Amy Winehouse
Chiara De Luca

Marika Banci

Amy Jade Winehouse (Enfield, 14 settembre 1983 – Camden Town, 23 luglio 2011) è stata una cantautrice, produttrice discografica e chitarrista britannica. Proveniente da una famiglia ebrea, fin dalla tenera età mostrò una forte passione per la musica, fondando nel 1993 un gruppo rap dal nome Sweet ‘n’ Sour, che lei stessa definì la versione bianca ed ebraica delle Salt ‘n’ Pepa – gruppo newyorkese hip-hop formatosi nel 1985. Nel 1999 entrò a far parte della National Youth Jazz Orchestra, dove iniziò il suo percorso professionale da cantante solista. Nello stesso anno venne scoperta dall'ideatore di Pop Idol Simon Fuller, firmando un contratto con l'agenzia di management 19 Entertainment. Tre anni dopo, nel 2002, con l’aiuto dell’amico e cantante Tyler James entrò in contatto con un talent scout, che la portò al suo primo contratto con l’Island Records. Sotto questa etichetta discografica avverrà il suo vero esordio musicale. Il 20 ottobre 2003 venne pubblicato Frank, il primo album in studio della cantante, prodotto da Salaam Remi e caratterizzato da forti influenze jazz. Contenente quasi interamente canzoni composte dalla stessa Winehouse, venne accolto positivamente dalla critica, che la affiancò a voci del calibro di Sarah Vaughan e Macy Gray e la nominò precorritrice della generazione nuova del soul bianco, del quale divenne una delle principali esponenti, accompagnata dalle connazionali Adele e Duffy.

Il 2004 sottolineò il successo senza soluzione di continuità di Winehouse: Frank, in vetta alle classifiche dal giorno dell’uscita, figurò nella lista Mercury Prize e venne nominato ai Brit Awards nella categoria di British Female Solo Artist e British Urban Act. Nello stesso anno venne insignita dell’Ivor Novello Award, premio britannico conferito ad autori e autrici, compositori e compositrici, grazie al singolo Stronger than me. Inoltre, il 2004 fu l’anno dei primi due dischi di platino e del traguardo del milione e mezzo di copie vendute. In questo periodo Amy Winehouse debuttò in televisione, partecipando al talk show Later… with Jools Holland e scrisse per il suo amico e cantante Tyler James Long Day, una delle canzoni dell'album d’esordio.

Nonostante l’apparente periodo felice, la cantante non si sentiva appagata dalla direzione che il suo album aveva preso: Frank è suo soltanto “all’80%”, in quanto la casa discografica aveva incluso brani non compatibili con il progetto artistico che intendeva portare avanti. Nel 2006 tornò in vetta alle classifiche mondiali con l’album Back to Black, prodotto nuovamente da Salaam Remi e da Mark Ronson e ispirato alla musica dei gruppi anni Cinquanta e Sessanta dello scorso secolo. Anticipato dalle canzoni Rehab, Love is a losing game e dall’omonima traccia Back to Black, le procurò la vittoria di cinque Grammy Awards: tre per la canzone Rehab nelle categorie Record of the Year, Song of the Year e Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, uno nella categoria Best New Artist e uno per l'album Back to Black nella categoria Best Pop Vocal Album.

Dai testi di queste celebri canzoni è possibile evincere il malessere della cantante e l’inizio del vortice di droghe e abusi da cui Amy non seppe più uscire, nonostante i molteplici tentativi da lei e dalla sua famiglia compiuti. È in tale vortice che si possono ricercare le cause del rallentamento della realizzazione del tanto atteso terzo album. In questo periodo fu il padre della cantante, Mitch Winehouse, a rassicurare il pubblico sull’imminente ritorno della figlia sulle scene e sulla pubblicazione del disco, previsto nel 2009. Il 30 maggio 2008 la cantante apparirà provata sul palco del Rock in Rio a causa di problemi respiratori. Uscirà dalla clinica nella quale era ricoverata per un enfisema polmonare il 27 giugno 2008, esibendosi due giorni dopo a Hyde Park a Londra, per onorare Nelson Mandela. Fu l’ultima esibizione prima del declino irreversibile della sua breve vita.

Il terzo disco di Amy Winehouse, Lioness: Hidden Treasures, venne pubblicato dalla Universal il 5 dicembre del 2011, dopo la morte della cantante avvenuta il 23 luglio dello stesso anno. In questo lavoro postumo, curato ancora una volta da Salaam Remi e Mark Ronson, con l’appoggio della famiglia Winehouse, sono contenute tracce inedite, accompagnate da demo registrate in passato ma rimaste sconosciute. Ad anticiparne l’uscita, un video descrittivo dell’album, dal titolo Amy Winehouse - Hidden Treasures Story, pubblicato su YouTube dagli stessi produttori. Anche in questo caso il successo fu immediato, portando Lioness: Hidden Treasures in vetta alle classifiche europee – tra le quali figurano quelle di nazioni come Austria, Paesi Bassi, Svizzera, Portogallo e Regno Unito.

