Artist:Amy Winehouse
Song:Rehab
Album:Back to Black
British singer songwriter Amy Winehouse had the potential to be a huge star. But she wasn't able to stay sober and died of alcohol poisoning at age 27. The 2007 single Rehab was her biggest hit. And I guess it tells her story in a nutshell. Keep in mind that a lot of this played out in the British press and that just made things worse. She was born Sept. 14, 1983 in Southgate, London, England. They way she got into music is her grandmother was a singer who once dated jazz saxophonist Ronnie Scott. And her uncles were jazz musicians. Her parents encouraged her interest in music. She attended the Susi Earnshaw Theater School for four years followed by the Sylvia Young Theater School. She dropped out of school at age 16 and in 2000 became the featured vocalist for the National Youth Jazz Orchestra. One of her demos got her a development deal with Simon Fuller. He tried to keep her secret. But eventually Island Records found out about her. Amy had already signed a publishing deal with EMI and was working with producer Salaam Remi. Amy released her 2003 debut album Frank produced by Remi. Amy wrote most of the songs. Amy's voice was compared favorably with Sarah Vaughan. The album did well in England. When I first heard of Amy, I thought she was OK but nothing special. There is a history in the music business of racism. If a white singer sounds black, the record company would push her because a white singer can be sold to a larger audience. That's what I thought was happening with Amy. Of course I didn't know at the time that Amy would blow up worldwide with the 2007 album Back to Black. Amy was sent to New York to record with Sharon Jones' band The Dap-Kings. Mark Ronson produced half the album. Remi produced the other half. Rehab was the first single and it reached #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #7 on the British Singles chart. The album was certified 2XPlatinum. By this time, Amy was drinking heavily. Ronson says she told him about her dad trying to get her to go to rehab and her refusal. That was the song Rehab. I guess the song could be ironic if things improved for Amy. But instead they got worse. She got a mixed reaction at live shows because she wasn't in any condition to perform. Amy's next album was scheduled for a 2011 release but it was not finished. And she continued to have problems performing live. Amy made her final public appearance in support of her goddaughter Dionne Bromfield who was backing up The Wanted at Camden's Roadhouse in London July 20, 2011. She died three days later. There was not only the alcoholism but she was suffering from bulimia too. Her final recording was a duet of Body and Soul with Tony Bennett for his album Duets II. This was released on Amy's 28th birthday in September. There was a documentary released in 2015 and now there's a feature film being released soon. The sad thing is I don't think we have learned anything from the demise of Amy Winehouse. We just go on to the next big thing. I guess everyone is disposable. Here's the video of Rehab by Amy Winehouse.
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