WHAT IN THE WORLD HAPPENED TO. . .

             AMY WINEHOUSE?

Last seen:  "Back To Black" (2007)

Messy bee-hive. Heavy black eyeliner. Prison tats. Dirty ballet slippers. Substance abuse issues. Amazing voice.

You put all those things together and you can only come up with one person. So what exactly has happened to the talented Ms Winehouse?

Back in 2007,  I remember hearing some buzz about this British singer who did this retro-soul thing with a modern sensibility whose album was just being released in the U.S. I decided to buy it although I thought it was probably no more than a lot of hot-air hype. I was very surprised by how good it actually was. It was a fresh and confident record and I loved every single song.

I loved "Back To Black" so much that I went out and bought her first CD, "Frank" (2003) which was released here after the success of this album.  Her debut was more of a jazz fueled hip-hop sound which was also very interesting. Although it's not as perfect as her follow-up, it certainly had plenty of highlights and it showed off her potential.

Amy did very well at the Grammys, where "Back To Black" won five of the six awards it was nominated for in 2008 including Record of the Year, "Rehab".

So after all this success, you would have thought things would be going well for her and she would have released a new album by now. Unfortunately, Ms Winehouse has had a well documented history of drug and alcohol abuse, mood swings, and eating disorders and perhaps the stress of her new found fame triggered her relapse. Whatever the case may be, she has become distracted by unhealthy activities that has prevented her from creating any new material. I hope she gets all the help she needs to recover.

There have been recent rumors that she has been recording and that there could possibly be a new album out later this year. Let's hope so. . . she's only twenty-six and could have a long career ahead of her if only she can only pull herself together. I am very curious to see what she will do next.

Here is a selection of some of my favorite songs off of  "Back To Black":

He Can Only Hold Her.mp3

Tears Dry On Their Own.mp3

Love Is a Losing Game.mp3

And this is the music video for the single of title track, "Back To Black":



As a bonus, here is a song off of her debut, "Frank":

Intro/Stronger Than me.mp3