Singer Amy Winehouse found dead

[EnglishLady]

Not sure if Amy Winehouse made an impact here or not - but for those who do know of her and her very troubled short life, here is the story from the BBC.



Singer Amy Winehouse, 27, has been found dead at her north London home.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman confirmed that a 27-year-old woman had died in Camden and that the cause of death was as yet unexplained.

London Ambulance Service said it had been called to the flat at 1554 BST and sent two vehicles but the woman died.

The troubled singer had a long battle with drink and drugs which overshadowed her recent musical career. She pulled out of a comeback tour last month.

Jeered at gig

Winehouse cancelled the European tour after being jeered at her first gig in Serbia, when she appeared too drunk to perform.

For 90 minutes, she mumbled through parts of songs and at times left the stage - leaving her band to fill in.

She had recently finished a course of alcohol rehabilitation in London and at the time was under strict instructions not to drink.

A section of the road where the singer lived was cordoned off on Saturday evening, as journalists, local residents and fans gathered at the police tapes.

Forensic officers were seen going in and out of the building.

Winehouse had won widespread acclaim with her 2003 debut album, Frank.

But it was 2006's Back to Black which brought her worldwide stardom, winning five Grammy Awards.

Rumours of Winehouse's death began circulating on Twitter on Saturday evening. Among those to comment was singer and actress Kelly Osbourne.

She tweeted: "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!"

Singer and presenter Myleene Klass tweeted: "OMG. Amy Winehouse. Exceptional talent and really nice lady. RIP."

BBC Radio 1 DJ Fearne Cotton wrote: "Can not believe the news. Amy was a special girl. The saddest news."

Daily Telegraph rock critic Neil McCormick said he was "utterly shocked" at her death.

Last appearance

He said she had appeared focused when giving an "incredible performance" for a recent studio recording of a duet with Tony Bennett.

"It's deeply sad. It's the most completely tragic waste of talent that I can remember," he added.

Winehouse made her last public appearance on Wednesday night when she joined her goddaughter Dionne Bromfield on stage at The Roundhouse in Camden.

The singer danced with Bromfield and encouraged the audience to buy her album in the impromptu appearance before leaving the stage.

At the time she pulled out of the tour, her spokesman had said everyone wanted to do everything to "help her return to her best'

 

[Turtle]

Amy Winehouse, Curt Cobain, Jim Morrison, Brian Jones (Rolling Stones), Alan Wilson (Canned Heat), Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and "met the devil at the Crossroads" Robert Johnson, among several others, all dead at 27.

Like the rest of them, Any was an amazing talent, as unique and groundbreaking as any on the list.

 

[greg334]

It is sad but it was only a matter of time.

 

[highway star]

I'm about as creative and talented as a box of rocks. I guess I can expect to live a long life. Not much torment here...

 

[Dakota]

God takes the creative ones early

Posted with my Droid EO Forum App

 

[ts675]

I am not sure how anyone could be surprised at this. I mean come on she was a huge drug addict and alcoholic. It truely was just a matter of time. The only thing I find sad about the whole thing is there are kids that idolized her. What kind of message could have been conveyed?
Posted with my Droid EO Forum App

 

[Turtle]

The only thing I find sad about the whole thing is there are kids that idolized her. What kind of message could have been conveyed?

I would think "don't drink and do drugs" would be one of the messages conveyed.

 

[Freightdawg]

It would have been nice to say that her death shocked me, but I wasn't surprised. It is very sad. So many people tried to help her.

 

[ts675]

I would think "don't drink and do drugs" would be one of the messages conveyed.

Turtle that is the message we as adults make out of it now, after the fact.. What I meant was the message delivered thru the entire fiasco she called a career was something like, drink, do meth, drink some more, do some more drugs, look at me I am famous. I just get aggravated when celebs act and do things like that because like it or not, kids do look up to them.

 

[cheri1122]

Turtle that is the message we as adults make out of it now, after the fact.. What I meant was the message delivered thru the entire fiasco she called a career was something like, drink, do meth, drink some more, do some more drugs, look at me I am famous. I just get aggravated when celebs act and do things like that because like it or not, kids do look up to them.

As the article mentioned, entertainers who appear 'under the influence' while performing get immediate negative feedback for it - not true for the sports 'heroes' who also drink, do drugs, cheat [using steroids, on their wives, or both], and appear to be excused by their fans and their bosses.
How about them 'role models'?
Amy Winehouse was extremely creative, and creativity seems to generate some degree of crazy in many people. Or maybe it's just insecurity?

 

[mcavoy33]

The only thing I find sad about the whole thing is there are kids that idolized her. What kind of message could have been conveyed?

Nothing different that Guns N Roses partying publicly in the late 80's. Or Nirvana's heroin use in the 90's. Her behaviour isn't new or shocking.

 

[mcavoy33]

As the article mentioned, entertainers who appear 'under the influence' while performing get immediate negative feedback for it - not true for the sports 'heroes' who also drink, do drugs, cheat [using steroids, on their wives, or both], and appear to be excused by their fans and their bosses.
How about them 'role models'?

I disagree. I think its about the person's attitude.

Lets take some examples

sports: Tiger Woods, he's taken the most heat, had to go into hiding and his game has suffered because of the media attention. All this for merely having sex, millions of married couples have sex outside their marriage, its hardly illegal.

sports: Roger Clemens, potential facing a very long prison term for lying about steroid use

music: Curt Kobain, heavy drug use involving heroin, very public but no social backlash against him because he was seen as troubled

music: GNR, again no outlash against them because they didn't care, so people just accepted it

music: Amy Winehouse: again she didn't really get hate for her repeated drug mishaps but she got pity because people felt sorry for her addictions.

I don't think sports heroes get off scott free like you claim. But I think any entertainer can largely escape criticism with the right attitude. You look at the entertainers who have gotten a bad rap, aka the Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears, and the reason they take heat is because they tried to sell a miss goody two shoes image. If they want to avoid the negativity, they need to fully embrace the bad boy / girl image like Tanya Tucker did and Madonna.

 

[cheri1122]

The difference is that entertainers [most especially in the music industry] are rarely considered role models. It may be every kid's desire to be onstage, but it's not going to get the same approval from adults as say, a football scholarship.
For every sports figure you cite, there are a hundred who get away with cheating and/or breaking the rules in one way or another, and yet they are still held up to impressionable kids as positive role models.
Whether it's steroids or cocaine, it's still illegal drug use, but one is tolerated [they don't try terribly hard to find or stop it] and that is not the kind of role models kids should have, any more than Amy Winehouse was.

 

[mcavoy33]

The difference is that entertainers [most especially in the music industry] are rarely considered role models.

oh really, lets take a look at what you said earlier

As the article mentioned, entertainers who appear 'under the influence' while performing get immediate negative feedback for it - not true for the sports 'heroes' who also drink, do drugs, cheat [using steroids, on their wives, or both], and appear to be excused by their fans and their bosses.
How about them 'role models'?

From what I read, you were specifically complaining that sports athletes get away with bad behaviour but "entertainers" get IMMEDIATE negative feedback. I gave a bunch of examples of entertainers who don't get negative feedback.