Amy Winehouse died 8 years ago today. What does DL think of her?

I liked her a lot, and then I watched the documentary about her, and now I love her. She was indeed misunderstood and if you'll watch the film, you'll see that in many respects she was still just a child, with a lot of real innocence about her. She was just very young and inexperienced, and she let drugs and alcohol take control of her.

I don't blame her parents, because no one expects their child to become so famous, so fast. No one really knows what to do in these circumstances. But I sense that if Amy had gotten more guidance and love from trusted older experienced people, she might have figured it all out.

Watch the documentary "Amy". So good.

Congrats on 8 years of sobriety, Amy!

Her dad is to blame, he kept pushing her and stopped her getting help when he knew she was heavily addicted and in trouble. He did it all for his bank account, how can you watch the documentary and not glean that the parents were very much at fault?

R2 Yeah, I don't know. As the body decays there is a mix of chemistry going on, wot?

That was some top notch dark humour, r2.

I think she was brilliant. Great singer, great albums.

R2 made me LOL and I’m ashamed.

Amy was special, and I have a huge soft spot for her. I loved when she went to Jamaica and made friends with the local kids. I loved her ratty ballet slippers and beehive hairdo.

I hope she’s at peace now.

That documentary on her was pretty harrowing to watch. I was in Italy when I found out about her death... it was all over the news in a bar. Her passing was a big deal.

I wasn't all that familiar with her music, save for the hits. However, "Back to Black" is one of my favorite songs. Mark Ronson produced this, no?

I think she's tremendous.

Pity about the addictions, though. Nobody should be that stupid, helpless or depressed. What a waste.

Loved her voice. I will watch the documentary.

Whatever happened to that drug addled ne'er do well scumbag she was with? Boz or Brick or something?

She did have a great voice.

R12, BLAAAAAKE!

I don’t know what happened to him.

R12 Afaik Blake is still alive and somewhat stable. He had some crash in 2012 where he had to be put in a coma or something. But I think ... last year ? he gave some interview and seemed fairly okay. It's always a bit too easy if you blame one single person for another person's decline, but it can't be denied that he was the beginning of her end. Together with the pressure and the lack of support from her parents, it's was just too bad of a mixture.

And with crash I mean drug/alcohol induced, not a car crash lol

She was a bigger mess than Judy Garland.

I liked a few of her songs. She was OK but her talent was overrated. Sad she was such an addict though

Thanks for reminding us, OP. Just went looking at photos of her, and either they made me smile or wince. She was really something else. She was like a creature from another planet, like David Bowie or Grace Jones.

Despite being born and raised in the UK, she looked like a Jersey girl when she wasn't all made up.

"why wasn't she a gay icon?"

Well, there was that whole debacle and outrage around the lyrics to Stronger Than Me;

"You should be stronger than me, But instead you're longer than frozen turkey, Why'd you always put me in control? All I need is for my man to live up to his role, Always wanna talk it through - I'm ok, Always have to comfort you every day, But that's what I need you to do - are you gay?

One of the best singers ever.

I disagree with R1, though. Her dad deserves a majority of the blame for blatantly refusing to get her help

And let's not forget this part:

"Cause I've forgotten all of young love's joy Feel like a lady, and you my lady boy"

She was talented. It’s a shame she got mixed up with drugs and alcohol. Why couldn’t it have been Taylor Swift? Her music is awful.

R23 The fact that Taylor Swift is as huge and powerful as she is despite making awful music is also the answer why she was never a drug mess. I can't stand Taylor's music and I think she's a bitch, but I totally respect the fact that she has an iron will, a sharp business mind and knows very much what she wants. I think she's a narcissist, but there's a certain strength of character that Amy - unfortunately - didn't have, she was a sensitive artist type and the world crushed her.

She was fantastic. A true original talent. A natural. I can't say enuf about how great she was. And she didn't give af. But she was doomed. On the night she won her biggest award and she was sober she said it wasn't any fun without drugs. Now that's an addict. Too young to feel that way but it was over for her the minute she took her first pill.

R24, in other words, Amy had a soul. Swifty is no doubt a narcissist. My oldest sister is a narc. I can spot em from a mile away.

I think she was easily one of the greatest artists of the current century, and it's a huge shame that her body of work will forever be so relatively small. And every time I think of her, it takes me a second before I go 'Oh, she's no longer here.'

