which provide contrasting examples of her precocious talent. Bush Hall seems to be full of either curious industry types or her musician mates and crew of girlfriends.

Performing with full band, the subtleties of songs such as 'Take the Box' get lost somewhere between the dodgy sound and her nervousness. But at the in-store, accompanied only by her own minimalist guitar, the strident lyrics and playful improvising force shoppers to stop and wonder who's making this brave, stark, beautiful noise. She spends much of the show watching them, singing with a sneer on her lips that says 'I dare you to ignore me'. For a jazz singer, she sure is punk rock. And that 'fuck you' element pervades everything she does. Particularly her public proclamations about the music industry and her own record company.

This entire feature could have been filled by Winehouse's heroically reckless rants at those at Universal/Island who insisted that Frank contain certain tracks and mixes that she herself hates. She says, repeatedly, that she is 'only 80 per cent behind this album', and ... well, here's a choice selection of Winehouse's verbal blasts at the business:

'Some things on this album make me go to a little place that's fucking bitter.'

'I've never heard the album from start to finish. I don't have it in my house.'

'Well, the marketing was fucked, the promotion was terrible. Everything was a shambles.'

'It's frustrating, because you work with so many idiots - but they're nice idiots. So you can't be like, "You're an idiot." They know that they're idiots.'

Woah there! Enough already. You know, Amy, these idiots have your commercial interests at heart ...

'Yeah, I know. I hate them fuckers, man. I've not seen anyone from the record company since the album came out and I know why ... 'cos they're scared of me. They know I have no respect for them whatsoever. Look ... I know its a terrible thing for someone to come out and say they hate their own music. It's the worst thing you can do. My album isn't shit. If I heard someone else singing like me I would buy it in a heartbeat.'

When I ask Nick Godwin about Amy's almost relentless indiscretion and hard-headedness, he gives me a surprisingly casual 'I'm used to this' laugh. 'She can be very frustrating. But I don't have an issue with her frankness. She's a real artist who's going to make records for years to come. Someone passionate who speaks their mind and isn't interested in money.'

This line from Godwin comes back to me when I meet Amy for the third time. It's almost a month since the drunken tapas bar meeting, at a solo live performance for Radio 4's Loose Ends on the first Saturday after New Year. She turns up late, spills out of a minicab, is deluged by weird, elderly autograph hunters, and is wearing salmon pink slip-ons so dirty and worn that her toes poke out. So, when I grab a few minutes with her before she sings for Ned Sherrin and Jason Donovan, I try not to stare at her toes and ask if Godwin's right. Are you really not interested in money?

'No. Well, I am. Everyone's interested in money. But if someone offered me £3 million to make a Rachel Stevens cover record ... I'd take it. HAHA!!! No ... money isn't important to me like music is. I'd go and live in a hole in the ground if it meant I could meet Ray Charles, know what I mean?'

There are so many reasons why Amy Winehouse could - should - be a huge star. Talent. Charisma. Songs. Voice. Attitude. But there's one big reason why she may not be. That box she implores you to take? She just won't fit inside it. Sounds Afro-American: is British-Jewish. Looks sexy: won't play up to it. Is young: sounds old. Sings sophisticated: talks rough. Musically mellow: lyrically nasty.

Trevor Nelson, whose Sunday Radio 1 show has been instrumental in crossing 'urban' (black, to you and me) music over to the mainstream, puts it neatly. 'I'm old enough to remember when Sade was launched. And every time I hear an act like Amy I think, "Could this be a new Sade?" Because Sade's success was so phenomenal. It's one area of music where we Brits stand up against anyone. Sade, Des'ree, Gabrielle. Soft, MOR-ish, jazzy soul. But the tough lyrical attitude could confuse people. And it's gonna take an extraordinary personality to carry this through. That jazzy vocal style is just supposed to make you feel chilled. If you get a bit edgy ... '

Or, to put it another way, that jazzy soul sound usually purveys either old-fashioned love songs or soothing right-on sentiments. From Winehouse you get 'Fuck Me Pumps', a witty ditty about late-twenties trashy girls on the make, hanging out in dodgy clubs in gangs, aspiring to marry a footballer. She's from the London streets and she sings in that language, from the viewpoint of 'an old-fashioned girl' - her words, not mine.

Her brilliant debut single, 'Stronger than Me' was about that same unfortunate former boyfriend, who she castigates for his weakness, before asking him, 'Are you gay?' and calling him a 'ladyboy'. Explain yourself, young lady. 'Are homosexuals weaker than straight men? No, because you get straight men that are fucking big pussies like my ex-boyfriend, and gay men who are like, "Can I carry that for you? Take my jacket." And you wish they didn't like boys.'

Do you think a man should be stronger than a woman?

'At certain points, definitely. Yes!'

Then there's 'What is it About Men?', a sneery examination of said subject which is quite obviously about her dad and his romantic entanglements. 'It's me trying to work out my dad's problems with sticking with one woman, trying to make sense of why he did certain things. I completely understand it now. People like to have sex with people. I don't begrudge my dad just because he has a penis. What's the point?'

For his part, Mitch Winehouse, a cab driver, is surprisingly sanguine about Amy's wanton laundering of dirty linen. 'I think it's only the first part that's specifically about me,' he says. 'The rest of it is more generally about what rats men are. But the song's given me pause for thought, because the divorce obviously coloured her view of men.'

Well, Mitch, maybe not that much. When I ask Amy about her future, I don't get a spiel about fame or art. I get this: 'In 10 years, I'm not gonna be doing this. I'm gonna be looking after my husband and our seven kids.'

But before that, there are songs to write, records to promote, shows to play, and thousands, maybe millions, of people for Winehouse to delight with her reinvention of jazz for a world of ladyboys and fuck me pumps. In a pop world obsessed with the celebration of all things shallow, can someone with her substance and muso talents truly fit in?

'For things that are genuinely tailored toward music,' she says, 'I'm easy to get your head around.'

If I guaranteed you success in return for letting me change a few things about you, what would you say?

'It depends. Everything can be improved on. I'm not so proud as a woman that I'd say, "No! I'll never get my breasts done!" Fuck it ... I probably would, when I'm old and whatever. I'm a girly girl. It's just my music. It's the only thing I have real dignity in in my life. That's the one area in my life where I can hold my head up and say, "No one can touch me." 'Cos no one can touch me!'

· 'In My Bed', from Frank, is out next month.

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Stunning voice, caustic way with words, two Brit nominations: 20-year-old Amy Winehouse should be our next superstar. But can the music industry cope with such an unusual, indiscreet and provocative talent? Interview by Garry Mulholland .

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Whilst clearly adopting a modern sound with many R&B influenced tracks, through choices of chord progressions and instrumentation Amy was clearly influenced by Jazz music of the 50s and 60s, citing Frank Sinatra as just one of many influences.

This is also reflected in her image with her iconic beehive hairdo

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Since her death there seems to be a refaming os perspective on her life. In hindsight it seems many see the horrific exploitation of a struggling young musician by the tabloid press and instead a much more sympathetic stance is taken

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This article serves a fond retrospective of Winehouse, sympathetic of her scandalous treatment by the tabloids.

Interestingly it puts forward the idea of "how Amy's style became a physical manifestation of the things that she loved the most in life.", those being "Innocence & Romance", "Drama", "Love" and memories of "Another Time".

