Amy Jade Winehouse (born 14 September 1983) is a well respected, British soul, jazz, and rhythm and blues singer and songwriter. Her debut album, Frank (released in 2003) was nominated for the Mercury Prize. She won the Ivor Novello Award in 2004 for her debut single "Stronger than Me" and again in May 2007 for the first single "Rehab" from her 2006 album Back to Black. On 14 February 2007, she won a BRIT Award for Best British Female Artist; she had also been nominated for Best British Album. On 17 July, Back to Black was announced as one of the 12 albums on the 2007 shortlist of Mercury Prize nominees and later that year she was nominated for three MTV Video Music Awards and "Mejor artista nuevo internacional" or "best international new artist" in Los Premios MTV Latinoamérica. The singer's bulimia as well as her drug and alcohol abuse became regular tabloid fodder in 2007.
+ Early life and influences
Amy Winehouse was born in the Southgate area of Enfield, London to a Jewish family with a history of jazz musicians.[2] Her father, Mitchell Winehouse, is a taxi driver and her mother, Janis, is a pharmacist. She has one brother, Alex.[3] She grew up in the suburb of Southgate and attended Ashmole School. At around age ten, she founded a short-lived rap group called Sweet 'n' Sour (Amy was "Sour.") She described the group as 'the little white Jewish Salt 'n' Pepa'.[4] She was trained at the Sylvia Young Theatre School when she was twelve years old but was allegedly expelled at fourteen for 'not applying herself' and piercing her own nose.[5][4] She later attended the BRIT School in Selhurst, Croydon.
Winehouse received her first guitar when she was thirteen. By age sixteen she was singing professionally after her friend soul singer Tyler James sent her demo tape to an A&R person. She later had an "on and off" relationship with Tyler.[2] She signed to her current record label Island/Universal under Simon Fuller's management company 19 Management.
Winehouse hired New York singer Sharon Jones's longtime band, the Dap-Kings to back her up in the studio and on tour, giving the group its first real taste of the limelight.
+ Personal life
Since her rise to fame, Winehouse has been the subject of much media attention. On 18 May 2007 she married Blake Fielder-Civil in an unannounced ceremony in Miami, Florida.[29] The marriage came as a surprise to fans and even family as the two had split two years earlier, the break-up inspiring several of the songs on Back to Black. Reports have since focused on the couple's alcohol and drug abuse, with Winehouse appearing intoxicated during television appearances and concerts and even entering an overdose-induced coma.[30] In August 2007, she and her husband spent a brief period in rehab but left after five days, much to her family's dismay.[31] During this period she canceled a number of shows in the UK and Europe, citing exhaustion or ill health. In October 2007, Winehouse and her husband were arrested in Norway for possession of marijuana. The couple were later released and fined 3850 Norwegian kroner (around £350).[32] Also during this period the singer and her husband were photographed bloodied and bruised in the streets of London after a hotel room fight started when according to the singer she was spotted by her husband doing drugs with a call girl and cutting herself.[33][34]
Winehouse's lifestyle has been a source of concern to her friends and family. Her father has voiced his worry that his daughter and her husband will at some point "reach rock bottom". The singer's parents-in-law have also made their fears heard, urging fans and the industry to boycott her music in an attempt to halt her decline.[35] In a separate interview, her mother-in-law said she was worried that Amy and Blake had become so inseparable that if one were to commit suicide, the other would follow.[36]
The singer has been dropped as the favourite to record the theme tune to the next James Bond movie Bond 22 due to her personal problems. Winehouse was thought to be a shoo-in for the theme, and that there was talk of a cameo appearance[37].
In various interviews, Winehouse has admitted to having problems with eating disorders, self-harm and drugs.[38][39][40] It has been rumoured that she has also been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.[41]
In an interview for her "Told You I Was Trouble" DVD the singer said she stated doing drugs and alcohol during a "self destructive" phase because she was insecure about her looks. This insecurity is the reason for her big hair. She also says in the interview "Life’s short - just do it. I’ve made a lot of mistakes.“I always say I don’t regret things and I don’t say sorry, but I do really. I believe strongly in fate. I believe that everything happens for a reason.
+ More informations:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amy_Winehouse
Music 4 World - Amy Winehouse (Blues/R&B/Soul) - Biography - Amy Jade Winehouse (born 14 September 1983) is a well respected, British soul, jazz, and rhythm and blues singer and songwriter. Her debut album, Fran
