Amy Winehouse, Troubled Grammy-Winning Jazz/Soul Singer, Dies at 27

[WARF]

I swear to god I would marry her...
If she gained 20 pounds... gave up crack...
and wasn't married of course.

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[binnie]

Is that actually Coke or is she faking it? Surely no-one can be this stupid?

[naturochem]

Originally posted by binnie
Is that actually Coke or is she faking it? Surely no-one can be this stupid?
You'd be surprised...

I know "people" who thought they were so sly, they'd blast away on-line at the local police station...

[alexpgrimes]

are you sure she's not wiping her nose??

[Diamondjimi]

Life in the crack lane......

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She used to be hot. Aren't drugs great?!:rolleyes:

http://daddys.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/amyweb2.jpg

Today.......FUBAR!

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44371000/jpg/_44371868_amy_getty203x152.jpg

[MERRYKISSMASS2U]

Marijuana: The Anti-Drug

:D

[binnie]

If she isn't an advertisment against drugs, I don't know what is....

[binnie]

If she isn't an advertisment against drugs, I don't know what is....

[ELVIS]

She's not...

[bluemustard]

I don't think thats crack.


She is just a 24 year old girl having fun.

:gulp:

It looks all staged and goes well with the art direction of all her music and videos.
:D



BbbuRRRppppPPP..
:gulp:

[bueno bob]

Well, she's in rehab, according to the label...

I don't know, I don't pay any attention to her, just whatever msn's front page decrees that I should know on a daily basis...

[WARF]

I'd still fuck her!

[binnie]

I think she's another tragedy waiting to happen....

[Panamark]

Crack sucks.. I reckon it makes you look even more fucked up than
heroin. The physical changes in your appearance are horrifying.
Yikes...

[Binky]

Actually I think she will be okay, but at the same time it wouldn't surprise me if she as suddenly found dead.

[bueno bob]

Well, Heath down, two to go...Britney & Amy, anyone?

[binnie]

Originally posted by bueno bob
Britney & Amy, anyone?

Yes please.

[jhale667]

Originally posted by MERRYKISSMASS2U
Marijuana: The Anti-Drug

:D

Yep, that's what she should be smoking, instead a drug named after a part of her ass...

[binnie]

Originally posted by jhale667
instead a drug named after a part of her ass...

Ha Ha!! :D

[MERRYKISSMASS2U]

Originally posted by binnie
Ha Ha!! :D

That one got me too!

jhale is butter on a roll today

[Lqskdiver]

http://www.arenamagazine.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2006/10/winehouse.jpg

We can still close our eyes and imagine...

[Dan]

I Bet She Has A Hair Beaver.:)

[binnie]

I bet it smells like roadkill.....

[PETE'S BROTHER]

cnn reporting she's dead?

[PETE'S BROTHER]

yahoo now also. she def had some talent :(

[Anonymous]

Dude, even Wikipedia. Both Portuguese & English.

What an age. Most people still can't think properly, but the entire world gets to know about a celebrity's death within seconds.

Cheers! :bottle:

[kwame k]

Not like anyone didn't see this coming........it's sad but not a shock.

[Switch84]

Not like anyone didn't see this coming........it's sad but not a shock.


Truedat. Fox News is reporting it now.

[Sensible Shoes]

Bump. Prophets - all of you.

[indeedido]

Dead and gone.

http://omg.yahoo.com/news/amy-winehouses-label-confirms-singers-death/67893


LONDON (Reuters) - British singer Amy Winehouse, whose hit single "Rehab" became the anthem for troubled celebrity culture, has been found dead at her home in north London, Sky News reported on Saturday.

Police said they had found the body of a 27-year-old woman at a home in Camden Square, north London, after being called by ambulance services around 1500 GMT (11 a.m. EDT).

"Inquiries continue into the circumstances of the death at this early stage. It is being treated as unexplained," a police spokesman said. A spokesman for the singer could not immediately confirm she had died.