It serves as an interesting insight to the perception of her star image and public persona

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The Movie "AMY" has been much more successful than most people predicted it would be. I saw it the week it opened because I've long been a fan of her music and closely followed the painfully sad trajectory of her life.

When most people think of Amy Winehouse, they don't think of the pretty girl from the UK who loved Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett and Dinah Washington. Most people don't remember the powerhouse, supernatural voice or the performer, who in her own words, became "a black man in a girl's body" when she went onstage. No, when people hear the name "Amy Winehouse" they have an automatic "go to" response - Rehab - and the resounding "No No No." Their minds conjure up the multitude of tabloid images that captured the last few years of her life. They remember photos that became evidence of years substance abuse and YouTube videos of alcohol infused erratic behavior and performances where she could barely stand. They might even replay the news footage in their minds of her body being carried out of her home on a coroner's stretcher.

I won't show any of those photographs here, I don't think that those years, ravaged by the devastating cruelty of addiction, should define Amy Winehouse, her legacy or her life. We all know how that story ended. We all know about the whole Blake thing. Hopefully by now though, everyone is on the same page about her talent. Her musical genius is undisputed and well respected by anyone who knows music, and to say that she was one of the most talented singer/songwriters of her generation, or perhaps of any generation, isn't an exaggeration. Throughout this post, I've included a few videos of some of Amy's performances that I believe best show her talent, in case you aren't convinced.

Amy Winehouse "Take The Box" Wembley Arena 2004 - 21 years old

I'm more interested in the reasons and thoughts behind the transformation of that young girl with the guitar. When Amy appeared on Never Mind The Buzzcocks, a British TV show in 2009, the host, Simon Amstell, made a joke about her drinking and afterwards, when he saw that she didn't take it too well, he said, "We used to be so close, " and Amy replied, "We were close" and after stroking his face says, "she's dead." Then, when he goes on to comment about wanting to bring back the "old amy" she says again, defiantly, "NO..she's dead."

So what propelled a young, talented musician to go from being a girl who seemed only interested in music and unconcerned with fashion, to become an instant worldwide fashion icon? After Black to Black was released, Amy's new look became one of the most recognizable in the world. People debated as to whether or not she deserved to be an icon, fashion magazines featured her style, and young girls worldwide copied her look. The new Amy even inspired Karl Lagerfeld to have Chanel models wear beehives in a 2008 runway show.

That girl with a guitar wanted to be known for her music. Her voice was so unique and had such a genuine tone and quality that she was confident in her ability to produce beautiful music, it was a part of her DNA. But being famous was another story. When you are famous, it's not just your music that's on display - the world wants a piece of your soul. Amy's childhood friend Juliette Ashby once said;

"When we were young teenagers she wanted to be a roller waitress, a writer or a comedian. Fame wasn't an incentive for her. Music was.."

Amy Winehouse "Teach me Tonight" (Hootenanny, 2004)

So why did the old Amy have to die? Maybe an already insecure girl, who suffered from bulimia (and maybe a little ADHD?), and enjoyed getting high and partying with her friends, simply couldn't handle the side effects of fame. Though she was confident in her musical ability, maybe she wasn't so confident in who she really was. No longer playing in her preferred venue of small clubs, and no longer simply admired for her talent, she was forced to perform a different kind of stage. The brutal stage of social media, paparazzi, talk shows, and tabloids that followed her every move was more than she could handle.

I never met Amy Winehouse but I believe her style metamorphosis allowed her to present another version of herself to the public, keeping her genuine self private. Many of Amy's friends and colleagues have mentioned Amy's remarkable intelligence. So to think that Amy's style was haphazard or an accident is to underestimate who she was. Just as Michael Jackson carefully created his gloved hand or ankle length pants, Amy was in control of her style and it was she who decided that the old Amy had to die. So the new Amy's style became a physical manifestation of the things that she loved the most in life.

1. Innocence & Romance - Amy loved the idea of all or nothing romance. She loved the songs that were about total abandonment for love and was inspired by 50's and 60's girl groups like The Ronettes and the theatrical style of their performances. The juxtaposition of the style of an innocent musical era mixed with her own, written from a place of pain and loss became an important trademark.Even her concert stage was reminiscent of vintage music, and the Amy Winehouse beehive became one of her most recognizable style elements. She used to say that the more insecure she felt, the higher her beehive would be teased.

2. Drama - Amy loved old movies and was a fan of Elizabeth Taylor. Her eyes had that Cleopatra cat-like drama that Liz wore so well! She could hide whatever her eyes might have revealed behind that thick, black liner.

The Day She Came to Dingle - Amy Winehouse "Love is a Losing Game" live on Other Voices, 2006 - Ireland

3. Love- Amy loved people. She was very close to her grandmother, Cynthia and many people say that losing her was the beginning of Amy's troubles. She had approximately 14 tattoos, many of which were symbols that reminded her of the people she loved. They were mostly vintage artwork including the one Cynthia. Even her familiar head scarves might have been a tribute to Cynthia as a young woman in the 1940's.

Amy Winehouse and Paul Weller Don't Go To Strangers 2006

One of my favorites - Amy Winehouse singing a cover of Donny Hathaway's "More Than You'll Ever Know" at De La Semaine on September 15, 2007

4. Another time - Vintage style short dresses replaced the old Amy's simple jeans and shirts. The stage dresses all conjured up images of different decades. She loved Jazz singers like Sarah Vaughan and Dinah Washington and the times they represented. She said many times that she was born too late and her dresses, though modern and updated, definitely brought back memories of another time.

Amy Winehouse and Tony Bennett "Body and Soul" 2011

Amy Winehouse only held on to the new Amy image for a short time, before it started to become a caricature of the original design. It protected her for a time, but as the addictions became stronger, the beehive became messier as the wall of style crumbled and left her in ruins. Then the world unfairly tried to make the whole of who Amy was nothing more than a puddle of mistakes and bad choices.

The world should have all been gentler, kinder, and more compassionate to Amy Winehouse. As a mother myself, I sometimes think about Amy's mother, Janis, who, I'm sure, could always see the real Amy underneath the facade, and I wish I could tell her that there are people who know that there was more to Amy than talent and a beehive. She was somebody's little girl and she was loved. Toward the end, beyond the well publicized tragedies, there were glimpses of her former talent re-emerging, including her duet with Tony Bennett. I like to believe that if she had lived long enough to get well, a new, better Amy would have been resurrected from the ashes. She wouldn't have been as much of an iconic fashion idol as the invented Amy, or as innocent as the old Amy, and she might have not been as huge of a superstar, but she would have been Amy, once again. Or perhaps, for the very first time. Sadly, we will never have the opportunity to know for sure.

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Inventing Amy Winehouse - The Genius Behind The Beehive

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Amy Winehouse was a brilliant musician who invented a personal that became her public identity. The beehive, the cat like eye make up, the tattoos, and the vintage inspired fashions all were a part of the invention of the Amy Winehouse the world knew.

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Amy's debut album

The title was also in reference to one of her idols, Frank Sinatra, and shows how Amy was open about her musical influences

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The album was met with great critical success and secured her as a legend in the British Music Industry

-Brit Awards: Won Best British Female Solo Artist and nominated for Best British Album

-Grammy Awards: Nominations for Album of the year

and won Record of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Album as well as Best New Artist for Winehouse and Song of The Year for the single 'Rehab'

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The lead single from her debut album seems to perfectly encapsulate many aspects that made Amy Winehouse such a unique and brilliant artist.