Even towards the end, she had an effortless and unparalleled musicality compared to any of her peers. A soul, indeed, R26.

She was very talented and seemed like such a sweet person, but she must also have been difficult to live with. She was incredibly self-destructive. In the AMY documentary, she ticked a lot of boxes for borderline personality disorder. I don't think anything could have been done to help her, because she didn't want to get better.

Here's the original, slower version of "Tears Dry":

Here are the highlights of her appearance on Never Mind the Buzzcocks in 2006. With retrospect, it's awkward to hear Simon Amstell joke about her drinking herself to death.

A good friend took these photos of Amy right before she really blew up. He said she was a shy sweet girl and a lot of fun. I love her music and miss her.

OK some of you are taking it too far by calling her 1 of the best talents and 1 of the best singers. She was a competent singer but not amazing.

I was on an exercise bike watching CNN. The woman on the bike next to be freaked out. I couldn't believe that, Amy was a train wreck just waiting to OD. It was expected, or at least I thought so.

I heard from a friend, a writer who had interviewed her, right after her death that R3 is indeed correct. Her father was scum.

No, R16, no one will ever top Judy.

She’s someone I don’t know, know, know.

R32 "I heard from a friend, a writer who had interviewed her, right after her death" I bet it was hard to get any answers from her.

What's with all this "my friend took these pictures" and "my friend interviewed so-and-so?" It's like name dropping without the names. Put up or shut up, faker try-hard bitches. If you have something to share, then share it. If you don't Poo, go away.

Well, my friend took some pictures of Amy and I shared them. Seemed relevant to the thread and they are lovely pictures of Amy-shows a softer side to her. It's like I always say, "Go Fuck Yourself".

I saw the documentary, and while it's true her dad loved her fame and pushed her, I don't think he was primarily to blame at all. She was an adult and had to take responsibility for her own choices, as we all do once we reach a certain age.

When people try to blame him, I think they diminish the culpability of people for making their own choices with substance abuse.

I was at a party at my coke dealer's place in LA on the day she died and Rehab came on shuffle and we all laughed uneasily, clinked drinks and did another round of lines.

Such a darling girl. I love you Amy.

R30 she was talented, but damn that was one ugly broad. She herself realized this and was quoted saying something along the lines of "I know I'm ugly. I don't give a shit."

And I can believe that. She was probably one of the VERY few homely women (along with Janis) who truly weren't bothered at all by their own unattractiveness. Compare her to peers Gaga for example, who is probably torn up deep down inside by the fact she wasn't born pretty.

Still not breathing.

r40 aka The Stupidest Person On Earth: Janis was enormously bothered by her lack of traditionally attractive looks. You clearly know absolutely nothing about Janis Joplin. You're that fucking moron who *insists* upon commenting exclusively about every single topic of which you are completely ignorant. Where did you mis-learn this idea that babbling like the digital equivalent of a lunatic on a bus stop bench increased your value as a human being? Here's an idea: quality over quantity. No one, and I mean really NO ONE cares what you think about anything because you're a know-nothing, an arrogant, blithering idiot, you're the sound of a car without a muffler on an otherwise peaceful spring evening.

"Amy" could have been an episode in one of those intervention reality shows. The entire family, especially daddy, was a mess. Given what we know now about addiction that we didn't know in Garland's time, the handlers and users of these artists, whether Whitney or Michael Jackson or Tom Petty or Amy, need to be held to a higher standard of responsibility.

r42 has now attained complete meltdown. We are evacuating the area within a ten-mile radius.

I love Amy. I think she was beautiful, she glowed when she was healthier. She wasn't cookie cutter pretty, she was better.

Looks don’t mean a thing. Marilyn Monroe was known for her sex appeal and beauty, it didn’t save her from being an insecure train wreck.

I watched a documentary that said she was diagnosed as Borderline personality disorder. But she wasn’t compliant with therapy and used alcohol and drugs to deal with her mental health problems.

R47, People with BPD often self medicate with drugs and alcohol. They also have a sad tendency to have a lot of anxiety and insecurity. Her father sounds like a narcissist. Makes sense that his daughter would have BPD.

