Today marks the eighth anniversary of Amy Winehouse’s death. The Grammy award-winning singer was found dead at her London home in 2011, aged 27, just two albums into her career.
Although one of Britain’s most talented and successful musical exports, winning widespread acclaim for her 2006 album Back to Black, her life was punctuated by tabloid controversy and drink and drug abuse.
Her final interview was with the Daily Telegraph during a recording session with her idol, Tony Bennett, in which she outlined her enduring passion for singing.
“I’m not a natural born performer. I’m a natural singer, but I’m quite shy, really,” she said.
“You know what it’s like? I don’t mean to be sentimental or soppy but it’s a little bit like being in love, when you can’t eat, you’re restless, it’s like that.
“But then the minute you go on stage, everything’s OK. The minute you start singing.”
Bennett paid tribute to Winehouse after her death, describing her as an “extraordinary musician with a rare intuition as a vocalist”.
“She was a lovely and intelligent person and when we recorded together she gave a soulful and extraordinary performance,” he added.
Their performance of the jazz standard “Body and Soul” was included on Bennett’s 2011 album Duets II, as well as Winehouse’s posthumous LP Lioness: Hidden Treasures.