The instrumentation seamlessly combines aspects of 50s jazz through its choice of diminished guitar chords and use of saxophone and trumpets, with the undeniably contemporary R&B beat.

Similarly the lyrics reflect her humorous and, at times, crude attitude with lines such as:

"Feel like a lady, and you my lady boy"

"I'm not gonna meet your mother anytime
I just wanna grip your body over mine"

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Still from Whinehoue's performance at Porchester Hall

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Still from Whinehoue's performance at Porchester Hall

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This Image potrays AMay wearing her iconic beehive harido, a clear callback to fashion stykles of the 50s and 60s. The most obvious comparison to draw would be with that of Ronnie Spector of The Ronnettes who was famous for a similar hair style

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An Image Of Ronnie Spector for reference

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This 2012 article features a previously unreleased interview from 2006 in which Winehouse discusses musical influences, best surmised in one of the opening quotes:

"I got really into Motown girl groups. I liked Otis Redding from 14 or 15, but I listened to hip-hop and jazz for so many years. It goes jazz, soul, Motown, then hip-hop. Obviously, I've gone in the middle."

She sites more specific examples of influence from legendary musicians such as Ella Fitzgerald, Thelonious Monk and Aretha Franklin.

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When I was younger, I didn't really listen to a lot of soul. But in the last year I got really into Motown girl groups. I liked Otis Redding from 14 or 15, but I listened to hip-hop and jazz for so many years. It goes jazz, soul, Motown, then hip-hop. Obviously, I've gone in the middle.

On gospel

I've been listening to a lot of gospel singers like Mahalia Jackson and Aretha Franklin. I love gospel, because gospel is so truthful. You know, I'm not religious, but there is nothing more pure than the relationship you have with your God - there is nothing stronger than that apart from your love of music. Gospel is very inspirational.

Watch Amy Winehouse discuss her love of jazz and gospel music, and perform Tears Dry on Their Own at the Other Voices festival in 2006 BBC

Reading this on mobile? Click here to view
On Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and Dinah Washington

Ella Fitzgerald knew how to carry a tune, but to me she's just like a lot of other people. You can hear her and go: that's Ella Fitzgerald, but it's not like she stood out. Sarah Vaughan is one of my favourite singers of all time. She was an instrument. I've heard one record, it's like a humming solo, and she sounds like a reed instrument - like a clarinet. I came to Sarah Vaughan later: I was about 18. And I learned to sing from Dinah Washington, and from stuff like [Thelonious] Monk. It wasn't just the vocal jazz - I learned from everything, really.

On her brother's music collection

My brotherwas listening to stuff like Sonic Youth and Pearl Jam and Therapy, really, like, I-want-to-die bands. I had a really brief flirtation with that, but I must have been nine - and then I discovered Salt-n-Pepaand I was like: I've got my music now. He started listening to jazz when he was about 18 and I was 14. I just remember the first time I ever heard [Monk's] Around Midnight, through the wall. I was just like: what is that? And I remember the first time I heard Ray Charles. It was Unchain My Heart. I remember walking into my brother's room. I always used to knock because he would throw stuff at you if you didn't. But I opened the door and he goes, what? He looked at me as if I was about to go, "Mum's dead" or something (touch wood). He goes what's wrong and I went: "Who is this?" And he went: "It's Ray Charles." Then I just listened to Ray Charles for three months, exclusively.

Watch Amy Winehouse discuss her jazz influences and perform Love Is a Losing Game at the Other Voices festival in 2006 BBC

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On her first break

I did one gig as a singer for the National Youth Jazz Orchestra, which everyone has come through or goes through at some point. That was my first and last gig, because my manager came and said, "We'll give you loads of studio time - just go in and play guitar and write songs." And I was like: thanks, why? And he was like you're going to make an album and then I'm going to get you signed and everything. So it was cool. A couple of months ago, I did a massive opening for a casino. I'd go out with just my piano player and we would do jazz all night. Or sometimes there are these Russian bankers that really like me because I'm a Russian Jew. They always book me if they are in town, and we do jazz for them. We don't do my stuff.

On the Shangri-Las

I love the drama, I love the atmosphere, I love the sound effects. And they wrote the most depressing song ever: I Can Never Go Home Anymore. When me and my boyfriend finished, I used to listen to that song on repeat, just sitting on my kitchen floor with a bottle of Jack Daniel's. I'd pass out, wake up and do it again. My flatmate used to come in, leave bags of KFC and just leave. She'd be like: there's your dinner, I'm going out. It's the saddest song in the world.
This is an edited extract from a previously unbroadcast interview, recorded at the Other Voices festival in Dingle in 2006. Amy Winehouse: The Day She Came to Dingle, an Arena documentary for BBC4, will be broadcast at 10pm tonight.

This article was amended on 31 July 2012. The original misspelled Thelonious Monk's first name as Thelonius. This has been corrected.

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In a previously unseen interview from 2006, Amy Winehouse shared her love for Sarah Vaughan, gospel music and the Shangri-Las - as well as recalling her first big break

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Upon her initial success Winehouse was presented as a witty, diva-ish but charming artist with an incredibly distinct and powerful voice

In general media depictions appeared much more positive and affectionate than the scandalous depictions that began to dominate from around 2006 onwards

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This article discusses reactions to the above image from the upcoming Amy Winehouse biopic, with criticisms that Marisa Abela's portrayal "looking cartoonishly distraught in a halloween costume-level approximation of Winehouse’s trademark beehive" plays "into the very same voyeuristic impulses that led to Winehouse’s decline"

It also describes the way in which she was "emblematic of the ways that the entertainment and media industries fail young stars"

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It's only been a week since Sam Taylor-Johnson's Amy Winehouse biopic Back to Black began filming in London, but the backlash has already come thick and fast. Over the weekend, pictures of Marisa Abela and Eddie Marsan in character as Amy and her father, Mitch Winehouse, made their way on to Twitter. The reaction was one of pure vitriol, with one particularly viral tweet describing the images of Abela, looking cartoonishly distraught in a halloween costume-level approximation of Winehouse's trademark beehive, as "fucking revolting": 34,000 likes and 3,500 quote tweets seemed to agree with the sentiment.

It's hard to judge a film before even a single frame has been officially released, but it's understandable that the set photos touched a nerve. In recent years, Winehouse's troubled life and entirely preventable death have become emblematic of the ways that the entertainment and media industries fail young stars. Winehouse was a hugely talented musician who seemed to be surrounded by people more intent on wringing money from her than protecting her mental or physical health; this July marks 12 years since she died, and in that time, it would seem that the music industry has hardly become a more hospitable place for female musicians. In recent years, many stars of Winehouse's stature have disclosed similar struggles with drug abuse and disordered eating to those experienced by the singer during her lifetime. Much of her career was a media circus, with tabloids and commentators fixating on her weight, her substance abuse issues and her public meltdowns. The stark images of Abela on set feel like they play into the very same voyeuristic impulses that led to Winehouse's decline. (Distressing, too, are Abela's comments on her "really positive" experience of losing weight to play Winehouse, which include no mention of the singer's bulimia.)