Police had cordoned off the leafy street outside Winehouse's home in Camden, where around 20 onlookers had already gathered along with media photographers and camera crew.

Winehouse was born on September 14, 1983, to a Jewish family with a history of jazz musicians. She was discovered by soul singer Tyler James at the age of 16 and in 2003 her debut album "Frank" was released, to general acclaim.

Her second album "Back to Black" was released in October 2006 and reached the No. 1 spot.

The album's hit single "Rehab" contained the line: "They tried to make me go to rehab. I said 'no, no, no.'"

[indeedido]

Dead and gone.

http://omg.yahoo.com/news/amy-winehouses-label-confirms-singers-death/67893



LONDON (Reuters) - British singer Amy Winehouse, whose hit single "Rehab" became the anthem for troubled celebrity culture, has been found dead at her home in north London, Sky News reported on Saturday.

Police said they had found the body of a 27-year-old woman at a home in Camden Square, north London, after being called by ambulance services around 1500 GMT (11 a.m. EDT).

"Inquiries continue into the circumstances of the death at this early stage. It is being treated as unexplained," a police spokesman said. A spokesman for the singer could not immediately confirm she had died.

Police had cordoned off the leafy street outside Winehouse's home in Camden, where around 20 onlookers had already gathered along with media photographers and camera crew.

Winehouse was born on September 14, 1983, to a Jewish family with a history of jazz musicians. She was discovered by soul singer Tyler James at the age of 16 and in 2003 her debut album "Frank" was released, to general acclaim.

Her second album "Back to Black" was released in October 2006 and reached the No. 1 spot.

The album's hit single "Rehab" contained the line: "They tried to make me go to rehab. I said 'no, no, no.'"

[ThrillsNSpills]

Bump. Prophets - all of you.

well said and how very sad. rip AW

[Matt White]

Such a waste.......always makes me mad to see someone so young die for such stupid reasons.......

RIP

[FORD]

Another dead at 27? What is it about that age and being a famous musician?

Well, at least she got to sing with a good band at least once..... :(


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoTzgWvMP-8

[binnie]

Very sad.

She had the potential to do something really great.

[Anonymous]

On a brighter side, the drugs will keep her body from rotting for a lot, long time.

If you suffer from necrophilia & have a weird taste in women, you can dig her up & keep her in the closet for the rest of your life. No one will ever know...

Cheers! :bottle:

[Hardrock69]

I am surprised it took this long. She had such a serious drug problem for so long that this does not surprise me in the least. I would have loved to fuck her mouth back in the day, but she was such a loser that I never had any better use for her or her music.

[kwame k]

I am surprised it took this long. She had such a serious drug problem for so long that this does not surprise me in the least. I would have loved to fuck her mouth back in the day, but she was such a loser that I never had any better use for her or her music.

See, I took the opposite view....I thought she'd Keef Richards on us:)

[clarathecarrot]

I thought her music was awfull her voice sounded like shit and she looked like a monster even when people thought she was hot.

A no-hit wonder who got a PR machine rolling her into, "media famous for nothing" I could ever see except, I got no talent I hate you all, watch me die.

She probably had a family and friends..so RIP for that, they are the only people she affected as far as I am concerned.

I love heroin addicts or users, as long as you are a junkie and make something with yourself in spite of it .

When you stumble around and your style is look at me I am so high my music is me high I use the smack to puntuate my style.you seem like a one sided mirror no one can see in on.

I know some goddam dumpster bums who look better and would be better suited to sing next to the stones.

How long do I have to speak ill of the dead and not be a piece of shit myself. To late.

I will say the media killed her and also should be commended for keeping her alive, her agent must be a saint, for a few more years to milk her soul just a little bit more.

Everytime I see your face or hear of you I will wonder WTF and thanks for those angry hate filled eyes staring back at me, and your ability to emulate the worst of today and feed it to me.

