I’m only just getting over Amy’s death on the 10th anniversary

Jewish Telegraph, July 23, 2021

THE death of Amy Winehouse 10 years ago today affected me differently from most celebrity deaths.
For example, when Tom Petty, David Bowie, Freddie Mercury, Lemmy, Neil Peart etc died, I spent the next week listening incessantly to their music.
But when Amy died at the age of 27, I found it difficult to listen to either of her albums for a long time.
In fact, it’s only in the last year that I’ve been able to listen to Back to Black all the way through since before she died.
As sad as the deaths of the other musicians were, they at least had pretty full lives and left large bodies of work.
But Amy was just at the start of her career and the thought of what could have been is what affected me the most.
Of course, around the release of her second album, Back to Black, it seemed like Amy was in competition with Pete Doherty, of The Libertines, to see who could self-destruct first.
But she appeared to have got her life back on track — until the news broke on July 23, 2011 of her death from alcohol poisoning.
Her debut album, Frank, had a jazz tinge, but was full of such promise.
She totally recreated herself for the follow-up, complete with tattoos, the beehive hair and, unfortunately, addiction problems.
Back to Black, with lead single Rehab, was an instant classic and fans were excited to see where she would take the sound next.
I suppose the same could be said about Kurt Cobain — who died also at the age of 27 — but his death, in a tragic way, fitted with his image. Like Amy, he had a self-destruct button that was easily triggered.
Kiss founder Gene Simmons laid into the pair in 2013 when he said they weren’t icons.
“Kurt Cobain — no, that’s one or two records. That’s not enough. Amy Winehouse — that’s one or two records. That’s not enough,” he said. “What, just ’cause you died, that makes you an icon? No, no.”
Five years later, Israel-born Simmons published a book with his son, Nick, called 27: The Legend And Mythology Of The 27 Club (Powerhouse Books), where he wrote that his anger around Amy’s death was aimed at the “system of enablers around someone like Winehouse, especially toward her ex-husband (Blake Fielder Civil), who participated in the ‘drug trend’ . . . it undermined the real friends that tried to help her”.
Amy’s father Mitch has come in for a lot of stick since her death, but he and Amy’s mum Janis did their best to try to steer her onto the right path and they’ve kept her name alive in a positive way with projects like the Amy Winehouse Foundation.
The foundation’s main goal is to inspire children and young people to build their self-esteem and resilience so they can flourish.
Her family also set up Amy’s Camden home as a shelter that can accommodate up to 16 women to maintain their recovery after being in a rehabilitation facility.
I was on my way to Devon for a holiday when Amy’s death was reported. I wrote a piece for that week’s Jewish Telegraph, reminiscing about my interview with her in October, 2003.
A further interview had been set up around the release of her second album, but it was cancelled a number of times, with various excuses given. But the cancellation was down to her addiction problems.
I never did get to speak to her again, but I will always remember her as the sweet 20-year-old about to take the world by storm.
Documentary Reclaiming Amy will be broadcast tonight on BBC Two (9.30pm) and available on iPlayer — made by Leodensian Dov Freedman, as reported in the JT last week.
The story is told through the eyes of Janis, who said: “I don’t feel the world knew the true Amy, the one that I brought up, and I’m looking forward to the opportunity to offer an understanding of her roots and a deeper insight into the real Amy.”
Mitch, this week, said he wants his daughter to be remembered for her successes and not just her addictions.
He told The Sun that he tries to make people remember her for “her talent, her generosity and the love she showed us all”.
Mitch added that her music “still makes a lot of money”, but “I would give back every penny just to have my daughter back”.