The first look at Marisa Abela as Amy Winehouse. Photograph: Studiocanal

Is it possible to make a biopic about an exploited young star that isn't itself exploitative? I would argue probably not. So often, it feels as if people enjoy biopics because they scratch the same itch as true crime - there seems to be a gory fascination with seeing the pitiful depths of human existence. That doesn't mean they shouldn't be made, necessarily: I enjoyed Baz Luhrmann's Elvis, despite it also being a story of exploitation and decline, because I felt it raised interesting questions about the relationship between art and commerce, and seemed to be as much about Luhrmann as it was about Elvis.

The difference is that Elvis died some 45 years ago and he enjoyed a long, successful career before his death; as did Freddie Mercury, whose 2018 biopic Bohemian Rhapsody supercharged Hollywood's interest in films about musicians. Meanwhile it's likely that there are even some teenagers for whom Winehouse's death is fresh in the mind. Her career essentially lasted just six or seven years, and for many of them she was pilloried by the public, slandered in the press and battling her own personal demons. There's hardly anything for Taylor-Johnson's film to document that wouldn't simply replicate the painful, indelible images that characterised Winehouse's life, such as those of her fighting with paparazzi or struggling through a "comeback" performance in Serbia. The crowd-pleasing imperatives of big-budget biopics too often attempt to have it both ways when it comes to portraying tragedy and success: I Wanna Dance With Somebody, the recent Whitney Houston biopic, ends with the late musician drawing the bath that she would die in before fading to a flashback of a past performance, a strangely wan and strikingly inelegant final note.

Success and tragedy ... Naomi Ackie as Whitney Houston in I Wanna Dance with Somebody. Photograph: Sony Pictures Entertainment/Moviestore/ Rex/ Shutterstock

Biopics shouldn't have to spin a positive or sanitised narrative - needless to say, the woefully hagiographic Bohemian Rhapsody makes a strong case against it - but to make a film about Winehouse's short, troubled life simply feels like adding insult to injury. Add to that the fact that the production is endorsed by Mitch Winehouse - who is depicted in the 2015 documentary Amy, which he later went to great lengths to discredit, as one of the many exploitative figures in his daughter's life - and it's hard to picture what Back to Black may offer beyond trauma porn that seeks to flatter those who witnessed his daughter's decline and did nothing to prevent it.

While some films, such as the New York Times' shocking documentary on Britney Spears's conservatorship, have genuinely acted as pieces of needle-shifting journalism, there's little to suggest that this film isn't just part of a recent cottage industry of films - 2021's What Happened, Brittany Murphy? and Britney vs Spears among them - that seek to make money off the back of historical exploitation under the guise of serious film-making. Adding to Hollywood's interest in these kinds of films is the fact that celebrities themselves seem to be champing at the bit to play tragic stars, perhaps because of how well those roles play with awards bodies - Spears slammed Millie Bobby Brown for saying she wanted to play her in a biopic, while The White Lotus star Theo James has been talking about his interest in portraying George Michael in a forthcoming project, which Michael's estate has disavowed.

Ultimately, it feels as if Back to Black is symptomatic of an entertainment industry that refuses to let the dead rest. Every year, major labels pump out new songs featuring demo vocals from dead artists such as Juice WRLD, XXXTentacion and Lil Peep; the DJ Kygo had a hit in 2019 with a version of Higher Love using old Houston vocals; in 2019, Roy Orbison and Buddy Holly were reanimated as holograms, and went on an extensive double-headline tour.

In 2015, it seemed like Universal, Winehouse's label, was attempting to avoid that fate for the late star by destroying her demos so that nobody could attempt to cash in on her works-in-progress. More recently, it had begun to feel as if she was finally being remembered not as a purely tragic figure but as a generational talent who released two cherished records - and someone who wasn't purely self-destructive, but a victim of systematic abuse and mental illness. Back to Black threatens not to honour that legacy, but to revive all the demeaning noise that obscured it in the first place.

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The media exploited Amy Winehouse's life. A new biopic looks set to do the same with her death

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The first look at a new biopic has prompted anger for depicting the late singer as a cartoonish mess. Is it possible to make a film about an abused artist without repeating history?

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In the last years of her life she would often perform drunk,

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Amy Winehouse - UNBELIEVABLE ( Drugged & drunk )

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Amy Winehouse FALLS During  Concert In Recife, Brazil / January 13th, 2011

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Amy Winehouse singing Rehab at Bestival 2008 drunk

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Amy Winehouse Drunk On Stage?  Singer Cancels Part of Tour

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Reviews of her music at the release from generally reputable sources were somewhat luke warm, often seeming to focus as much on her personality as the music itself

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Whilst she was by no means unappreciated during her life, her critical reception is seemingly much more appreciated in the years since her death.

This becomes most apparent when comparing how the same media outlets speak so differently about at the time of release and after her death

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Back to Black Ranked 33 on Rolling stones 500 greatest albums of all time list, contrary to the 3 star review it was given on its release

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Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time was originally published in 2003, with a slight update in 2012. Over the years, it's been the most widely read - and argued over - feature in the history of the magazine (last year, the RS 500 got over 63 million views on the site). But no list is definitive - tastes change, new genres emerge, the history of music keeps being rewritten. So we decided to remake our greatest albums list from scratch. To do so, we received and tabulated Top 50 Albums lists from more than 300 artists, producers, critics, and music-industry figures (from radio programmers to label heads, like Atlantic Records CEO Craig Kallman). The electorate includes Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, and Billie Eilish; rising artists like H.E.R., Tierra Whack, and Lindsey Jordan of Snail Mail; as well as veteran musicians, such as Adam Clayton and the Edge of U2, Raekwon of the Wu-Tang Clan, Gene Simmons, and Stevie Nicks.

When we first did the RS 500 in 2003, people were talking about the "death of the album." The album -and especially the album release - is more relevant than ever. (As in 2003, we allowed votes for compilations and greatest-hits albums, mainly because a well-made compilation can be just as coherent and significant as an LP, because compilations helped shaped music history, and because many hugely important artists recorded their best work before the album had arrived as a prominent format.)

Of course, it could still be argued that embarking on a project like this is increasingly difficult in an era of streaming and fragmented taste. But that was part of what made rebooting the RS 500 fascinating and fun; 86 of the albums on the list are from this century, and 154 are new additions that weren't on the 2003 or 2012 versions. The classics are still the classics, but the canon keeps getting bigger and better.

Written By
Jonathan Bernstein, Pat Blashill, Jon Blistein, Nathan Brackett, David Browne, Anthony DeCurtis, Matt Diehl, Jon Dolan, Chuck Eddy, Ben Edmonds, Gavin Edwards, Jenny Eliscu, Brenna Ehrlrich, Suzy Exposito, David Fricke, Elisa Gardner, Holly George-Warren, Andy Greene, Kory Grow, Will Hermes, Brian Hiatt, Christian Hoard, Charles Holmes, Mark Kemp, Greg Kot, Elias Leight, Joe Levy, Angie Martoccio, David McGee, Chris Molanphy, Tom Moon, Jason Newman, Rob O'Connor, Park Puterbaugh, Jody Rosen, Austin Scaggs, Karen Schoemer, Bud Scoppa, Claire Shaffer, Rob Sheffield, Hank Shteamer, Brittany Spanos, Rob Tannenbaum, David Thigpen, Simon Vozick-Levinson, Barry Walters, Jonah Weiner

Phil Spector and Various Artists, 'Back to Mono (1958-1969)'

When the Righteous Brothers' Bobby Hatfield first heard "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'," with partner Bill Medley's extended solo, he asked, "But what do I do while he's singing the whole first verse?" Producer Phil Spector replied, "You can go directly to the bank!" Spector built his Wall of Sound out of hand claps, massive overdubs, and orchestras of percussion. This box has hits such as the Ronettes' "Be My Baby" and the Crystals' "Da Doo Ron Ron," which Spector called "little symphonies for the kids."