RIP .

There will be a special place in hell for me after this post.

[FORD]

Amy appears to be so high in that performance with the Stones, that Keef must have been thinking "goddamn, I ain't seen nothing like that since LA, 1975"


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FodY0phDU0g

[Diamondjimi]

If you suffer from necrophilia & have a weird taste in women, you can dig her up & keep her in the closet for the rest of your life. No one will ever know...

Cheers! :bottle:

Cough....Savicki !

It was sadly just a matter of time. She was a unique talent with a lot of potential...
.
The math is simple..
Excessive drugs and alcohol abuse= DEATH

R.I.P.

[jhale667]

See, I took the opposite view....I thought she'd Keef Richards on us:)

Nah, she seemed bent on self-destruction. She was on a mission. Reminds me of someone I knew who recently took their own life RATHER than y'know... quit drugs, straighten up and be a semi-normal human. Absolutely refused.

[Nitro Express]

Grace Slick gives the best explanation of what drugs are in this interview. They are hardball entertainment and like jumping a motorcycle over a bunch of barrels, they can kill you.

[clarathecarrot]

Fur is murder, she is the next Janis Joplin, save the dead dogs, don't eat red meat, witchcraft and vampires are real, save the great big flesh eating whale monsters, dogs are not natural fighting blood thirsty beasts, the west is the best.

Anyone ..?

If I would have listened to half the shit people said was the way it is and that it is of great importance I guess I would be saddened by this great loss.

[sadaist]

Nah, she seemed bent on self-destruction. She was on a mission. Reminds me of someone I knew who recently took their own life RATHER than y'know... quit drugs, straighten up and be a semi-normal human. Absolutely refused.

I think a lot (all?) of the blame goes to the drugs. They are extremely powerful demons. You need a ton of self discipline & willpower to stop. The problem with that is that if you have those traits, you probably wouldn't have gotten hooked in the first place. Drugs prey on the weak. It's very sad. There's only so much a family member or friend can do. Although I'm sure those close to her will be blaming themselves....but they shouldn't.

Amy was an utter mess. I didn't care for her or her music, and I will admit to watching her painfully awful recent performance. And as much as I am not surprised this happened....I'm still always a little taken back when I see a report of a celebrities death.

Sad. Such a waste. Rest in peace.

[Nitro Express]

Fur is murder, she is the next Janis Joplin, save the dead dogs, don't eat red meat, witchcraft and vampires are real, save the great big flesh eating whale monsters, dogs are not natural fighting blood thirsty beasts, the west is the best.

Anyone ..?

If I would have listened to half the shit people said was the way it is and that it is of great importance I guess I would be saddened by this great loss.

Isn't that the truth. Everyone is telling and selling us on what to think and how to react. The politicians, the priests, and the peddlers. It's the same old game but now with modern media the bullshit seems to have infected everything.

[kwame k]

Nah, she seemed bent on self-destruction. She was on a mission. Reminds me of someone I knew who recently took their own life RATHER than y'know... quit drugs, straighten up and be a semi-normal human. Absolutely refused.

Yeah....lost our old singer to heroin this year.....died in his parents house, after living on the streets, slumped over with a needle in his arm. This dude was blessed with a multiple octaves range, great life but got hooked on 'scripts!

[clarathecarrot]

Isn't that the truth. Everyone is telling and selling us on what to think and how to react. The politicians, the priests, and the peddlers. It's the same old game but now with modern media the bullshit seems to have infected everything.

I believe they have slots of interest what gets money on the table and jennifer aniston fills the she can't act doesn't look half bad demographic of a certain earning potiential from those who look at that as interesting.

Just like Whinehouse who filled the watch me die demographic and even if she didn't want to they were not going to let that slot sit vacant till they found another filler monkey ..I wonder who it will be..?

