Amy's Gift is a vocal treasure. Soul into sound.
Artistic theory holds opening the Soul as an ideal, recalling great voices: Gigli, Piaf, Callas.
Cockney London gives us this tiny, barely educated, heroin addicted mess.
Terrible things have happened.
For Amy, life, itself, doesn't seem to matter.
A nasty criminal scheme in 2003 got her and a number of other girls addicted to heroin.
Relapse in 2007 and withdrawal brought blood-itch and infection.
Eye makeup applied over an active Staphyloccocus aureus infection.
Doing a $1,000,000 Fendi gig February 2008 came within hours of blinding or killing her.
A life mirroring the moment of death.
Brit tabloids treat Amy savagely. Sells papers.
Here's a
doctored photo that ran in two major tabloids.
Amy's right leg shown as deformed with an extra Achilles tendon.
More below.
What has been going on with Amy recalls Fantasy Island.
She had a successful album back in 2003. Frank includes a song "Eff Me Pumps." Subject matter is the lives of unmarried bar girls in London, wasting their lives with dreamy about men who, in fact, are married layabouts. Despite what you might think, this is still quite a hit.
The money from this effort made her quite the target.
Blake Fielder-Civilhad been supplied with an apartment. The aim was to sell drugs and to induce addictions to young girls on London's party scene for a London gang with a history of murder and violence. Date rape drug Ecstasy+Ketamine found general application.
Amy Winehouse fell in head first. She became one of Blake's girlfriends and something of a draw, herself. The physical impact was staggering.
Then she came back. Took her two years. Here's 2006.
And 2007.
As the success of Back to Black attracted criminal attention again.
And come August this Blake had gotten Amy to marry him. Family think this was drug induced, during a stay in Miami. Then in August a poisoning with Ketamine almost killed her. A coma resulted.
Recovery seemed in the works, as Amy went on tour in October and November. But sleep problems set up and she was not able to complete the engagements. At the same time, police settled a very serious bribery charge on Blake Fielder-Civil and tossed him in prison. (Trying to fix a trial.)
We started getting pictures like this.
Amy went to detox. Then she won 5 Grammys. The Times of London had already begged authorities, back on January 23, 2008, to find a way to save her life.
We have no idea where this is going. The February staph infection is cured, both the conjuctivitis and skin ulcers. The simplest musical analogy is to Janis Joplin. Both gals suffer Depression. Both have near-cult followings for their performances.
At present a first-rate combination of on-site security and competent medical care are maintaining life. England's Red Top tabloids continue to publish lies more than truth. Damning Amy as a drug addict sells papers. Also, skinheads picked up on the tabloids' "Wino" nickname for Amy, so its thought by some to be tough to trash the girl.
Amy is maintaining a Fantasy Island, where she and Blake are a normal loving couple. This imaginary relationship goes on and on. Back in reality she knows what happened to her. She has seen photos of an assault this Blake carried out. She must fear him.
Stockholm Syndrome, sure thing.
Tabloids printing the altered photo to say that Amy has a deformed leg is a low point. That was the second-worst published lie about Amy of the week.