With the death of Amy Winehouse, on July 23, 2011, British music lost one of the most singular voices in its history and continues tirelessly after her successor. Before the dizzying downward spiral that culminated in her premature farewell, the singer channeled her love for soul and jazz into an eclectic pop style that brought her fame. Although the world adored songs like Rehab, that big hit also hinted at her very real problems with alcohol and drugs.
Although millions of fans mourned her sudden loss, few –especially those who knew her best– were surprised. After all, the story of how Amy Winehouse died had already been tragically foreshadowed by the way she lived. The singer was a rebel even as a child, always determined to do things her own way. In the documentary Amy, her mother, Janis, acknowledged that after her divorce, her daughter began getting tattoos, smoking marijuana and skipping school.
The only future Amy Winehouse saw for herself was in music. Her talent led her to sign a contract with Island Records, and Frank, her first album, was released in 2003. It was an immediate success, whose lyrics already hinted at her personal demons. Perhaps her iconic track Rehab raised a few alarms in 2006, but the warning signs soon became more evident. As her fame grew, so did her dependence on alcohol and drugs.
While she and her husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, appeared constantly on magazine covers, her self-destructive trajectory was in full swing. Although, according to the British press, she had quit drugs in 2008, alcohol abuse remained a constant problem for her. In the end, she went to rehabilitation—on multiple occasions—but it never seemed to take. By 2009, Amy and Blake had divorced after their turbulent relationship directly inspired the artist’s acclaimed album, Back to Black.
Amy Winehouse: The Story of a Tragedy
The young star, who once shone brightly, seemed to be fading. She canceled one concert after another, including a highly anticipated performance at Coachella. In 2011, she was barely working. And when she did take the stage, she could hardly perform without slurring her words or stumbling. Barely a month before her death, she had begun what was supposed to be her comeback tour with a performance in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. But that show held on June 18 turned out to be a total disaster.
Amy Winehouse, durante su fatídico concierto en Belgrado.
Clearly drunk, Amy Winehouse could not remember the lyrics to her songs. She didn’t even know which city she was in. Within minutes, an audience of 20,000 angry people jeered her mercilessly and the artist was forced to leave the stage. No one knew then, but that would be the last concert she would ever give. Following the disaster, her representatives immediately decided to cancel the rest of the European tour, which included a scheduled performance in Spain.
Meanwhile, Amy Winehouse’s doctor, Christina Romete, had been trying for months to get her to undergo psychological therapy. But, according to her, she opposed any kind of therapy, so she focused on her physical health and prescribed Librium to treat alcohol withdrawal and anxiety. No functioned. Pese a que la cantante intentaba mantenerse alejada de la bebida durante algunas semanas y tomaba su medicación, Romete afirmó que seguía recayendo porque «estaba aburrida» y «no estaba dispuesta a seguir los consejos de los médicos».
The Last Hours of Amy Winehouse
The British singer called Romete for the last time on July 22, 2011, the night before her death. The doctor later stated that Amy Winehouse appeared on that phone call “calm and somewhat guilty,” and that she literally told her that “she didn’t want to die.” At that moment the artist confessed to her that she had tried to stay sober since the beginning of July, but had relapsed just a few days earlier.
After apologizing for wasting Romete’s time, Winehouse uttered what would be one of her last goodbyes. That night, the singer and her bodyguard, Andrew Morris, stayed awake until 2 in the morning, watching YouTube videos of her early performances. Morris recalled how his ward was laughing and in good spirits during her last hours. At 10 a.m. the next day, he tried to wake her. When he could not, he decided to let her rest.
It was around 3 p.m. on July 23, 2011 when Morris realized that something was not right. “She was in the same position as in the morning. I took her pulse, but there was none.” Amy Winehouse had died from alcohol poisoning. In her bedroom were found empty vodka bottles, and the coroner noted a blood alcohol concentration of 0.416, more than five times the legal limit for driving in England. After her long fight against substance abuse, she joined the tragic Club of 27, alongside Janis Joplin or Kurt Cobain.