Like Jeraldo RiveraTool, talking the other night about the release of that woman who was aquitted last week for some accidental murder (I don't know the whole story) and he was all talking like what will she, ( blatantly what will WE! do) do now..? all the news stations filling dead space till the next white woman who had so much potentioal kills her so much potential baby slot needs a filler..

[PETE'S BROTHER]

Yeah....lost our old singer to heroin this year.....died in his parents house, after living on the streets, slumped over with a needle in his arm. This dude was blessed with a multiple octaves range, great life but got hooked on 'scripts!

sorry to hear that, dude.

[Nitro Express]

Yeah....lost our old singer to heroin this year.....died in his parents house, after living on the streets, slumped over with a needle in his arm. This dude was blessed with a multiple octaves range, great life but got hooked on 'scripts!

I had one friend growing up who was very smart but he got into the hardcore drug thing. The last time I saw him he was a spitting image of Kurt Cobain . He was stinky, dirty, and strung out. What was shocking was in Boy Scouts he was the kid that no dirt would stick to. He was also the kid who would spend his summers in high school taking university level engineering classes. This guy loved music, electronics, computers, and cool projects. Drugs turned him into a bum.

A year ago I ran into him at a friend's funeral and he had cleaned up and was working for a very well known high tech company in top management. He had married and had a nice family. Drugs almost stole all of that from him. It makes you wonder how much potential those chemicals destroy.

[clarathecarrot]

I am not coming down on all the world here or drugs or people who make a living in the entertainment business.

Along with my own demons I smoke 3 packs a day for the last 35 years and could give a fuck I put all my give a fuck in that anything else is a piece of cake to me I see addiction as that only, all other drugs, depression, pain are all fleeting moments none have meaning only the smokes.

I am sorry for people who pick a addiction that can kill with one dose cigs are food to me.

I have been where others are and I would allways sober up enough to afford some smokes.

Light up and feel the enjoy.

[clarathecarrot]

There is one woman out there who is a, "media darling with nothing to offer" and I would be upset if she went down this road.

Paris Hilton..how do you live thru that, a billionair, a hieress, how do you better that, how do you best daddy, how do you mark your place in this world with that accomplishment over your head. How do I survive with that hanging on my shoulders,. ?

I am sure the people that say she has it all never bother to look at what she doesn't have.

How do I live and try to find my place when where I come from is the greatest places or set of, one of the financial philanthropic situatiions the world has ever know ?

She doesn't go around puposefully pointing fingers at the world, we all do at times; see thome fuck thread , but to spend the greatest of your energy oozing hate and pity me bullshit hasn't been her moniker for the durration of her life, as with Whinehouse and many other so called PEOPLE WITH POTENTIAL.

She is as silly/ perhaps as pissed at times, as the rest of us, but I believe she has embraced her position and not used it as a tool to blame others for her position that she is with.

No one has it easy embracing the hardest parts of yourself without the ability to adjust leads no-where.

[ashstralia]

a wasted life in pictures.



http://i1234.photobucket.com/albums/ff418/davej253/600full-amy-winehouse.jpg

[SunisinuS]

RIP Amy.

[VanHalener]

Her drug dealer just took a significant pay cut. Wonder how he feels about that?

[Diamondjimi]

Life in the crack lane.....

She used to be hot. Aren't drugs great?!:rolleyes:

http://daddys.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/amyweb2.jpg

Today.......FUBAR!

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44371000/jpg/_44371868_amy_getty203x152.jpg

.......... Unfortunately you can't help those who don't want help.

[Diamondjimi]

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[VAiN]

I had one friend growing up who was very smart but he got into the hardcore drug thing. The last time I saw him he was a spitting image of Kurt Cobain . He was stinky, dirty, and strung out. What was shocking was in Boy Scouts he was the kid that no dirt would stick to. He was also the kid who would spend his summers in high school taking university level engineering classes. This guy loved music, electronics, computers, and cool projects. Drugs turned him into a bum.

