[Introduction to the real Amy]
Category: Character Info

Born Amy Jade Winehouse on September 14th, 1983 in the London neighborhood of Southgate, Amy impacted the music industry unlike any other during the dawn of the 21st century. She disliked the music she heard on the radio; it angered her. Her debut album, Frank, took off when she was just shy of twenty years old, with the help of hip-hop producer, Salaam Remi. It sold millions of copies but limited Amy's popularity in the United Kingdom and parts of Europe. It was a level of fame she was more than okay with handling. It wouldn't be until the album that followed Frank that her life would change forever.

So she began writing her own. Lady Gaga, Adele, Sia, and many other female vocalists credit Amy for their success. When Back To Black was issued to the United States in 2007 a year ahead of its UK release, it reached #1 in dozens of countries around the world. Its top single, "Rehab", was played everywhere. It was like nothing else at the time, it was a fusion of R&B, soul, and jazz that had never been heard. A homage to Motown and 1960s girl groups with a modern touch. It was then the music industry began to seek young female talents similar to Amy.

This reiteration I am writing is set around 2007. Hardcore drugs had not entered her lifestyle yet, and neither did her infamous old flame, Blake Fielder-Civil, who married her and took part in her downfall but used his wife's riches to feed his drug addictions and bringing her down with him by acquainting her with heroin and crack cocaine. The superstar's life put immense pressure on Amy, and her control freak of a husband added more. He cut her off from her friends and family, none of them attended the wedding, just Blake's friends.

In real life, she did pass away on July 23rd, 2011 at the young age of twenty-seven. Contrary to popular belief, she had been sober of crack and heroin for three years. But it was her alcoholism and malnutrition caused by her eating disorders that led to her accidental death from alcohol poisoning. Unfortunately, a reckless soul like Amy could not go without being looked after for a mere two days. She was in the midst of recording her third album, which was never finished and a few of the tracks appeared on the posthumous record, Lioness: Hidden Treasures. 

Amy was not just a music icon, but a fashion icon as well. Her immaculate tattoos, exaggerated winged eyeliner, cat-eye, wild beehive wigs, occasionally androgynous fashion sense, and outspoken attitude would leave their mark. Her music was purely about her personal experiences with life and relationships, told in whole truths, which didn't sit well with some for a singer to hang out their dirty laundry. Talents like Adele did better commercially because they were not honest and real like Amy was.

So far, writing stories about what her life could been had it made a more positive turn is an interesting experience. Sometimes I forget she left the world over a decade ago and would have been forty years old in the year 2023.