The infamous troubled singer, Amy Winehouse, was found dead on the 23rd July 2011 of a suspected drug overdose in her North London home. The 27-year-old star had fought an extensive and highly publicised battle with an alcohol and drug addiction, as mentioned in her song Rehab from five-time Grammy Award winning album Back to Black (2007).
The untimely death of Winehouse follows suit of “Rock & Roll’s 27 Club” – a list of talented musicians who have all had massive influence on the music industry, despite only living to 27. These include rock legends, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix and co-founder of “Grunge”, Kurt Cobain: some of the brightest musical talents the world has known.
Elton John commented that Winehouse was “a seminal artist”, adding: “she was one of the greatest artists this country has ever produced.” In a post on her fan-site Adele said Winehouse had “paved the way for artists like me and made people excited about British music again”.
Winehouse’s voice was breath-taking, a deep, sultry contralto, more reminiscent of black soul singers such as Ella Fitzgerald and Etta James than a twenty something Jewish girl from North London. Her fantastic voice alongside an immeasurable talent for writing delicate and moving songs, ‘I wish I could sing no regrets, and emotional debts’ (Tears Dry On Their Own, 2006). Amy’s talent and tear-jerking lyrics won the hearts of millions of fans around the world and many prestigious awards including five Grammys, a Brit Award and three Ivor Novello’s. However, sadly, this talent came alongside a self-destructive tendency, which made her untimely death, like those of so many of the “27 Club”, seem tragically inevitable.
RIP.
By Charlotte Cox
