Amy Winehouse Biography

Amy Winehouse, singer

Birthdate: September 19, 1983

Birthplace: Southgate, London, England

Sign: Virgo

Amy Winehouse is a British soul, jazz and R & B singer and songwriter. Despite a turbulent lifestyle which has been followed by the press on both sides of the ocean, Winehouse has become a musical success.

Her 2006 album "Back to Black" received six Grammy Award nominations, for which she won five of them. Her Grammy achievements tied her for most wins by a female artist in a single night. She also became the first British singer to win five Grammy's, including three of the four most sought-after awards, Best New Artist, Record of the Year and Song of the Year.

Her success has not come without hardship, however, and 2007 was a year that saw the singer, and her husband Blake Fielder-Civil, struggle with drug and alcohol addiction and self-destructive behavior that landed her husband in jail and caused Winehouse to cancel concerts and tour dates.

Even the Grammy Awards became an issue for Winehouse, who was initially denied a U.S. visa because of "use and abuse of narcotics." Eventually she was issued the visa, but too late for her to appear live at the 2008 Grammy's, so she appeared and performed live via satellite.

In addition to her troubled personal life, Winehouse has also caught the attention of other media outlets such as Mr. Richard Blackwell and his famous worst dressed list. Winehouse ranked second on his 49th annual "Ten Worst Dressed Women" list behind Victoria Beckham.

Winehouse, who formerly wore her hair in a beehive style, has become the muse for fashion designers, most notably Karl Lagerfeld. With tattoos and her beehive, Winehouse's look has been imitated.

Winehouse was born on September 19, 1983 in the Southgate area of Enfield, in London, to a Jewish family. She was raised by her father Mitchell, a taxi driver and her mother Janis, a pharmacist, and has one older brother Alex. The whole family shares a love of jazz music.

Winehouse received her first guitar when she was 13, and began writing music a year later. It was at that time that she dropped out of school and started experimenting with drugs. She also started working at that time, singing with a jazz band and working as a showbiz journalist for the World Entertainment News Network.

Her on-again, off-again boyfriend at the time, soul singer Tyler James, sent her demo tape out which led to her signing a record deal with Island/Universal under Simon Fuller's company 19 Management.

Winehouse hired New York singer Sharon Jone's and her band the Dap-Kings to back her up in the studio and on tour.

Winehouse's first album "Frank" was released in October 2003 and every song on the album, except for two covers, was co-written by Winehouse. The album had a lot of jazz influence and Winehouse was compared to Macy Gray, Sarah Vaughan and others.

Winehouse's second album "Back to Black," was produced by Mark Ronson and Salaam Remi, and Winehouse credits Ronson for inspiring her. "Back to Black" was the album that led to Winehouse's six Grammy nominations.

Thanks to her erratic behavior, Winehouse has been blasted by many critics for being talented but with a filthy mouth and lack of control.

Her song "Rehab" won Winehouse Song of the Year at the Grammy's and her fans are hopeful that she too will get help in rehab and be able to continue with her music.