Amy Jade Winehouse was born on September 14th 1983 in Southgate, London. Her father Mitch recalls singing along to records with his daughter, leaving out the words for Amy to fill them in.
Young Amy received training at the Susi Earnshaw Theatre School and then later instruction from the acclaimed Sylvia Young Theatre School. She began writing music when she was 13 and started a rap group called Sweet N' Sour with a school mate. She then began singing with a local London jazz band and when a former boyfriend sent one of her early demo tapes to an A&R man it led to a deal with EMI Records.
Since then she has been called the New Queen of Soul, an icon of our generation, she has won comparisons to Sarah Vaughn and Nina Simone among other talents.
Amy's 2003 debut Frank was nominated for the Mercury Prize and won the Igor Novello songwriting prize for best contemporary song with "Stronger than Me". But it was with her second album Back to Black (2006) that she won international acclaim. The record won 5 Grammys including Best New Artist, Record of the Year and Song of the Year. She won a BRIT award in 2007 for Best British Female Artist. She then won 2 more Igor Novello songwriting awards, one for Best Song Musically and Lyrically with "Love is a Losing Game" and another for Best Contemporary Song with "Rehab". Most recently she was working on a project with Tony Bennett and working on a new album slated to come out in November of 2011.
Amy's most beloved music was '60's soul and traditional jazz. She idolized singers like Sarah Vaughn, Billie Holiday and Etta James. Her sense of style which included what became her trademark beehive and Cleopatra eyes was borrowed from 1960's girl groups like the Ronnettes and the Pips. She said she didn't listen to much "new stuff". "I just like the old stuff, she told SPIN magazine, "It's all quite dramatic and atmospheric. You'd have an entire story in a song. I never listen to, like, white music -- I couldn't sing you a Zeppelin or Floyd song."
