Amy Winehouse

Amy Winehouse was born in London in 1983 and grew up surrounded by jazz records, absorbing the phrasing of singers like Sarah Vaughan and Dinah Washington. She attended stage school, sang with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra, and released her debut album Frank in 2003, which earned critical praise for its sharp songwriting and a voice that seemed to belong to another era.

Her second album, Back to Black, released in 2006, made her an international star. Written from painful personal experience and produced with a vintage soul sound, it became one of the best-selling British albums of its decade. In 2008 she won five Grammy Awards in a single night, a record for a British female artist at the time, confirming her place among the great modern songwriters.

Winehouse struggled publicly with addiction and health problems, and she died in London in 2011 at age 27. Her family later founded the Amy Winehouse Foundation to help young people facing similar difficulties. Her two albums continue to influence a generation of singers who followed her, and her blend of candour, wit, and old-soul musicianship remains instantly recognisable.

Amy Winehouse fused jazz, soul, and unflinching honesty into songs that felt both classic and startlingly new, leaving an outsized mark in a brief career.