The Kinks, 'Something Else by the Kinks'

Something Else was a commercial flop that nearly killed the band, but it shows off Ray Davies' genius for writing about the secret lives of everyday people. "Waterloo Sunset" is a gorgeously chilly ballad about a lonely man watching lovers from his window; "Two Sisters" celebrates a housewife dancing around her house with curlers in her hair. He's got poetic compassion for all these characters, even as he witnesses their private pain in "No Return," "Afternoon Tea," and "End of the Season."

The Rolling Stones, 'Some Girls'

Why did the Stones call their big comeback album Some Girls? Keith explained, "Because we couldn't remember their fucking names." The Stones sounded revitalized on Some Girls, with Mick at his bitchiest, reveling in the NYC sleaze of "Shattered," "Beast of Burden," and the disco hit "Miss You." It became their all-time biggest seller. Keith was in rough shape at the time - as Mick fumed, "Christ, Keith fuckin' gets busted every year" - but he stands unrepentant in his outlaw theme song, "Before They Make Me Run."

When the Righteous Brothers' Bobby Hatfield first heard "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'," with partner Bill Medley's extended solo, he asked, "But what do I do while he's singing the whole first verse?" Producer Phil Spector replied, "You can go directly to the bank!" Spector built his Wall of Sound out of hand claps, massive overdubs, and orchestras of percussion. This box has hits such as the Ronettes' "Be My Baby" and the Crystals' "Da Doo Ron Ron," which Spector called "little symphonies for the kids."

Something Else was a commercial flop that nearly killed the band, but it shows off Ray Davies' genius for writing about the secret lives of everyday people. "Waterloo Sunset" is a gorgeously chilly ballad about a lonely man watching lovers from his window; "Two Sisters" celebrates a housewife dancing around her house with curlers in her hair. He's got poetic compassion for all these characters, even as he witnesses their private pain in "No Return," "Afternoon Tea," and "End of the Season."

Why did the Stones call their big comeback album Some Girls? Keith explained, "Because we couldn't remember their fucking names." The Stones sounded revitalized on Some Girls, with Mick at his bitchiest, reveling in the NYC sleaze of "Shattered," "Beast of Burden," and the disco hit "Miss You." It became their all-time biggest seller. Keith was in rough shape at the time - as Mick fumed, "Christ, Keith fuckin' gets busted every year" - but he stands unrepentant in his outlaw theme song, "Before They Make Me Run."

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To remake our greatest albums list, we tabulated Top 50 Albums lists from more than 300 artists, producers, critics, music-industry figures.

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Upon release, Rolling Stone gave the Album just three stars out of five

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"Rehab," the must-hear song that opens the second album from British soul singer Amy Winehouse, is a Motown-style winner with a banging beat and a lovesick bad girl testifying like Etta James about how she won't clean up her act. It's followed by the excellently funky "You Know I'm No Good" and "Me & Mr. Jones (Fuckery)," the latter of which begins, "What kind of fuckery is this?/You made me miss the Slick Rick gig." Winehouse is a nervy, witty songstress whom indie rockers, pop fans and hip-hoppers can dig. On Black, she gets help from producers Salaam Remi and Mark Ronson, who turn classic soul sounds into something big, bright and punchy. The tunes don't always hold up. But the best ones are impossible to dislike: Witness "Addicted," a wistful gem in which Winehouse chooses weed over a lover.

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Check out our album review of Artist's Back to Black on Rolling Stone.com.

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Pitchfork gave the 2007 rerelease of her album just a 4.9 out of 10, with much of the review seeming to focus on slandering her personally rather than actually focusing on the music, demonstrating how even supposedly reputable sources were not above criticising her for her personal life.

Some such quotes include:

"her look-how-messed-I-am public persona"

"But Winehouse's slow public wreck isn't just an unfortunate thing that's happening to someone who happens to be a star, it's part of her act"

The article sickeningly ends with the statement: "Frank comes off as the first chapter in the Romantic myth of the poet who feels too deeply and ends up killing herself for her audience's entertainment. And that is some bullshit."

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Originally released in the UK four years ago and subsequently dissed by the artist herself, Amy Winehouse’s debut finally lands on U.S. shores.

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This 2019 article written by Alexis Petridis makes the claim for Back to Black being the best album of the 21st century

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Back to Black came out of nowhere - in a sense. Of course, Amy Winehouse had already released her debut album, 2003's Frank, but, her voice aside, it sounded more or less like the work of a different artist. Frank was part of a wave of jazz-influenced MOR albums that hit big in the early 2000s. A little braver and moodier than the Michael Parkinson-approved likes of Jamie Cullum, Katie Melua or Michael Bublé, but not so different from Norah Jones or any of the artists that followed in the wake of her 27m-selling album Come Away With Me: a bit of jazz, a bit of neo-soul, a touch of hip-hop about the beats.

The songs on Frank were buffed up by professional writers-for-hire; the woman who sang them signed to 19 Management by Simon Fuller, manager of the Spice Girls and mastermind behind Pop Idol and its umpteen spin-offs. It was advertised in the pages of Living Etc, as if the aural equivalent of soft furnishings, something tasteful and unobtrusive with which to embellish your living room. Winehouse hated it, or so she kept telling interviewers. "I don't have it in my house," she informed the Guardian a few months after its release. The best she could manage by way of talking it up was to grudgingly suggest "it isn't shit".

Certainly, it could not prepare the listener for Back to Black: nothing about Frank suggested that its creator was going to make a genuinely epochal masterpiece. Something had happened to Amy Winehouse in the three years that separated her second album from her debut: skinny, covered in tattoos, dressed like a cartoon of a 60s girl-group member - complete with a vertiginous beehive modelled on that of the Ronettes' Ronnie Spector - she was almost unrecognisable. The lyrics of its lead single suggested that whatever had happened wasn't good - no one pleads with you to go to rehab if your life is in perfect shape - but the music was so ebullient you could easily overlook that.

Her sound had changed as dramatically as her appearance: with Frank's producer Salaam Remi joined by Mark Ronson, then a virtual unknown, Back to Black offered an update of 60s soul and girl-group pop. Characteristically self-effacing, Ronson has suggested that his primary contribution to the album was keeping Winehouse out of the pub, but in reality his decision to relocate the recording sessions to Brooklyn's analogue Daptone studios and employ its house band, the Dap-Kings, was a masterstroke.

The Dap-Kings had already spent a decade honing their retro soul style, first backing obscure deep funk singer Lee Fields, then Fields's former backing vocalist Sharon Jones. They gave the album's sound a toughness and grit that is usually missing when contemporary producers ape the 60s output of Muscle Shoals and Hitsville USA. The sound chafed against the lyrics' plethora of 21st-century references and hip-hop-influenced intonation ("I'll check him at the door / Make sure he got green / I'm tighter than airport security teama"), and against Winehouse's Sarah Vaughan and Billie Holiday-influenced vocals.