A year ago I ran into him at a friend's funeral and he had cleaned up and was working for a very well known high tech company in top management.

That's interesting, in my experience I've found that people with abuse problems are typically intelligent, creative people... I wonder if being too smart and understanding things can be a curse as well as a blessing...

[indeedido]

Yeah, I think they get board easily and can't relate all the way. Drugs bring them back around.

[Nickdfresh]

I know you were good...

R.I.P. Ms. Winehouse....

[Nitro Express]

That's interesting, in my experience I've found that people with abuse problems are typically intelligent, creative people... I wonder if being too smart and understanding things can be a curse as well as a blessing...

That's been my experience as well. One of my teachers in high school who was an excellent teacher became an addict and lost his teacher's pension when he got busted for dealing to support his habit. Another friend of mine got on drugs while he was attending Stanford University and paid the price. The biggest users I've known have been talented, educated people. Maybe these people get on the drugs to keep up the pace?

I know naturally smart people tend to get bored easy. Maybe the drugs help with the boredom.

[Nitro Express]

It's pretty interesting to see how people who have been around the music and entertainment industry view drugs. It seems like the great musicians and entertainers clean up the drug nonsense because it gets in the way of the music.

[ashstralia]

'yond cassius has a lean and hungry look. he thinks too much, such men are dangerous.'

billy shakespeare

[Satan]

So Amy walks in to my office this morning, clearly doesn't have a clue where she is....

"Who the bloody Hell are you?" she asks.

I'm Satan. Welcome to Hell, Amy.

"Hell is it? Fuck, I've been living there for years now".

No, this time it's the real deal. Did you not notice the horns?

"Right.... I see horns on people every fuckin day before my first fix. Now piss off, I'm going back to bed".

We'll see how long it takes her to figure out that she's er... "relocated" http://www.cosgan.de/images/smilie/teufel/d025.gif

[fifth element]

RIP, Amy....

[ODShowtime]

Keef outlasts another junkie

[Seshmeister]

Another dead at 27? What is it about that age and being a famous musician?



That was the first thing I thought when I heard the news too.


The 27 club - Jimmy Hendrix, Brian Jones, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain, Robert Johnson and now Amy Whitehouse.

[lesfunk]

I'll wager the heavy use of Drugs and Liquor had much more to to do with it than the age.

[High Life Man]

Dee Snider's tweet (twat?) about it. Have to agree:

Amy Winehouse died. That's a lifestyle choice. The 87 who were murdered in Oslo Norway. That's effing tragic.

[Nitro Express]

Keef outlasts another junkie

Keef could be the messiah and we are just too stupid to realize it. :biggrin:

[Satan]

Keef could be the messiah and we are just too stupid to realize it. :biggrin:

As the owner of Keith's soul since June 6, 1962, I can promise you that is not the case. http://www.cosgan.de/images/smilie/teufel/d010.gif

[Diamondjimi]

Yo Satan, as punishment for Amy. Force her to eat milk and cookies and listen to Van Hagar & Chickenfoot around the clock...:biggrin:

[Satan]

Not a bad idea. Especially since the chocolate chip cookies in Hell are made with a very "special" kind of chocolate.......

http://kozmicdreams.com/images/Home%20and%20Collections/ephemera/health%20and%20beauty/ex%20lax%20top.jpg

[Nitro Express]

Hell needs a new shipment. That Ex Lax is old. Six tablets for 10 cents. I wish we had Hell like prices here on the top side.

[Terry]

Dunno if I feel much of anything at all for her...

Not terribly moved by any of her music, and in this day and age there's plenty of information available to people about the dangers of drug use, so I'm not too sure how "tragic" or how much of a "waste" or how "sad" or how much of a "shame" it is that she died...

How sad am I supposed to feel for someone who couldn't be bothered to take care of themselves? I don't really buy into the disease analogy of drug abuse; if it's killing you, then simple survival instincts dictate that you stop.