R48 Oh I know, I treat psych patients and the sad thing about BPD is that there are no meds that are specifically indicated to treat it, like all other personality disorders. The only times that I prescribe meds for BPD patients is for symptoms management only. Only treatment with proven efficacy is DBT which is a form of psychotherapy that's considered gold standard treatment for BPD. I read a lot too about Amy's history of cutting, and it was pretty public too for a while these bloggers were making fun of her wounds, it was so unnecessary and sad. People with BPD though can be a handful to deal with, they can be deceitful, charming, and needy all at the same time. That's why it's so hard to treat. She was a huge talent.

Her dad was is an absolute ghoul how did everything to keep her from getting well when she was alive. He then wanted to do. a hologram tour with her! Gross human.

She may have been a talented singer but it is clear from watching "Amy" that all she really wanted to do was get high. Yes she had enablers but she was going to do it anyway. The only surprise is that she lived as long as she did so she could become a member of the 27 Club.

It's very hard to watch her now.

Back To Black is one of my favourite albums ever, although I can’t listen to it any more after watching the Amy documentary. Poor love. I just want to go back in time and save her from the shower of shite she was surrounded by.

Her producer Mark Ronson never got over it, or he's closeted or something, because he seems deeply depressed himself.

R53, that’s how I feel about The Jackson Five. I can’t hear that fun pop music now and feel anything but sad. Now that I know how it turned out.

Why would we have to bother to think about her? She’s dead. The end.

"Back To Black" was an excellent album though a little overrated. I suspect it would have been a career peak for her even if she'd lived. I doubt she would have produced another commercially successful, critically acclaimed album. She had a unique voice but was not a great singer. She would have flamed out like Lauryn Hill or Norah Jones or Fiona Apple.

I love this version of "Back to Black."

I actually have fond memories of Amy. This really cute guy I was seeing when I lived in Seattle, used to play her music whenever I’d go over to his place after working long shifts at Nordstrom. I miss those days.

I liked her when she died but have grown to love her since. I'm older now and have a better appreciation of music.

R42 is the same person as R38. Coke rage, anyone?

Death from alcohol poisoning seems like a boring end for such an extreme drug addict like her.

LEGEND.

R58, listen to The Rumble Strips remix.

Everything I've seen of her she never presented as a borderline. Or even as someone with a personality disorder. Just a phenomenally talented singer and addict.

She was so talented.

It's easy to blame her father, and he clearly did have some role in her pathologies.

But I feel like the key thing that happened to her, whatever broke her, happened between her first album and her second. Her appearance changed so radically. And that doesn't happen unless you're in deep inner turmoil.

I remember her appearance here. A little chav girl-ish but still, healthy, normal.

That's a pretty radical change in appearance in two-ish years.....even for promotional purposes.

Almost a different person.

"Back to Black" owed a lot to the 60s and I always assumed she was just playing up the look for that purpose.

R68 The hair is one thing but she covered her body in tattoos and lost a lot of weight very quickly.

Outer turmoil suggests inner turmoil.

Obviously mentally ill.

My understanding from reading about Amy is that she refused to accept the diagnosis of BPD so she was never formally diagnosed. I read that she did see mental health specialists who were convinced that's what she had, but we'll never know because she was never treated in a mental health setting. Many of her family and friends were also convinced that's what she had, and her public symptoms fit BPD to a tee. The catastrophizing, blaming loved ones then wanting to love them forever, mood swings, deceitfulness, self-harm through cutting or disordered eating, and substance abuse.

What will the title of her inevitable biopic be? "Back to Black" or "You Know That I'm No Good: The Amy Winehouse Story."

R65 There is no such thing as JUST an addict. When someone is using as she did, there is always an underlying mental illness.

r57, do you really think Amy Winehouse could have held a job at the mall?

She ripped her signature look from Toots DeVille:

R73, I knew an addict who was molested as a child. No mental illness, just trauma.

And then she DIED.

R37 That would be PTSD. A mental illness.

She was easily the greatest talent in pop music to emerge in the oughts, IMO.

Her death was a great loss for music.

R66/R67, I think that was just an effort - maybe on both her and her peoples' parts - to be more memorable/distinctive with the big record deal. Create a persona, etc.

Not that I like it. I like the plain, simple, Amy. But still, not so sure it was because of her addiction and more about an image thing.

I knew she was not long for the world when few months before her death, there were photos of her wearing blood-stained ballerina slippers outside. Likely blood stains from injecting heroin between the toes.