Nel marzo 2012 in Francia venne pubblicato l’Ep Rehab, nel formato di disco in vinile. A maggio dello stesso anno vide la luce Amy’s Jukebox. The Music That Ispired Amy Winehouse, album commemorativo che racchiude canzoni jazz di cantanti del calibro di Frank Sinatra; gli incassi vennero devoluti alla Amy Winehouse Foundation, creata dal padre Mitch per aiutare i giovani e le giovani a risolvere i propri problemi con le dipendenze da alcol e sostanze stupefacenti. A un anno dalla morte, il successo della cantante fu inarrestabile, raggiungendo la ventiseiesima posizione nella categoria Greatest Women in Music di VH1 100 e vincendo un Grammy Award nella categoria Best Pop Duo/Group Performance con il brano Body and Soul, in collaborazione con Tony Bennett. A fine 2012 venne annunciata sulla pagina Facebook della cantante l’uscita di Amy Winehouse at The Bbc, un boxset di quattro dischi pubblicato a novembre.

Nel 2013 Winehouse ricevette l’ennesima candidatura, questa volta ai Brit Awards 2013, nella categoria British Female Solo Artist, la prima postuma nella storia del premio. La seconda nomina arrivò nel 2016, per la colonna sonora di Amy; The Girl Behind The Name, lungometraggio diretto da Asif Kapadia. Quest’ultimo, uscito nelle sale nel 2015, fu oggetto di controversie: se da una parte vinse l’Oscar nella categoria Best Documentary, dall’altra non ottenne il consenso della famiglia, la quale se ne dissociò prontamente. Nonostante la vita di Amy Winehouse sia divenuta un caso mediatico, attirando l’interesse di speculatori senza morale, devoti unicamente a un vantaggio economico, la sua musica e la sua persona furono di ispirazione alle generazioni successive, rendendo immortale la sua figura di artista straordinaria.

Amy Jade Winehouse (Enfield, 14 septembre 1983 – Camden Town, 23 juillet 2011) était une auteure-compositrice-interprète, productrice de disques et guitariste britannique. Issue d'une famille juive, dès son plus jeune âge, elle montrait une forte passion pour la musique et en 1993, elle a fondé un groupe de rap nommé Sweet ‘n’ Sour, qu’elle a elle-même décrit comme la version blanche et juive de Salt ‘n’ Pepa, un groupe de hip-hop new-yorkais formé en 1985. En 1999, elle rejoignait la National Youth Jazz Orchestra, où elle a commencé sa carrière professionnelle en tant que chanteuse soliste. La même année, elle a été découverte par Simon Fuller, le créateur de Pop Idol, et a signé un contrat avec l'agence de management 19 Entertainment. Trois ans plus tard, en 2002, grâce à son ami et chanteur Tyler James, elle a rencontré un découvreur de talents qui lui a permis de signer son premier contrat avec Island Records. Sous ce label, elle a fait ses véritables débuts musicaux. Le 20 octobre 2003, elle publiait son premier album studio, Frank, produit par Salaam Remi et fortement influencé par le jazz. Cet album, composé presque entièrement de chansons écrites par Winehouse elle-même, a été bien accueilli par la critique, qui l’a comparée à des voix comme celles de Sarah Vaughan et Macy Gray. Elle a été désignée comme une précurseure de la nouvelle génération de soul blanc, devenant l'une des principales représentantes aux côtés de ses compatriotes Adele et Duffy.

L'année 2004 soulignait le succès continu de Winehouse : Frank, en tête des classements depuis sa sortie, a figuré dans la liste du Mercury Prize et a été nommé aux Brit Awards dans les catégories British Female Solo Artist et British Urban Act. La même année, elle remportait un Ivor Novello Award, une récompense britannique décernée aux auteurs-compositeurs, grâce à son single Stronger Than Me. De plus, 2004 fut l'année de ses deux premiers disques de platine et du million et demi d'exemplaires vendus. Pendant cette période, Amy Winehouse faisait ses débuts à la télévision, participant au talk-show Later… with Jools Holland, et elle écrivait pour son ami Tyler James la chanson Long Day de son album éponyme.

