SEXIEST PERSONS ALIVE

Saturday, July 23, 2011

dead at 27


Amy Jade Winehouse
(14 September 1983 — 23 July 2011)
I am stunned but not surprised. Sad to the point of tears. I loved this young singer's voice. So bluesy and raw. This decade's Janice.

I remember so clearly the first time I heard Amy's music. A driveway moment. Saturday night. Sitting in the living room of friends. Vodka and cranberry in my hand. A vintage orange and pink tumbler.

Who is this? I loved what I heard. The newly acquired Back to Black, Amy's album destined to win six Grammies. I asked to replay the album later in the evening. I was so excited to hear someone new, someone who sounded this good. I never stopped loving her sound.

And then the drugs. Those reapers of so many young and troubled musicians. A tabloid photo showing her arms so thin, her skin so sallow. References to meth addiction. It occurred to me, She could die, too. I anxiously followed her up and down progress.

And now today.

Rest in peace, Miss Winehouse. You sure didn't seem to rest on this earth.

15 comments:

Red Shoes said...

Amen to EVERYTHING you said about her...

27 seems to be the age that many creative people have issues getting beyond... Jimi Hendrix.. Janis Joplin... many...

Like you, I am stunned, but not surprised... wasn't she just recently booed off a stage in Europe?

Rest In Peace...

~shoes~

Mary said...

This is the first I have heard of it and I am shocked to tears too.

Very sad indeed... I thought she might be able to turn her life around.

shrink on the couch said...

Red Shoes - Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain, Brian Jones. Wiki calls it as the 27 Club.

flutter said...

makes me really really sad

Glennis said...

Yes, me too - stunned and amazed at the music and the voice; disturbed at the drug use and self-destruction.

Her talent revealed so much about her, and what must have been inner pain. It is amazing to think that the song "Love is a Losing Game" was written by someone so young - it should have been written by a person who's lived half a century or more.

It's so sad - she was somehow so deeply damaged that she was unable to pull out of her self-destructive spin.

Anonymous said...

All that gorgeous voice...so sad she died so young.

Jenn @ Juggling Life said...

It is so sad, and also so predictable. I look at Robert Downey, Jr. and I am so amazed that he made it--you just wonder how one person overcomes and the next doesn't.

Rachel Cotterill said...

Hers is not really my kind of music, but I was still saddened to hear this news. All the more so because it was in a way so unsurprising, I think.

Jenn @ Youknow...that Blog? said...

Not at all surprised... It is sad though; the things that kid could have accomplished had she actually used the head on her shoulders.

Susan said...

Her voice is amazing I listen to her music all the time -her lyrics indicated athat hers was a soul in trouble from the very beginning.

I was still so sad and sorry that she wasn't able to overcome her addictions. Her family sure seemed to be there for her, some people are just not meant to live long lives, I guess.

shrink on the couch said...

Susan -- Not meant to live long lives, more at risk to become addicted, working in a profession that has a very high rate of substance abuse, and maybe an underlying mental disorder or secret family dysfunction or abuse of some sort? The "why" of her death could be multi-factored. The loss of such a talented person makes it so much sadder. I'm selfish - I wanted to hear more of her voice.

Tammy said...

Very sad indeed! I did hear that she was working on and had almost finished recording a new CD, so we might hear some new music.

sanfran honey said...

RIP Amy Winehouse

Shocking and sad news.

JCK said...

There are some souls who seem meant to light another world, but they leave us with a shadow of their gifts.

Anonymous said...

It's very sad that she's gone. I couldn't quite believe it when I heard the news last week. I feel so sorry for her. The British tabloids made a killing selling stories about her drug and alcohol binges, while casting so much judgement at the same time. Maybe if they'd been a little kinder she would have found it easier to cope.