When 27-year-old British singer Amy Winehouse died this past Saturday, the sad news came as no surprise to many, including her own father, who'd already penned her obituary.
Winehouse struggled with addiction for many years and though her death is still being ruled as "unexplained" the true cause will not be determined until an autopsy has been performed.
Winehouse's music -- described as "Sixties pop-soul in 21st-century street slang" -- was overshadowed by her chaotic personal life ever since she scored a record deal with Island Records when she was just 17.
The tattooed songstress with the huge beehive hairdo had been in and out of rehab for years. Her turbulent relationship with "no good man", Blake Fielder-Civil, was likened to that of the late punk rockers, Nancy Spungeon and Sid Vicious.
Together, Amy and hubby Blake battled a mutual addiction. In fact, Winehouse had overdosed during their marriage. After a three-day bender in which she and Blake consumed heroin, ecstasy, cocaine, horse tranquilizers and booze, Amy had her stomach pumped and received an adrenaline shot that saved her life.
Her career high ironically came during a separation from Blake in which she released Back to Black, an album which won her the prestigious Mercury Music Prize and sold over a million copies in the UK alone.
Since then, though, Winehouse's performances had been shambolic, with her stumbling incoherently and forgetting lyrics, prompting her to pull the plug on a recent European tour. The British press had cruelly taken to calling her Amy "Declinehouse".
Other journalists had kinder words: "It's deeply sad," said Daily Telegraph music critic, Neil McCormick. "It's the most completely tragic waste of talent that I can remember."
Winehouse was just the latest in a long line of musicians (Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain, et al) to die at the ripe age of 27.
Both Amy and Blake's parents tried to help, even suggesting Amy's record company intervene, to no avail. The anguish for the parents of an addict must be incredible. Should the state get involved in such cases?
RIP to the woman whose soulful voice will no doubt live on.
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