R80 I can see that to a degree. If it had been just the hair and attire, sure.

But even beyond that and the tattoos, her whole body changed. I maintain there was a very substantial change in her appearance and her general aura, and it was negative. It was obvious to me, but I'm an empath, so maybe it's just how I see the world.

r82 is a lunatic.

[quote] I knew an addict who was molested as a child. No mental illness, just trauma.

I disagree that all drug addicts also have some type of mental illness. However, molestation (sexual assault, rape) often causes PTSD, same as for war veterans.

Sometimes, no matter how many awards a child wins, the parent has to step in and, uh, intervene if their behavior is out of control.

I think she’s dead.

I'm still dead bitches!

I honestly think she was one of the greatest vocalists of the last century. Seriously.

I didn’t like her music I found it overrated.

R73 Substance Use Disorder is itself a diagnosable mental illness, and comorbidity isn’t part of the criteria.

[quote] [R73], I knew an addict who was molested as a child. No mental illness, just trauma.

Yes. Trauma is the most common catalyst for addiction.

I think Amy was quite striking and lovely in a very unconventional way.

All this time I thought she was in rehab. I guess, no?

R29 -- I LOVE her appearance on Never Mind the Buzzcocks. Yes, in retrospect, there is sadness there, but she also displayed her razor sharp sense of humor (I loved when that other guest asked her if that hair was really hers and without missing a beat she says "I bought it, so, yeah, it's mine..."). And, then, later in the episode when they're doing that lineup with the elderly men and the other panelists are making fun of them, she rushes to defend one of the older gentlemen. It demonstrated her kind nature.

Massive talent and I will forever treasure her. I'm sorry she became so tormented RIP darlin'.

I never cared for her.

She looked so much better before she lost all that weight. In the video for "In My Bed" (my favourite song from Frank) she's still slim, but she doesn't resemble Darfur Orphan.

She was, by nature, a depressive which lead her to the alchoholism. She became involved with people (Blake Incarcerated) who intorduced her to harder things. Left to her own devices she went back to what she knew but couldn't capture the same sense of escape with booze, so overdid it. She was also anorexic and if you weigh 90 and still drink like you are 150 it's not going to go well. A few pounds make a big difference if you are binge drinking especially on an empty stomach.

R97 It could sound so much better. It is a good song but the mix is too busy and chaotic.

Unkle Karl did an entire Chanel collection inspired by Amy Winehouse.

"Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld looked to London's most notorious girl of the moment - Amy Winehouse - for inspiration to launch his new Paris-London Métiers d'Art collection in London capital on Thursday. "I think she is a very gifted person," Lagerfeld said before the show. "I like the hair-do, I took it as inspiration because in fact it was Bridget Bardot's hair-do from the late 50's and 60's," he said citing both Bardot and Winehouse as inspiration. Backstage, hairdressers furiously backcombed models long hair, re-creating Chanel's interpretation of Amy Winehouse's beehive. Eyes were lined with heavy black eyeliner - complete with a long flick at the edge, and capped off with black lashes. Muted lips and beige foundation completed the look. "It's for me a different sort of swinging sixties and that's why I just mix a bit of Amy Winehouse eyeliner with a little sparkle under the eye," make up artist Peter Phillips told AP. "It's all about black eyeliner and big hair," he said. Fashion darling Agyness Deyn was excited about Lagerfeld's collection. "I'd wear everything in the collection, it's very wearable. Kind of like rock. Rock and roll but chic as well," she said. The collection is a homage to the men who inspired Mademoiselle Chanel: notably Boy Capel and the Duke of Westminster, who introduced her to "English chic." "

I remember the ex-junkie, Natalie Cole, getting pissed off when Winehouse won a Grammy for Album or Record of the Year. Nat felt that NARAS was setting a bad example by giving awards to addicts. Bitchy Cole didn't however volunteer to return any of her Grammys even though she herself had been an addict for years.

In the Amy film Blake said he was a good looking guy but I think he lost it.

R102

He totally lost his good-looks to addiction.

I love her just for this performance. The mortified look on that cunt Charlotte Church's face is priceless and worth the link click.

I saw her perform live twice - once at my University before she really blew up and was just playing small gigs with her first album, and the second time when she had become mega famous and was already spiralling out of control. The first time she was definitely someone to watch, real star quality. Second time - she was a mess.