If you don't, you're just retarded.

[Satan]

Hell needs a new shipment. That Ex Lax is old. Six tablets for 10 cents. I wish we had Hell like prices here on the top side.

When I buy, I buy in huge volume. We don't get trucks down here very often, ya know.

[Little Texan]

When I buy, I buy in huge volume. We don't get trucks down here very often, ya know.

Besides, it's Hell. Stuff isn't supposed to be fresh down there.

[PETE'S BROTHER]

I don't really buy into the disease analogy of drug abuse; if it's killing you, then simple survival instincts dictate that you stop.

If you don't, you're just retarded.

gospel

[Seshmeister]

http://www.worldofkronos.com/pics/amy-winehouse-med2.jpg

[lesfunk]

I never paid much attention to Amy Winehouse. Now she's dead and I went looking through some of her videos on youtube... I think I may have been missing out on something.


lovely is it not?

[Seshmeister]

She was the real deal.

I only heard her a couple of years ago, I had avoided it assuming it was the usual hyped crap.

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[rocking ron]

Another dead at 27? What is it about that age and being a famous musician?

Well, at least she got to sing with a good band at least once..... :(


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoTzgWvMP-8

'They' call it the '27 Club' with artists like J. Hendryx, Jim Morrison, Brian J. from the Rolling Stones and Marianne Faithfull I believe but what a waste of life this is, very sad!!

[tojoro]

The worst decision in her life had to be hooking up with Pete Doherty, (ex-Libertines, Babyshambles). The guy has pipe burns on his lips...how could anyone in their right mind think, 'Yeah, I could fall for this guy...' I don't believe she was a junkie prior to crossing paths with him.

[FORD]

We need to review the way society treats addicts – not as criminals but as sick people in need of care

Russell Brand
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 24 July 2011 23.14 BST

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2011/7/24/1311545652036/Russell-Brand-and-Amy-Win-007.jpg

Russell Brand: 'Addiction is a serious disease; it will end with jail, mental institutions or death.' Photograph: Dave Hogan/Getty Images


When you love someone who suffers from the disease of addiction you await the phone call. There will be a phone call. The sincere hope is that the call will be from the addict themselves, telling you they've had enough, that they're ready to stop, ready to try something new. Of course though, you fear the other call, the sad nocturnal chime from a friend or relative telling you it's too late, she's gone.

Frustratingly it's not a call you can ever make it must be received. It is impossible to intervene.

I've known Amy Winehouse for years. When I first met her around Camden she was just some twit in a pink satin jacket shuffling round bars with mutual friends, most of whom were in cool indie bands or peripheral Camden figures Withnail-ing their way through life on impotent charisma.

Carl Barât told me that Winehouse (which I usually called her and got a kick out of cos it's kind of funny to call a girl by her surname) was a jazz singer, which struck me as a bizarrely anomalous in that crowd. To me with my limited musical knowledge this information placed Amy beyond an invisible boundary of relevance: "Jazz singer? She must be some kind of eccentric," I thought. I chatted to her anyway though, she was after all, a girl, and she was sweet and peculiar but most of all vulnerable.

I was myself at that time barely out of rehab and was thirstily seeking less complicated women so I barely reflected on the now glaringly obvious fact that Winehouse and I shared an affliction, the disease of addiction. All addicts, regardless of the substance or their social status share a consistent and obvious symptom; they're not quite present when you talk to them. They communicate to you through a barely discernible but unignorable veil. Whether a homeless smack head troubling you for 50p for a cup of tea or a coked-up, pinstriped exec foaming off about his speedboat, there is a toxic aura that prevents connection. They have about them the air of elsewhere, that they're looking through you to somewhere else they'd rather be. And of course they are. The priority of any addict is to anaesthetise the pain of living to ease the passage of the day with some purchased relief.