Malgré cette période apparemment heureuse, la chanteuse ne se sentait pas satisfaite de la direction que son album avait prise : Frank n’était à elle qu’à “80 %”, car la maison de disques avait inclus des pièces qui n’étaient pas compatibles avec le projet artistique qu’elle voulait mener. En 2006, elle revenait en tête des classements mondiaux avec l’album Back to Black, à nouveau produit par Salaam Remi et Mark Ronson, inspiré par la musique des groupes des années 1950 et 1960. Annoncé par les chansons Rehab, Love Is a Losing Game, et la piste homonyme Back to Black, l’album lui valut cinq Grammy Awards : trois pour la chanson Rehab dans les catégories Record of the Year, Song of the Year et Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, un dans la catégorie Best New Artist et un autre pour l’album Back to Black dans la catégorie Best Pop Vocal Album.

Les paroles de ces chansons célèbres révélaient le mal-être de la chanteuse et le début de la spirale de drogues et d’abus dont Amy n’a jamais su sortir, malgré les multiples tentatives qu’elle et sa famille ont faites. C’est dans cette spirale que l’on peut chercher les causes du ralentissement de la réalisation du très attendu troisième album. Pendant cette période, c’est son père, Mitch Winehouse, qui a rassuré le public quant au retour imminent de sa fille sur scène et à la sortie de l’album, prévue pour 2009. Le 30 mai 2008, la chanteuse apparaît affaiblie sur la scène du Rock in Rio à cause de problèmes respiratoires. Elle quitte la clinique où elle était hospitalisée pour un emphysème pulmonaire le 27 juin 2008, se produisant deux jours plus tard à Hyde Park, à Londres, pour honorer Nelson Mandela. Cela a été sa dernière performance avant le déclin irréversible de sa courte vie. Le troisième album d’Amy Winehouse, Lioness: Hidden Treasures, a été publié par Universal le 5 décembre 2011, après la mort de la chanteuse survenue le 23 juillet de la même année. Dans cet album posthume, encore une fois supervisé par Salaam Remi et Mark Ronson, avec le soutien de la famille Winehouse, on retrouve des pièces inédites, accompagnées de démos enregistrées dans le passé mais restées inconnues. Pour en annoncer la sortie, une vidéo descriptive de l’album, intitulée Amy Winehouse – Hidden Treasures Story, a été publiée sur YouTube par les mêmes producteurs. Là encore, le succès est immédiat, plaçant Lioness: Hidden Treasures en tête des classements européens – parmi lesquels ceux de l’Autriche, des Pays-Bas, de la Suisse, du Portugal et du Royaume-Uni.

En mars 2012, en France, l’EP Rehab fut publié au format vinyle. En mai de la même année sort Amy’s Jukebox. The Music That Inspired Amy Winehouse, un album commémoratif regroupant des chansons jazz de chanteurs comme Frank Sinatra. Les bénéfices ont été reversés à la Amy Winehouse Foundation, créée par son père Mitch pour aider les jeunes à résoudre leurs problèmes de dépendance à l’alcool et aux drogues. Un an après sa mort, le succès de la chanteuse était inarrêtable, atteignant la vingt-sixième position dans la catégorie Greatest Women in Music du VH1 100 et remportant un Grammy Award dans la catégorie Best Pop Duo/Group Performance avec la chanson Body and Soul, en collaboration avec Tony Bennett. Fin 2012, la sortie de Amy Winehouse at The BBC, un coffret de quatre disques, a été annoncée sur la page Facebook de la chanteuse, et il a été publié en novembre.

En 2013, Winehouse reçoit une énième nomination, cette fois aux Brit Awards 2013 dans la catégorie British Female Solo Artist, la première nomination posthume dans l’histoire du prix. La seconde nomination arrive en 2016, pour la bande originale de Amy: The Girl Behind the Name, un long-métrage réalisé par Asif Kapadia. Ce dernier, sorti en salles en 2015, a été sujet à controverse: d’un côté, il remporte l’Oscar dans la catégorie Best Documentary, de l’autre, il n'obtient pas le consentement de la famille, qui s’en dissocie rapidement. Malgré la médiatisation de la vie d’Amy Winehouse, attirant l’intérêt de spéculateurs sans scrupules, uniquement dévoués à des gains économiques, sa musique et sa personnalité ont inspiré les générations suivantes, rendant son image d’artiste extraordinaire immortelle.

