Amy Winehouse was sober for about two to three weeks before her death and regularly took medication to combat the side effects of alcohol withdrawal and anxiety. Her doctor Christina Romete visited her on the evening of July 23, 2011. The singer was slightly drunk, but her condition appeared to be good. She told Dr. Romete also said that she was afraid of not being able to beat her addiction.
“But she still told me that she didn’t want to die.”said the doctor. “She was excited about her future.” A short time later, Amy Jade Winehouse was dead.
According to the police report, none were found in her home “suspicious things” discovered. The judicial authority then simply ordered an investigation into the cause of death. Amy Winehouse was mourned for weeks and her cause of death was puzzled. Had she been clean, on the mend? And then why did she die so suddenly? In October 2011, the London Coroner’s Office announced the results of the autopsy. The singer died of alcohol poisoning with a blood alcohol level of 4.16 per mille. No illegal substances were found. A tragic accident, said coroner Suzanne Greenway. One “unintended consequence of your alcohol consumption”.
Amy Winehouse and the media
Following Amy Winehouse’s death, Joachim Hentschel wrote a comment on the superstar’s relationship with the media:
“Even the pensioners on the subway and the people in the flower shop talk about it. The mother says she wasn’t surprised, but the boyfriend was, because Amy had already put out her clothes to go to a wedding with him on Sunday. And in front of her apartment in London, people not only leave flowers and pictures, but also bouquets of cigarettes and bottles of vodka. Absolutely tasteless when the woman was probably drinking and smoking herself to death, people say.
It has often been said in recent days that their music would never have been the same, never as good, without their private addictions and dark spots. Also that the pressure of public scrutiny weighed on her and probably provoked some failures in the first place. Nevertheless, the media – the online services, magazines, TV magazines, subway news screen suppliers – are involved in the death of Amy Winehouse in a way that has been unprecedented in the time since the death of James Dean. And before anyone asks: Yes, we took part too. This article is still part of the system, which certainly did not cause Amy Winehouse’s death. However, this death sheds an extremely painful light on it.”
More and more stories from the abyss
The double standards of editors and readers who, on the one hand, shook their heads at Amy’s gutters, but on the other hand also drew fun, excitement and sales figures from them, was already condemned in November 2007 by the German edition of “Vanity Fair”. Small problem: It was part of an Amy cover story, under the headline “Dying for Fame? Stars in the drug trap – why Amy Winehouse, Britney Spears, Pete Doherty & Lindsay Lohan are gambling with their lives”. The magic of the ugly, the damaged, the Dionysian broken – in the case of Amy Winehouse it seemed to grow to such an immeasurable extent that many could no longer distinguish it from the splendor of the beautiful and desirable. And wanted more and more of it.
The signs
ROLLING STONE editor Arne Wilander also summarized Amy Winehouse’s life after her death:
“It was the chronicle of an announced death – and yet the news of Amy Winehouse’s death seems like a macabre invention of the tabloid press, which in the four years before her death always provided a place for photos of the young woman’s excesses, crashes and embarrassments held. At the beginning of the week before July 23, 2011, Sat.1 quoted father Mitchell as saying that his daughter now had to be given a lot of time to recover – and a doctor with the drastic prognosis that she would only live a few months under the current conditions. “
At the end of June 2011, Amy Winehouse staggered and slurred at the start of a tour in Serbia, fell and was finally taken off the stage by gracious musicians – to boos from the audience. The tour was canceled. On the afternoon of July 23, 2o11, just before 4 p.m. local time, an ambulance was called to her home in London.
The path to superstardom
This extraordinary singer’s career, as amazing as it was, took place in the shadow of her self-destruction. Even more than with Janis Joplin or Billie Holiday, her sufferings were interwoven with the magnificent songs, most of which she wrote herself. The intelligent girl, born on September 14, 1983, rebelled at the theater and music school for the gifted.
At 16 she played in a jazz orchestra, performed in late night clubs and played, WAS the wicked one; Mother and father – she a pharmacist, he a fallen jazz musician and a practicing taxi driver – recognized her talent and watched helplessly as Amy went her way. Her passion for soul, jazz and girl groups of the 60s was just as manic as her attraction to wild men, alcohol and drugs. The first attempt by a record company to position the 18-year-old Amy Winehouse with songs in the sound of the time failed, mainly due to the rebelliousness of the artist herself.
The breakthrough
The respectable debut “Frank” was released in 2003, a decent success that only hinted at Amy’s talent. Under the wing of producer Mark Ronson, she developed an astonishing retro style, which she reflected with her beehive hairstyle and dark, pathetic make-up. The Dap-Kings, a brass ensemble that is also dedicated to rhythm & blues and soul of the 60s, took part in the second album “Back To Black”. Winehouse wrote almost all of the songs alone, and her guitar playing is even listed in the booklet. The record was released at the end of October 2006 and gradually became a bestseller and a sensation – after six months it reached the top position of the US charts, and in Germany it only reached number one in January 2008. In New York, hysterical girls copied Amy’s outfits and all the concerts were sold out.
What remains of Amy Winehouse?
In the few songs of her life, Amy Winehouse fearlessly sang about disaster: “You Know I’m No Good,” “Love Is A Losing Game,” “Wake Up Alone,” “Some Unholy War.” There was no help on earth for this obsessive, manic-depressive, defenseless woman. She now died at the age of 27, the magic black number of pop music: Hendrix, Joplin, Morrison and Cobain died just as young.
There remains this voice that sounds so profound and experienced, so cynical and challenging, lustful and ancient. It is the voice with which Aretha Franklin sang “Respect”, a voice from the swamps and caves that laments disadvantage, hurt feelings, unrequited love, the weight of the world – and one’s own stupidity. Amy Winehouse had the most powerful voice of her generation – but she wasn’t even part of that generation. Decades from now, people will only talk about the legendary singer who got justice like no other and to whom it meant nothing. Which leaves behind a masterpiece and a half and remains a mystery. “What’s inside will never die,” sang Amy Winehouse. “I go back to black.”