I was so sad to hear the news of Amy Winehouse’s death over the weekend. I was a huge fan of her and her music and when the news broke on Saturday, I was genuinely shaken by it. We knew she had problems, we feared the inevitable tragic ending for a precarious, fragile soul but we hoped she could turn it around. We hoped she could find happiness and that she could believe in herself again. Not just as an amazing singer but as a friend, a sister, a daughter, whoever she was to the people that loved her.
I never met Amy. We had an interview with her, just as she was breaking through back in early 2007 but she got delayed and we had to cancel. It’s obvious now, having seen what her friends say about her though, that underneath the beehive and the bravado, she was a loving soul and a down-to-earth girl that just happened to have an amazing talent. I had the privilege of seeing Amy Winehouse live at the Brighton Centre, back in 2007. It was clear her problems were starting to surface even back then but the excitement and the anticipation was electrifying as a sold-out crowd waited on the most talented singer of a generation. She kept the crowd waiting for over an hour but despite the restlessness around me, you got the sense that people would have waited for days to see her.
She did eventually come out and despite not being on the best of form, she was still sensational. This tiny little frame, with a huge voice had the crowd transfixed and if you were in the crowd that night, you knew you were witnessing something special.
The day after the gig, she cancelled the rest of the tour and despite the odd appearance here and there (some good, some nothing short of disastrous), that gig was to be the last live performance on a major UK tour.
From the moment she first stepped out on to the mainstream stage, it was clear that Amy Winehouse was nothing short of iconic. I just wish she’d secured this status without having to leave us so early in an amazing but tragically short-lived career.
R.I.P Amy xx