Amy Jade Winehouse was a British singer-songwriter, record producer and guitarist. She was born in England on September 14, 1983, and died in Camden Town (London), July 23, 2011, at the age of only 27. Coming from a Jewish family, from an early age she showed a strong passion for music, founding in 1993 a rap group called Sweet 'n' Sour, which she called a white, Jewish version of Salt 'n' Pepa - a New York hip-hop group formed in 1985. In 1999 she joined the National Youth Jazz Orchestra, where she began her professional journey as a lead singer. In the same year she was discovered by Pop Idol creator Simon Fuller, signing a contract with the management agency 19 Entertainment. Three years later, in 2002, with the help of friend and singer Tyler James she made contact with a talent scout, which led to her first contract with Island Records. Under this record label her real musical debut took place. On October 20, 2003, Frank, the singer's first studio album, produced by Salaam Remi and featuring strong jazz influences, was released. Containing almost entirely songs composed by Winehouse herself, it was positively received by critics, who placed her alongside the likes of Sarah Vaughan and Macy Gray and named her a forerunner of the new generation of white soul, of which she became one of the leading exponents, accompanied by compatriots Adele and Duffy.

The year 2004 underscored Winehouse's seamless success. Frank, topping the charts from the day of its release, appeared on the Mercury Prize list and was nominated for Brit Awards in the categories of British Female Solo Artist and British Urban Act. That same year she was awarded the Ivor Novello Award, a British prize given to female songwriters, composers and authors, thanks to the single Stronger than Me. In addition, 2004 was the year of her first two platinum records and the 1.5 million copies sold milestone. During this period Amy Winehouse made her television debut, appearing on the talk show Later... with Jools Holland, and wrote for her friend and singer Tyler James Long Day, one of the songs on her debut album.

Despite the apparently happy period, the singer did not feel fulfilled by the direction her album had taken - Frank was only "80 percent" hers, as the record company had included songs that were not compatible with the artistic project she intended to pursue. In 2006 she returned to the top of the world charts with the album Back to Black, produced again by Salaam Remi and Mark Ronson and inspired by the music of the 1950s and 1960s groups of the last century. Preceded by the songs Rehab, Love is a Losing Game and the eponymous track Back to Black, it earned her five Grammy Awards - three for the song Rehab in the categories Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, one in the category Best New Artist and one for the album Back to Black in the category Best Pop Vocal Album.

From the lyrics of these famous songs, it is possible to infer the singer's malaise and the beginning of the vortex of drugs and abuse from which Amy was never able to escape, despite the many attempts she and her family made. It is in this vortex that one can look for the causes of the slowdown in the making of the long-awaited third album. During this period it was the singer's father, Mitch Winehouse, who reassured the public about his daughter's imminent return to the scene and the release of the album, scheduled for 2009. On May 30, 2008, the singer appeared to be exhausted on stage at Rock in Rio due to respiratory problems. She came out of the clinic in which she was hospitalized for pulmonary emphysema on June 27, 2008, performing two days later in London's Hyde Park to honor Nelson Mandela. It was the last performance before the irreversible decline of her short life. Amy Winehouse's third album, Lioness: Hidden Treasures, was released by Universal on December 5, 2011, after the singer's death on July 23 of that year. This posthumous work, edited once again by Salaam Remi and Mark Ronson, with the support of the Winehouse family, contains previously unreleased tracks, accompanied by demos recorded in the past but that had remained unknown. Anticipating its release was a descriptive video of the album, titled Amy Winehouse - Hidden Treasures Story, posted on YouTube by the producers themselves. Again, success was immediate, taking Lioness: Hidden Treasures to the top of the European charts - including those in nations such as Austria, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Portugal and the United Kingdom.

In March 2012 the EP Rehab was released in France, in the vinyl record format. May of the same year saw the release of Amy's Jukebox -The Music That Inspired Amy Winehouse, a memorial album encompassing jazz songs by the likes of Frank Sinatra; proceeds were donated to the Amy Winehouse Foundation, set up by her father Mitch to help young men and women with problems with alcohol and drug addiction. Within a year of her death, the singer's success was unstoppable, reaching 26th position in the VH1 100's Greatest Women in Music category and winning a Grammy Award in the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance category with the song Body and Soul, in collaboration with Tony Bennett. In late 2012 it was announced on the singer's Facebook page that Amy Winehouse at the BBC, a four-disc boxset would be released in November.

In 2013 Winehouse received yet another nomination, this time at the 2013 Brit Awards, in the British Female Solo Artist category, the first posthumous one in the history of the award. The second nomination came in 2016, for the soundtrack to Amy; The Girl Behind the Name, a feature film directed by Asif Kapadia. The latter, released in theaters in 2015, was the subject of controversy. While it won the Oscar in the Best Documentary category, it did not win the approval of the family, who promptly disassociated themselves from it. Although Amy Winehouse's life became a media focus, attracting the interest of speculators with no morals, devoted solely to financial gain, her music and person were an inspiration to subsequent generations, making her an immortal figure as an extraordinary artist.