Amy Winehouse death ‘leaves gaping hole in our lives’, say family

Relatives of singer Amy Winehouse ask for privacy and space to come to terms with loss of ‘wonderful daughter, sister, niece’ The family of the singer Amy Winehouse, who was found dead at her flat in Camden, north London, on Saturday, have paid tribute to “a wonderful daughter, sister, niece” and said they have been left “bereft” by her death. In a statement they said: “She leaves a gaping hole in our lives. We are coming together to remember her and we would appreciate some privacy and space at this terrible time.” They have asked for time to allow them to grieve. A post-mortem examination is expected to be carried out on Monday to determine the cause of death, which police currently say is “unexplained”. The Brit and Grammy award-winner had struggled with drink and drug addiction for many years and had recently spent time in rehab. However, police have so far refused to say whether her death was drug-related. Krissi Murison, the editor of NME who had interviewed Winehouse, said the singer’s impact on British music would continue to be felt for many years. “Her influence has been phenomenal and I think we absolutely will remember her as one of the British pop greats alongside artists like Dusty Springfield,” said Murison. “She clearly opened the door for lots of other female artists. She was a jazz singer but it was soul, her soul, in her lyrics that meant that it didn’t matter what kind of music you were in to – you couldn’t help but be moved.” In one of her last public appearances Winehouse appeared on stage with her 13-year-old goddaughter, Dionne Bromfield, at the iTunes festival at the Roundhouse in Camden, urging the public to buy her album. She appeared cheerful, but showed familiar signs of intoxication, dancing unsteadily as her goddaughter sang. It followed a disastrous performance in June when she was booed off stage in Serbia after appearing more than an hour late, slurring through songs, dropping her microphone and repeatedly leaving the stage. It was supposed to be a 12-day European comeback tour, but further dates were cancelled with her management saying she would be given “as long as it takes” to return to her best. NME journalist Alan Woodhouse, who worked briefly with Winehouse when she was a teenager doing night shifts at World Entertainment News Network , said everyone who cared about her and her music had been shocked to see the performance. “It was embarrassing but it was so obvious she needed help. She shouldn’t have been doing those shows, she was a complete mess. You can’t blame anybody, it must have been a very hard situation to deal with and perhaps [her management and label] thought she would be OK. But why did no one say before she went on stage that money is just not that important?” Comedian and former drug addict Russell Brand paid written tribute to the singer saying they had “shared an affliction, the disease of addiction”. He accused the media of being more interested in “tragedy than talent”. On his website he wrote: “We have lost a beautiful and talented woman to this disease. “Not all addicts have Amy’s incredible talent. Or Kurt’s [Cobain] or Jimi’s [Hendrix] or Janis’s [Joplin], some people just get the affliction. All we can do is adapt the way we view this condition, not as a crime or a romantic affectation but as a disease that will kill.” Amy Winehouse London Pop and rock Jazz Drugs Alexandra Topping guardian.co.uk

Posted by on July 24, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.