The tension between musical styles was infinitely more gripping than Frank's clumsy attempts to highlight Winehouse's jazz chops through scat singing and decorating tracks with samples of crackling vinyl. Moreover, it didn't sound like a knowing pastiche, largely because Winehouse had dispensed with the hired songwriting help and written a set of songs that were strong enough to bear comparison to those she had been influenced by. You could tell how good they were by the artists they attracted: within months of Back to Black's release, Prince had taken to covering Love Is a Losing Game on stage. As if to underline the qualitative similarity of Winehouse's songs and the music that inspired them, Ronnie Spector began performing the title track live amid the Ronettes' hits.

Understandably, everyone went on about Winehouse's voice. It was a snappy, ragged, extraordinarily expressive contralto that still carried something of the nasal north London drawl of her speaking voice, perfect for conveying both heartbreak and sass. It dispensed with the usual firework-display theatrics of the modern soul diva in favour of an idiosyncratic, apparently untutored approach to phrasing that lent everything she sang a directness and immediacy. Set against the contemporary backdrop of melismatic oversinging and arch indie rock, Back to Black offered a reminder of what it sounded like to really mean it.

But if the praise that rained on her singing was and is fully deserved, it does tend to overshadow what she was singing. Back to Black revealed Winehouse as a sharp, powerful lyricist, whose writing switched from quietly beautiful - "All I can ever be to you is a darkness that we knew / And this regret I got accustomed to" - to blunt and earthily funny: "What kind of fuckery is this?". The full horror of the co-dependent relationship that inspired her writing would be revealed in time; but at first it seemed only to have provoked a remarkable outpouring of songs about infidelity, longing and romantic despair, shot through with references to hedonism that always feel nihilistic, never celebratory. There are umpteen mentions of booze and drugs but none to partying or having a good time - only to their ability to obliterate.

Back to Black is an exceptionally forlorn 35 minutes: the closest its mood of self-loathing and hopelessness comes to a resolution is Addicted's bitter line about how marijuana "does more than any dick did". But it says something about the skill of her songwriting and the arrangements that it is so easy to listen to. What Winehouse had to say was despondent and troubling, but when her voice soars on the chorus of Tears Dry on Their Own, or the intro to You Know I'm No Good sashays out of the speakers, it doesn't feel like hard work. Even its bleakest moment, when the title track collapses into a funereal thud and Winehouse keeps disconsolately repeating the word "black", comes wrapped in gorgeous vocal harmonies and strings.

A rare instance of critical acclaim chiming with public taste, it sold millions. It may well be the most influential album of the last 20 years. The immediate effect of its success was a wave of artists obviously working in her image. Female vocalists made retro soul-influenced music, replacing Winehouse's troubled unpredictability with something less volatile and more marketable: earthy everyman good humour or cute kookiness. Adele was by far the most successful, but at one point there seemed to be dozens of them, all filling the void created by the fact that Winehouse was increasingly unable to play live, let alone complete another record (as the posthumous Lioness compilation revealed, she recorded virtually nothing in the final years of her life, taping only two songs for a projected follow-up). Winehouse's vocal style became a kind of all-purpose pop template, its idiosyncrasies reduced to a series of slurred, prematurely aged tics intended to signify emotional authenticity. Nearly 15 years on, you still can't move for twentysomething men who sound like ravaged blues shouters and twentysomething women trying their best to channel Billie Holiday.

Something happened ... Amy Winehouse playing the V Festival in Essex, in 2008. Photograph: James McCauley/Rex Features

And Back to Black ushered in a new vogue for soul-baring albums rooted in the artist's lives: an updated version of the early 70s trend for confessional singer-songwriters, rebooted for the age of social media, with its oversharing late-night posts and belief that rock and pop artists should be #relatable (Facebook opened to everyone over 13 with a valid email address four weeks before Back to Black's release; Twitter's tipping point came five months later). For better or worse, we currently live in a pop world that Back to Black unintentionally helped to create, where writing frankly about your personal experience is the most noble occupation a pop star can pursue; where artists are queuing up to tell the world about the neuroses and trauma that inspired their latest work; where everyone from Drake to Taylor Swift to Beyoncé has their songs pored over for IRL references.

Whether that is a positive state of affairs is moot: the quality of Back to Black isn't. Untangle it from its legacy and the appalling backstory of its songs, and you are left with an astonishing album - an unexpected, unprecedented burst of creativity and talent that still hits home emotionally, no matter how many times you hear it. It feels impermeable, the kind of album people will still be listening to and talking about for decades to come: the 21st century's most obvious candidate to join the pantheon of all-time classics.

Read our obituary of Amy Winehouse

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Why the best album of the 21st century is Amy Winehouse's Back to Black

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Quietly beautiful and earthily funny, Back to Black's ebullient music transformed pop - and will be revered for decades to come

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Singer Amy Winehouse has been found dead at her house in north London She was 27. The award-winning artist, famous for hits including Rehab from the critically acclaimed album Back to Black, was discovered by police in the late afternoon. Her death was being treated on Saturday night as "unexplained" but sources said she had died of a drugs overdose.

The Metropolitan police said: "We were called by London Ambulance Service to an address in Camden Square shortly before 16.05hrs following reports of a woman found deceased. On arrival officers found the body of a 27-year-old female who was pronounced dead at the scene."

Winehouse was last seen with her goddaughter, Dionne Bromfield, earlier last week when the teenager performed at the iTunes festival.

Tributes began to pour in to one of the most celebrated and troubled British artists of recent times. Mark Ronson, who produced Back to Black, said: "She was my musical soulmate and like a sister to me. This is one of the saddest days of my life."

Singer and actress Kelly Osbourne wrote: "i cant even breath right now, im crying so hard i just lost 1 of my best friends. i love you forever Amy & will never forget the real you!"

Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood dedicated his show on Absolute Radio and the reunion performance by his former group the Faces in Hurtwood, Surrey, to Winehouse. "It's a very sad loss of a very good friend I spent many great times with," he said.

Two regulars at Winehouse's local pub, The Hawley Arms in Camden, paid tribute. "Some people might think it shows disrespect to come out drinking tonight but she was such a part of Camden she made it her home and she always got involved," said Mary Gallagher. "Amy even worked behind the bar here. She was such a lovely person and, to be honest, I don't think fame agreed with her. She was an ordinary girl at heart."

Gloria Woods, 26, who works for a record label, said: "There will never be another voice like that in our generation."

A spokesman for the late singer said: "Everyone involved with Amy is shocked and devastated. Our thoughts are with her family and friends."

Winehouse's father, Mitch, returned from New York, where he had been due to perform at the Blue Note jazz club. He said: 'I'm coming home. I have to be with Amy. I can't crack up for her sake. My family need me."

Flowers, teddy bears and candles were left outside her home in Camden Square. One card read: "You will not be forgotten by Camden. We all love you and will continue to love you. Your legend lives on."

Winehouse had suffered a well-publicised battle with drink and drug abuse that saw her withdraw from all of her scheduled performances last month after a series of erratic performances. She started her 12-leg European tour in Belgrade but was booed off the stage after appearing to forget her lyrics. She then pulled out of performances in Istanbul and Athens before she cancelled the tour as fears for her health grew.

