Critics, Fans (& Lady GaGa) Assess Amy Winehouse's Legacy

Her name really was Amy Winehouse -- Amy Jade Winehouse, in fact. The London-born chanteuse was the first British female artist to sweep the Grammies to the tune of five awards in a single evening with her 2006 album, sophomore effort "Back to Black."

Winehouse seemed to embody as certain defiant sensibility. Her smash hit "Rehab" told the story of refusing to enter treatment for substance abuse and hinted at a not-quite-healthy sexual relationship: "I ain't got the time and if my daddy thinks I'm fine / He's tried to make me go to rehab, but I won't go, go, go."

At the same time, her soul music stylings carried a certain glamour that tied into the darker allure of the artistic life. Newspapers reported on her addictions, the assault claims leveled at her, and legal problems. Winehouse was seemingly celebrated as much for her wild behavior as for her artistic achievements.

Another song seemed to revel in the star's reputation as being troubled. "You Know I'm No Good," was the second single from "Back to Black" and a companion piece she performed together with "Rehab" for the Grammy Awards.

Brilliant -- and Troubled

Her signature song notwithstanding, Winehouse did enter rehab. In late May, she spent a week at Priory Clinic.

But her short-lived 2011 European concert tour seemed troubled in an all too familiar way. Winehouse seemed intoxicated and unable to perform when she appeared before an audience in Belgrade last month. She was jeered by the crowd, and retreated from the stage. Subsequently, Winehouse scrapped the tour's remaining dates.

That Belgrade appearance was not to be Winehouse's last shout, though. Wikipedia noted that she joined Dionne Bromfield, her goddaughter, on stage at Camden's Roundhouse in London on July 20.

Only days later, Winehouse was dead. Her body was discovered at her London home on the afternoon of July 23 by her security guards. She was pronounced dead at the age of 27, a fact quickly picked up on by the media, which dubbed her a member of the "27 Club," a list of musicians who had died at that age. Among them: Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, and Curt Cobain.

A Washington Times headline said that Winehouse was "Continuing a diva tradition of drugs and death," comparing her with Marilynn Monroe and Billie Holiday.

"While the average person may look upon female celebrities as fortunate beings enjoying fairytale lifestyles, the stories of these remarkable women often don't have happy endings," the article said. "Despite money, fame, and the adoration of millions of fans, the lives of many divas are often twisted and warped into something worse than tragedy, and closer to horror."

The article went on to note that a coroner's report had been inconclusive as to whether drugs played a direct part in Winehouse's death. Even if not, the Washington Times opined, "it's safe to say that drugs played a major role in damaging and weakening her body and spirit alike."

A July 27 video at Access Hollywood included comments from a physician who said that drug use could, over time, cause coronary damage. Winehouse might have died from a heart attack, as her family believes was the case.

The Winehouse family says that the singer had not used drugs in three years.

Acclaim and Tribute

Winehouse was credited by others, such as Adele and Lady Gaga, who followed close behind her to stardom and said that she had prepared the way, noted Wikipedia.

"I always felt kind of like an outsider -- in pop music, and just from high school and I remember [Lady Starlight] looked over at me and said, 'If she can do it, you can do it,' " Lady Gaga told the media, Access Hollywood reported.

"Amy changed pop music forever, I remember knowing there was hope, and feeling not alone because of her," Lady Gaga said, according to a July 27 article in British newspaper the Daily Mirror.

"She lived jazz, she lived the blues."

Critics lined up to echo sentiments of praise. Rolling Stone posted snippets from articles written by an array of music journalists who took note both of Winehouse's personal turbulence and professional brilliance.

"After all, the lurid, sad craziness of her addiction, to which she apparently succumbed over the weekend at her home in London, was her story line -- as was failure -- and her honesty and openness in tackling the subjects, coupled with her charisma and vocal swagger, was her allure," Randall Roberts wrote in a piece published by the Los Angeles Times.

"A gift to gossip writers, Winehouse was nonetheless famous for actually being good at something," wrote Lidija Haas in the London Review of Books. "She was retro even in her celebrity; one of the most exposed in a culture of unprecedented over-exposure, she still appeared mysterious, as if she was disguised as herself."

"What hurts most is how 'Back to Black' hadn't completed the idea," wrote Sasha Frere-Jones in The New Yorker. "There were more songs, maybe many. Now? The jukebox is off and we're being ushered back home, with no address."

Parting Gifts

As Winehouse fans brought small gifts to leave at an impromptu shrine -- offerings that included bottles of vodka -- her family asked for privacy and to be accorded a measure of respect. Winehouse was buried in on July 26, in a small private ceremony, in the Jewish tradition.

The Associated Press reported on July 28 that, according to insiders, Winehouse had left behind the basic material for a whole album.

British newspaper The Guardian "quoted an unnamed spokesman at record label Universal as saying Winehouse had left the 'framework' of about a dozen songs," the AP article said.

"Winehouse released only two albums, but had been in the studio sporadically over the past few years," the AP added.

There are no plans at present to finish and release the songs, the article said.

But at least one more Winehouse song is set for release: A duet with Tony Bennett for Bennett's forthcoming "Duets II." The album is scheduled for a September 20 release.

Perhaps the most poignant statement came from a website devoted to her, AmyWinehouse.com, where a single photo of the singer now resides against a field of black. Looking like a star from forty years ago, Winehouse sits in a plush chair with a turntable visible in the background -- a statement, perhaps, of the artistic sensibility from a bygone time.

Winehouse, too, remains part of musical history.