2016 marks five years since Amy Winehouse died. As time passes us by, we don’t make it a habit of forgetting the singer and what she achieved while being alive.
It’s safe to say Amy has left a legacy behind and it’s going to be one that is never forgotten. Even though the star isn’t creating new music/albums, she’s still being nominated for prestigious awards.
Recently, she was nominated for ‘Best Female Solo Artist’ alongside Adele, Jess Glynne and Florence Welch at 2016’s Brit Awards. The nomination comes after the success of Asif Kapadia’s 2015 documentary about her life and career.
Self-titled, ‘Amy’, the documentary about her life and career became the second most successful documentary ever, grossing £3.44m at the UK box office.
The documentary really displayed what wasn’t common knowledge to the public. It gave people a look at what life was like for the star from the beginning until ultimately, the end.
It showed fans what it was like in the life of Amy Winehouse. It, however, caused its fair share of controversy with Amy’s father, Mitch Winehouse. Mitch didn’t attempt to hide his feelings on the documentary.
After watching the documentary, Mitch described it as ‘very hurtful’, continuing to say how it focused far too much on the aspect of his daughter’s drug addiction and completely missed out the ‘sense of fun’.
In the light of Mitch’s feelings towards the documentary and Amy being nominated for the Brit Award, Mitch tweeted this.
Just heard Amy nominated for Brit for best British female singer. We are so proud of you baby. Still hate the film though!
— mitch winehouse (@mitchwinehouse) January 14, 2016
In a statement from the film producer, James Gay-Rees, he said: “It feels like the country has fallen in love with her all over again and it is hugely satisfying to have helped create a more rounded picture of someone who was so massively misunderstood when she was here. It was a massive honour to have been given the chance to tell her story.”
Amy Winehouse truly made a name for herself and earned herself countless awards, ranging from Grammy’s to MOBO’s.
The star received a staggering 5 Grammy awards out of 6 nominations in 2008. These were ‘Best New Artist’, ‘Song of the Year’, ‘Record of the Year’, ‘Best Pop Vocal Album’ and ‘Best Female Pop Vocal Performance’.
Amy also got herself in the Guinness World Records by having the ‘Most Grammy Awards Won by a British Female Act’.
With the news of Amy being nominated for ‘Best Female Solo Artist’ at the Brit Awards, it poses the question of what kind of success the star would’ve gone onto if she hadn’t passed away in 2011.
The musician would’ve definitely produced and sold more records, perhaps leading to more award nominations and even wins. From what Amy previously produced, wrote and released it is inevitable.
Her sound/genre was a mixture between jazz, soul and rhythm and blues, which is what we would’ve expected, but on a higher level. Amy always professed how her songwriting was always from her life experiences, so we’d almost get to see another chapter in her story. The clips in the documentary, where Amy spoke about her songwriting, show that her music did change and develop throughout the film. It was easy to distinguish where Amy was with her music and where she wanted to go with it.
Amy died on July 23rd, 2011, at her home in Camden, London.
The Brit Awards will take place on February 24th, 2016, where you will see if Amy will take away the ‘Best Female Solo Artist’.
What are your thoughts on Amy, her career and her music? Make sure to comment below or tweet us at @CelebMix.