A statement released by her spokesman at the time said that she would be given "as long as it takes" to recover. "Everyone involved wishes to do everything they can to help her return to her best," it read.

Winehouse rose to fame with her debut album Frank in 2003, which was feted by music critics in the UK and nominated for the Mercury music prize, but it was her 2006 follow-up album, Back to Black, that catapulted her to stardom and led to five Grammy awards. The album became the third-highest selling album of the 2000s.

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Amy Winehouse found dead aged 27 in London home

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Metropolitan police confirm death of singer notorious as much for her off-stage excesses as her music

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The same outlet that called her out for a 'bullshit' act in which she would end up killing herself over her supposed "look-how-messed-up-i-am-persona" came out and said the following concerning her death: "Winehouse's musical triumphs were often eclipsed in the eyes of the media by her struggles with substance abuse"

This presents another direct example of how media outlets shifted from exploitative and degrading to sympathetic upon her death.

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The BBC reports that British singer Amy Winehouse has been found dead at her home in London. She was 27 years old. The cause of death has not yet been reported. TMZ reports that there were "no signs of foul play."

Pitchfork's Jess Harvell takes a look back at the singer's music and tragic final days here.

Winehouse released her first album, , in 2003, when she was 20 years old. She quickly gained attention for her deep, bluesy voice and sexually charged lyrics. Her 2006 album Back to Black gained her worldwide fame, spawning the hits "Rehab", "You Know I'm No Good", and the title track. She won five Grammy awards and the album sold 10 million copies.

Winehouse's musical triumphs were often eclipsed in the eyes of the media by her struggles with substance abuse. She was arrested several times for assault and drug offenses. In June, her comeback tour was canceled after a disastrous performance in Serbia.

Her final public appearance occurred on Wednesday at the Roundhouse in London, where she guested with her goddaughter Dionne Bromfield. Winehouse was reportedly at work on a new album.

"Rehab":

"Tears Dry on Their Own":

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The BBC reports that British singer Amy Winehouse has been found dead at her home in London. She was 27 years old. The cause of death has not yet been reported. TMZ reports that there were "no signs of foul play." Pitchfork's Jess Harvell takes a look back at the singer's music and tragic final days here.

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Many outlets continued to talk unsympathetically about her personal issues

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This article compares outlooks and media treatment of female and male artists, using the examples of Kurt Cobain and Amy Winehouse

The essence of the article is perhaps best encapsulated in the hypocrisy in: "The way media dotes over its tortured male artists while undermining the personal struggles of women who suffer the same"

Once again, the article demonstrates a change in attitude from Pitchfork

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Amy Winehouse, Kurt Cobain and the Gendering of Martyrdom

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Kurt is mythologized as a tortured genius, Amy eulogized as merely a mess. Critic Molly Beauchemin looks at the corollary narratives.

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Chapter 1 of Popular Music, Stars and Stardom: Definitions, Discourses, Interpretations

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Chapter 1 of Popular Music, Stars and Stardom: Definitions, Discourses, Interpretations

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This chapter raises several interesting points surrounding the presentation and reception of pop stars.

A point raised which is valuable to examining Amy Winehouse is its discussion of fan identification through lyrics that reflect details of the personal lives of the singer, a recurring theme of this portfolio

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Popular Music, Stars and Stardom: Definitions, Discourses, Interpretations from Popular Music, Stars and Stardom on JSTOR

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Stephen Loy, Julie Rickwood, Samantha Bennett, Popular Music, Stars and Stardom:, Popular Music, Stars and Stardom, pp. 1-20

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The term diva is frequently attached to Winehouse's name. At times it seemingly just refers to her as someone with an attitude, although it often seem to take on a misogynistic meaning reffering to a brattish/stroppy

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This retrospective article released in 2018 gives a more positive connation to the word diva in its discussion of how her debut album 'Frank' "helped her establish an attitude and style that planted the seed for a bright career."

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"My greatest fear is dying without anyone knowing of any contribution I've ever made to creative music," is what Amy Winehouse in an interview shortly after releasing her first album.

In October 2003, before the era when artists like Sam Smith and Adele were heating up the charts, there was Amy Winehouse - a jazz artist who put her mark on the world with her debut album, "Frank." It was a cohesive, 15-track project oozing with soul, blues and a bit of hip-hop that was sure to be an album of discussion for decades to come. It was also an introduction to more female artists from the United Kingdom doing things their own way, attempting to be marketable to other audiences and waiting to see if the rest of the world would catch on to the wave.

In the early 2000s, British artists like Coldplay, Daniel Bedingfield, Dido and Elton John were dominating the music scene while newcomers like Joss Stone and Floetry were bringing a new flair to the soulful audiences. And then there was Amy Winehouse - a singer whose voice was reminiscent of the Harlem Renaissance era.

Inspired by the likes of Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin, Dinah Washington and Sarah Vaughan, "Frank" beamed with elements of Winehouse's idols to make her sound stand out among her peers.

To help perfect that sound, Winehouse worked with several producers, including Jony Rockstar, Matt Rowe and Stefan Skarbek. However, it was two other producers who greatly shaped her foundation: Gordon "Commissioner Gordon" Williams and Salaam Remi. Gordon was known for working with artists like Quincy Jones, Santana, KRS-One and Lauryn Hill, and Remi was behind the boards for artists like The Fugees, Biz Markie and Nas. With their resume of hit songs, these producers were sure to give Winehouse a promising debut - a project the singer often described as a jazz hip-hop album.

Winehouse set the jazz foundation with the album's intro, scatting to the smooth backing of a bass player, before going into her lead single, "Stronger Than Me." Remi put his trademark "broken bottle" production on the track to give Winehouse the beat-driven, hip-hop sound she admired. The singer's lyricism tells of a scorned lover who believes her older partner should show more signs of maturity and responsibility for the relationship to flourish.

She then eases into overcoming heartbreak, on "You Sent Me Flying," a track where Winehouse pursues a man to keep his attention but ultimately learns he carelessly sees through her intentions and has no mutual feelings. Then there is "Know You Now," in which the singer wants to take a chance on a potential lover should they never cross paths again.It's the first song on the album in which listeners hear Winehouse's more traditional jazz sound. Between the scatting, smooth musicianship and old-school riffs, producer Gordon helped Winehouse reflect the classic music that inspired her.

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The debut of a diva: Amy Winehouse's 'Frank' 15 years later

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"My greatest fear is dying without anyone knowing of any contribution I've ever made to creative music," is what Amy Winehouse stated in an interview shortly after releasing her first album.

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Chapter 1 in 'Diva: Feminism and fierceness from  Pop to Hip to Hip Hop': Introduction: Y'all! the diva and us

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Chapter 1 in 'Diva: Feminism and fierceness from  Pop to Hip to Hip Hop': Introduction: Y'all! the diva and us

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The introduction to this book, which features several specific case studies of performers with a 'diva' personality, aims to establish definitions of the word.

Perhaps most applicable to the case of Winehouse is how the word diva often seemed loaded with negative and misogynistic connotations.