I agree that her parents failed her - her mum was weak and didn't seem to have a clue how to parent, and her dad exploited her at every opportunity. But a lot of people have shitty parents. She had the money to sort herself out and she didn't. I think it's a shame that she died but she has to take at least some of the responsibility for her actions.

Being in Colorado in my fifties during her rise in the 00’s, I missed the whole Amy Winehouse phenomenon. The alternative rock station I listened to in Colorado didn’t play her songs.

But I just watched the “Amy” doc. Three times. And then watched utube videos of Amy. And thus fell in love with this talented little retro gal.

I’m aghast at how she was even put on stage in 2011. The Belgrade concert shows her utter frustration about having to perform deeply-painful songs which she wrote and sang 5 years prior when she was with her junkie bf. She got toasted, then went on stage, and showed her frustration by throwing the mike and her shoe, all the while seeking solace with her band.

How her producers forced her to go on stage like a dancing monkey is just beyond the pale.

Just catching up here in 2020. But boy, she sure was a contralto-retro-talented gal who was pushed too far. It’s so sad!

[quote] Even towards the end, she had an effortless and unparalleled musicality compared to any of her peers.

Bullshit.

That’s what her father wants you to believe.

But Amy Winehouse had provided years of musical mediocrity.

It's been that long?

I remember reading an article on a music website that said Adele and Amy winehouse wouldn't have able to have made the crossover in reverse. In another words being famous in America and then going to England based on their images. A junkie and a fatty.

I guess you could be super talented, but if you don't fit into the Gaga Perry Grande mold then you're pretty much out of luck.

I can't say I was surprised when she died. Her downfall was so well documented. And, tbh I didn't really care. She was a waste of talent. She obviously didn't want to help herself.

R66 "Whatever broke her happened between the first album and the second ". I agree, and I think the role that trauma that takes place during early adulthood, rather than childhood, can play in severe mental illness is seriously underestimated . It's seldomly discussed compared to childhood or adolescent trauma but adverse experiences during those young adult years when one is forming an identity and understanding of the world can have a profound effect. I suspect Winehouse had a somewhat dysfunctional childhood and underlying chemical vulnerability but it was experiences during those later years that sealed her fate. I've seen some people chalk up her issues to a neglectful father but I don't think it was that simple.

I’m sure she looks better NOW than then

I think she’s tremendous.

My beehive would know.

I thought she was talented. But she was a hopeless drug addict. I don't think she ever would have been able to stay off drugs and booze. She drank herself to death. What drove her to abuse herself so badly? I really don't think she was particularly abused by her parents. She obviously had a lot of self hatred. Why was that? Was it because she was homely (and let's face it, she was)? She seemed hell bent on destroying herself.

Who the fuck drinks themselves to death at age 27? Who does that?

[quote]I remember the ex-junkie, Natalie Cole, getting pissed off when Winehouse won a Grammy for Album or Record of the Year. Nat felt that NARAS was setting a bad example by giving awards to addicts. Bitchy Cole didn't however volunteer to return any of her Grammys even though she herself had been an addict for years.

Well, Cole outlived her by four years, so I guess she got the last laugh.

I thought it was Amy's disapproving, bitch of a mother who screwed her up.

I’m mad at her because she wasted all that talent,

She was so fucked from drugs and alcohol, it’s a blessing that she died when she did. Any more years that she lived would have been pure misery.

This one STILL makes me sad. Such a talent. One thing that gets overlooked in the massive success of Back to Black, her tabloid exploits and her early death is how genuinely funny AND kind she was. I can't find it online anymore, but if you can find the episode of Never Mind The Buzzcocks (British pop culture quiz comedy show with celebrity panelists) in which she appeared as a panelist, you'll see her razor sharp wit and, later in the episode, her very kind nature when she gets protective of an elderly gentleman in a lineup of celebrity lookalikes who gets mocked by the other panelists.

R2 is still one of the best WW replies ever.

r2, Your a fkin piece of shit. I hate people like you. Die in a grease fire bitch.

Sorry, R121, I'm with R120. I LOVED Amy, but, R120 is right, R2 was hilarious.

Amy Winehouse biopic at “script stage” and could be released “in a year or two”: