Amy Winehouse, who died ten years ago at the age of 27, told her bodyguard she’d give up her astonishing talent if it meant she could live normally again
Amy Winehouse tragically joined ‘the 27 club,’ a list of music legends who died at that tender age, ten years ago.
She had incredible talent, winning Brit and Grammy awards for her critically acclaimed and hugely successful second album, Back To Black.
But her personal demons had haunted her for years, publicly battling drug and alcohol addiction and heading to rehab at least twice.
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Amy was just 27 when she died of alcohol poisoning(Image: Getty Images)
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He said: “She was showing me some clips on her laptop and she was singing and she said, ‘Boy, I can sing’ and I said, ‘Damn right, you can sing.’
“She said, ‘If I could I would give it back just to walk down the street with no hassle, I would’.”
Amy found paparazzi attention tough to cope with and her relationship with husband Blake Fielder-Civil, who has admitted he introduced her to heroin, faced immense scrutiny.
Amy tied the knot with former video production assistant Blake in Miami on 18 May 2007 after an on/off romance.
Amy with her bodyguard, Andrew Morris, who spoke to her before she died(Image: Rotello/REX/Shutterstock)
In the months that followed their marriage, the pair started to spark concern as they were regularly pictured partying in London looking worse for wear.
In August 2007, the pair hit the headlines following an incident at the posh Sanderson Hotel in London, when p olice were called to investigate reports of a bust-up.
He was jailed in 2008 after being convicted of perverting the course of justice and grievous bodily harm with intent over an attack on a pub landlord.
Amy met Blake in The Old Blue Last pub in Shoreditch
Amy spent time in St Lucia while Blake was in prison and she moved on, dating actor Josh Bowman, with Blake filing for divorce from behind bars on the grounds of adultery.
Though Amy had publicly professed to still love Blake, their divorce was finalised in 2009, with Blake receiving none of Amy’s fortune. Amy died two years later.
During the inquest at St Pancras Coroner’s Court in London, assistant deputy coroner Suzanne Greenaway concluded that Amy had died from “accidental alcohol poisoning”.
The official verdict was given as death through misadventure.
Amy and Blake’s relationship was under intense scrutiny(Image: PA)
Greenaway said: “She had consumed sufficient alcohol and the unintended consequence of such potentially fatal levels was her sudden and unexpected death.”
The court heard Amy’s blood had 416mg of alcohol per 100ml – well over the 350mg which is recognised to be fatal.
Police officers also found three empty bottles of vodka in her home.
But while Amy died young, her legacy was one that would last forever.
The tragedy spurred her family on to launch the Amy Winehouse Foundation to help vulnerable and disadvantaged young people.
British singer Amy Winehouse sits with her father Mitch in 2008(Image: Getty )
Her family is now also selling some of her old wardrobe to help fund the Foundation.
Her father Mitch explained: “Amy’s belongings were in a giant lock-up and the family decided that while we would keep the most precious, personal items for ourselves, auctioning others would help those in need via the foundation and other charities.
“With the anniversary of her death coming up, every time the family go to the lock-up, it’s overwhelmingly emotional seeing her lovely dresses hanging on the rails, so we decided to auction these show outfits.
“It seems a fitting way to raise funds in her name.”
Amy Winehouse pictured with her mum Janis Winehouse-Collins(Image: Janis Winehouse Collins)
Amy’s life is also to be explored in a brand new documentary, to mark the milestone anniversary.
Her goddaughter, Dionne Bromfield, is producing the programme, which will include never-before-seen video footage of the pair together over the years.
Dionne said of the project: “I can’t tell you now just how therapeutic this journey has been for me.
“Finally, I can move forward into the next chapter of my career knowing that I have dealt with emotions that have been buried for years.
Janis Winehouse-Collins has created a documentary about her daughter(Image: BBC / Curious Films / Adam Lawrence)
“I hope this documentary shows Amy as more than just a person struggling with addiction and instead showcases the amazing person my godmother was.”
And the BBC will mark ten years since Amy’s death with a documentary, which has been produced by her mum, Janis.
The documentary is especially timely, because Janis has admitted her own health struggles have left her worried she will lose memories of her daughter.
She has been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, which can cause memory loss and shorten life expectancy.
(Image: Can Nguyen/REX/Shutterstock)
The BBC said: “Janis lives with multiple sclerosis which threatens to strip her of her memories of Amy…
“The film will be a powerful and sensitive account of one of Britain’s best-loved musical talents, offering a new female-driven interpretation of her life, loves and her legacy.”
Janis tweeted: “I’m so excited to share with you all that for the last few months I have been working on an incredibly special and personal documentary showing the loving and caring side to the Amy I knew so well…”
A clip from the documentary has revealed the sad truth that Amy had been desperate to be a mother one day.
It includes an interview in which Amy is asked where she wants to be in ten years.
She replies: “I would like to have a couple of kids, two or three.”
Friends speaking out for the first time back this up, as tearful Catriona Gourlay said: “She wanted to be a mum.”
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