From time to time I'd bump into Amy she had good banter so we could chat a bit and have a laugh, she was a character but that world was riddled with half-cut, doped-up chancers, I was one of them, even in early recovery I was kept afloat only by clinging to the bodies of strangers so Winehouse, but for her gentle quirks didn't especially register.

Then she became massively famous and I was pleased to see her acknowledged but mostly baffled because I'd not experienced her work. This not being the 1950s, I wondered how a jazz singer had achieved such cultural prominence. I wasn't curious enough to do anything so extreme as listen to her music or go to one of her gigs, I was becoming famous myself at the time and that was an all consuming experience. It was only by chance that I attended a Paul Weller gig at the Roundhouse that I ever saw her live.

I arrived late and as I made my way to the audience through the plastic smiles and plastic cups I heard the rolling, wondrous resonance of a female vocal. Entering the space I saw Amy on stage with Weller and his band; and then the awe. The awe that envelops when witnessing a genius. From her oddly dainty presence that voice, a voice that seemed not to come from her but from somewhere beyond even Billie and Ella, from the font of all greatness. A voice that was filled with such power and pain that it was at once entirely human yet laced with the divine. My ears, my mouth, my heart and mind all instantly opened. Winehouse. Winehouse? Winehouse! That twerp, all eyeliner and lager dithering up Chalk Farm Road under a back-combed barnet, the lips that I'd only seen clenching a fishwife fag and dribbling curses now a portal for this holy sound.

So now I knew. She wasn't just some hapless wannabe, yet another pissed-up nit who was never gonna make it, nor was she even a ten-a-penny-chanteuse enjoying her fifteen minutes. She was a fucking genius.

Shallow fool that I am, I now regarded her in a different light, the light that blazed down from heaven when she sang. That lit her up now and a new phase in our friendship began. She came on a few of my TV and radio shows, I still saw her about but now attended to her with a little more interest. Publicly though, Amy increasingly became defined by her addiction. Our media though is more interested in tragedy than talent, so the ink began to defect from praising her gift to chronicling her downfall. The destructive personal relationships, the blood-soaked ballet slippers, the aborted shows, that YouTube madness with the baby mice. In the public perception this ephemeral tittle-tattle replaced her timeless talent. This and her manner in our occasional meetings brought home to me the severity of her condition.

Addiction is a serious disease; it will end with jail, mental institutions or death. I was 27 years old when through the friendship and help of Chip Somers of the treatment centre Focus 12 I found recovery. Through Focus I was introduced to support fellowships for alcoholics and drug addicts that are very easy to find and open to anybody with a desire to stop drinking and without which I would not be alive.

Now Amy Winehouse is dead, like many others whose unnecessary deaths have been retrospectively romanticised, at 27 years old. Whether this tragedy was preventable or not is now irrelevant. It is not preventable today. We have lost a beautiful and talented woman to this disease. Not all addicts have Amy's incredible talent. Or Kurt's or Jimi's or Janis's. Some people just get the affliction. All we can do is adapt the way we view this condition, not as a crime or a romantic affectation but as a disease that will kill.

We need to review the way society treats addicts, not as criminals but as sick people in need of care. We need to look at the way our government funds rehabilitation. It is cheaper to rehabilitate an addict than to send them to prison, so criminalisation doesn't even make economic sense. Not all of us know someone with the incredible talent that Amy had but we all know drunks and junkies and they all need help and the help is out there. All they have to do is pick up the phone and make the call. Or not. Either way, there will be a phone call.


I'm not really a fan of either Brand or Winehouse, but I can't disagree with his assessment of the situation. I have said for years that addiction must be treated as a health issue and not a crime.

[sadaist]

I have said for years that addiction must be treated as a health issue and not a crime


Totally. When an addict is put in jail, do they do anything to assist them in their immediate withdrawal symptoms? Withdrawal is bad enough in the comfort of your own home with everything you need to help you through it. I can't imagine the horror of going through it in a jail cell.