They write how the "'Diva' description could mean criticism of 'diva--like behaviour" or, in more positive or neutral understandings "that the diva is a singular and stand-out presence – worthy of debate, impressively tough, unavoidably fierce"

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Amy's love life was frequently a prominent aspect of both her lyrics and media attention

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In this early interview from 2004 Winehouse explicitly states that she is a "jazz singer", making clear how she wished her music career to percieved

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Amy Winehouse - Extended interview to BBC (2004)

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In this BBC interview at Porchetser Hall she discusses the influence of 60s girl group music and doo op on Back to Black

She states the authenticity she believes her music carries and also openly discusses a recent break-up

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Amy Winehouse - Extended Porchester Hall Interview [08.03.2007]

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This article clearly uses the word diva to hold negative connotations in its description of an interview conducted with her in a Camden bar, comparing her to "a schoolgirl who has just been given detention"

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Amy Winehouse: Diva with a stroppy streak

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Amy Winehouse can’t bear record companies, businessmen and interviews. Fiona Sturges takes a deep breath…

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This SkyNews article entitled "Love, Marriage And Divorce: Men In Amy's Life" charts the love life of Winehouse.

Released just 3 days after her passing, it exemplifies how even in death, her love life was an incredibly prominent aspect of media coverage about her.

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In her short life, Amy Winehouse was married, divorced and had a turbulent series of love affairs which helped inspire much of her music.

In 2005, the singer had a brief relationship with music video production assistant Blake Fielder-Civil who would later become her husband.

The pair got tattoos spelling out each other's names but due to Fielder-Civil's involvment with another woman, he soon split up with her.

A devastated Winehouse went on to write much of her award-winning 2006 album Back To Black about the break-up.

The singer then got involved with a chef and musician called Alex Claire but it soon became apparent she was still in love with Fielder-Civil.

The couple rekindled their relationship and got married at a small ceremony in Florida in May 2007.

However, their relationship was tumultuous, drug-fuelled and often violent - and pictures of the pair looking worse for wear would adorn tabloid newspapers.

Shortly after their marriage, Fielder-Civil was jailed for grievous bodily harm with intent and perverting the course of justice.

Their divorce was finalised in August 2009 after Winehouse was photographed getting close to another man, Josh Bowman, in the Caribbean.

Winehouse though is believed to have always maintained Fielder-Civil was her soulmate.

It is a view shared by Fielder-Civil's current girlfriend, Sarah Aspin, who is the mother of his newborn son Jack.

"She always loved him and he always loved her - but it was just never going to work," she told The Sun.

"Basically they couldn't live with each other and they could not live without each other. It is hard for me knowing he still loved her, but I do understand his feelings."

Heroin-addict Fielder-Civil is currently serving 32 months in a Leeds prison after he was jailed for burglary and possession of an imitation firearm last month.

After learning of his ex-wife's death he collapsed and said: "I'm beyond inconsolable... my tears won't dry.

"I will never ever again feel the love I felt for her. Everybody who knew me and knew Amy knew the depth of our love. I can't believe she's dead."

After her marriage to Fielder-Civil ended it looked as though Winehouse's love life was getting back on track as she started dating clean-cut film director Reg Traviss.

With a promising career, Traviss was seen as a stabilising force in Winehouse's life and had the approval of her parents.

He was at Mitch and Janis Winehouse's side as they visited her Camden home and viewed tributes to the singer.

Speaking to The Sun, Traviss said her death on Saturday came as a huge shock.

He said: "I can't describe what I am going through and I want to thank so much all of the people who have paid their respects and who are mourning the loss of Amy, such a beautiful, brilliant person and my dear love.

"She had been so full of life and so upbeat recently, exercising every day and doing yoga. This terrible thing that has happened is like an accident."

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Love, Marriage And Divorce: Men In Amy's Life

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In her short life, Amy Winehouse was married, divorced and had a turbulent series of love affairs which helped inspire much of her music.

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This article was published 3 days after Winehouse's death, but also in the wake of the phone hacking scandal, in Which journalists working under News Corp and Rupert Murdoch were exposed for their invasive methods of journalism such as phone hacking and police bribery.

He discusses Winehouse's position in relation to the allegations, describing how "the papers' bad-taste documenting of her downward spiral bordered on cruelty"

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Paul Willis, Special to CNNcnnAuthor = “By Paul Willis, Special to CNN”;

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The discovery of Amy Winehouse’s body at her London home gave Rupert Murdoch and his clan a brief respite from an avalanche of bad press, supplanting the phone-hacking scandal that had remained the lead story for weeks in British newspapers and TV shows.

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This Mail online article shows photo of a 'hickey' on Winehouse's neck after visiting Blake fielder Civil during his short prison sentence.

It also speculates on whether she had cheated on him

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Amy’s love bite: Singer’s love token proves her relationship with Blake is still going strong

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After her relationship with Blake Fielder-Civil has been called into question, Amy Winehouse was keen to prove the passion is still alive between them.

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Just one example of her heavily publicised Divorce from Blake Fielder Civil in 2009

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Amy Winehouse's husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, is seeking a divorce from the Rehab singer on the grounds of alleged adultery, his solicitor said last night.

Winehouse has spent the last month on the Caribbean island of St Lucia after suffering repeated health scares, and in recent days has been pictured in the arms of a 21-year-old fellow holidaymaker.

She was quoted in the News of the World at the weekend as saying: "I've finally escaped from hell. I'm in love again and I don't need drugs. Look at me, I'm glowing!"

She reportedly added of her husband: "I don't know what's going on with us now and for the time being I've just forgotten I'm even married. I'm just here on my own, happy and having a good time with Josh [Bowman, her alleged new man]. I'll deal with Blake when I get back.

"But our whole marriage was based on doing drugs. So being with someone like Josh is much better for me."

Winehouse, 25, and Fielder-Civil, 26, wed in May 2007, but their turbulent marriage has been dogged by reports of the singer's struggle with drugs, and Fielder-Civil's prison sentence for assault and trying to pervert the course of justice. Six months after they tied the knot in a Miami register office, he was arrested for helping to beat up a pub landlord, then offering the man a bribe to keep quiet about it.

As the former video production assistant awaited trial in jail, Winehouse famously dedicated her five-gong triumph at the Grammy awards for her album Back to Black to her "Blake incarcerated".

Fielder-Civil later pleaded guilty to grievous bodily harm and attempting to pervert the course of justice and was jailed for 27 months. In November he was released into a drug rehabilitation centre, but was sent back to prison weeks later for breaching his bail conditions.

Last night, Henri Brandman, who is representing Fielder-Civil, said in a statement: "I can confirm that I have been instructed to commence divorce proceedings on the grounds of Amy's adultery."

Winehouse's spokesman said: "Papers have been received and the matter is with Amy's lawyers."

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Amy Winehouse's husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, claims adultery and wants divorce

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Solicitor for Blake Fielder-Civil says he is seeking to end marriage following Rehab singer's alleged affair

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An example of the prevalent, speculative and low brow reporting surrounding her romantic involvements.

This Article speculates about her break up with the boyfriend Reg Traviss after he was "seen holding his ex-girlfriend Raven Isis Holt's hand while they partied in London in the early hours of Sunday morning."

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Amy Winehouse is facing the possibility of more heartache as her boyfriend Reg Traviss has been photographed hand-in-hand with his ex-girlfriend.

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This Journal article discusses the gendered treatment of bashing celebrities "who has been on a drug-or alcohol-fuelled course of self-destruction"

Similarly it discusses how class plays apart in this, discussing how "The term ‘chav’ has been used recently to label certain celebrities who are seen to embody a lack of taste and accomplishment". This is certainly the case in the manner that the press often commented on her appearance