An auction of the late singer's private items raised millions for a foundation in her name that helps youth battling with addictions.
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She was slim and petite, had long legs and fit into the snuggest clothes. A beehive hairdo and thick eyeliner were her trademarks.
Amy Winehouse sealed her spot in pop history with her soulful vocals and hits like "Rehab" and "Back to Black."
Her meteoric rise and its pressures, however, took their toll — she became addicted to alcohol and drugs and suffered from bulimia.
On July 23, 2011, the five-time Grammy Award winner died of alcohol poisoning aged just 27.
Amy Winehouse and the 27 Club
Seven years after Amy Winehouse's death, we ask why so many rock stars die at age 27? Is it just a sad coincidence. Is it some kind of conspiracy? Either way, these musicians who died in their prime will forever live on.
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I died a hundred times
Turning to alcohol in the wake of the success of Back to Black, Amy Winehouse was often too drunk to perform and was again booed off the stage in Belgrade in June 2011 before canceling her Europe tour. A month later she died of alcohol poisoning. The singer with the unique jazz-soul voice, who was also mercilessly targeted by the paparazzi, seemed destined to die young.
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I swear that I don't have a gun
In April 1994, Kurt Cobain committed suicide by shooting himself. The pressures of his career, along with depression and drug addiction — excessive amounts of Valium and heroin were found in his system — got too much, despite having recently fathered a child. His death marked not only the end of the band Nirvana, but also the conclusion of a short but wild grunge music era.
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Break on through to the other side
Jim Morrison came to personify the hedonistic lifestyle of the late 1960s counterculture. The Doors frontman was a poet who expressed what many weren't able to put into words. And he showed them how to live a wild, unfiltered life, one that ultimately led to the breakup of his band. An alcoholic Morrison retreated to Paris, where he died of a heart attack while sitting in a bathtub in July 1971.
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You can't always get what you want
Rolling Stones founding guitarist Brian Jones started to became alienated from the band in the mid-1960s as he consumed large amounts of alcohol and drugs before being arrested for possession. While Mick Jagger and Keith Richards managed to maintain their wild boy image and still turn up for shows, Jones fell deeper into an abyss till he was sacked in 1969 before drowning in his own swimming pool.
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Purple haze, all in my brain
Jimi Hendrix was the enigmatic icon of psychedelic rock, a guitar god who also became a mascot for the hippie and peace movement. His career was to last for only four years, with his band the Experience breaking up due to frictions caused by constant touring and drug-taking. A year later, on September 18, 1970, the world's highest paid rock star took nine sleeping pills and died of asphyxia.
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Never hear me when I cry at night
Janis Joplin started it all at once — singing, heavy drinking, taking drugs and being catapulted into her music career. The bands she worked with took full advantage of her legendary blues voice, while she herself saw to it that drugs were always available at parties. Joplin once said: "On the stage, I have sex with 25,000 people — and then I go home alone." She died of a heroin overdose in 1970.
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Suicide is painless
Bright shirts, loud make-up and nasty texts: The Manic Street Preachers were a late response to 1970s punk. When someone expressed doubts about their credibility, singer Richey Edwards cut into his own skin with knives. Only a few understood at the time that such acts were the symptoms of psychiatric illness. In 1995, Edwards disappeared without leaving a trace. He was 27 years old.
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Her brand of retro-soul inspired many singers including Duffy and Adele, while her iconic fashion sense saw her become a muse for fashion designers like Jean Paul Gaultier.
On November 7, 2021, more than 800 of her personal effects were sold by Julien's Auctions in Los Angeles, which specializes in the estates of deceased stars.
Consisting of dresses, bras, DVDs, books and makeup, the highlight of the auction was the halter neck green and black bamboo print dress that she wore at her final live concert in Belgrade in 2011.
Having not been onstage for two years, the European tour, which brought her to Belgrade on that fateful June 18, 2011, was supposed to have marked her grand comeback. She looked fantastic when she got onstage. But she was completely drunk and slurring, and was booed offstage by the audience. After this disastrous appearance, the singer canceled all further concerts.
Designed by stylist Naomi Parry, that infamous bamboo-print number sold on Sunday for $243,200 (€210,000) — 16 times its estimated value.
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Proceeds to aid youth with addictions
Auction manager Martin Nolan told the AFP news agency that planning the sale had not been easy.
"It's very difficult to do an auction when you're working with the parents of a deceased child in the process. It was a very sensitive subject, and it took a long time for the parents to decide to let go," he said. The items were previously owned by the singer's parents, Mitch and Janis.
The total value of all the items was expected to fetch up to $2 million. But the amount raised has exceeded all expectations.
A bidder paid more than $25,000 for the turquoise bra that Winehouse wore in the music video for "You Know I'm No Good."
A gold minidress from Dolce & Gabbana that had been estimated to fetch $7,000 went under the hammer for $150,000.
A red leather heart-shaped Moschino bag Winehouse carried to the 2007 Brit Awards — at which she scooped both the British female solo artist and British album awards — fetched $204,800, 13 times its pre-auction estimate. She carried this bag while wearing a bright yellow dress, similar to what her wax avatar has on at Madame Tussauds in London.
Among other dresses at the auction was a strapless cherry red basque dress by Karen Millen. Winehouse wore it in 2004 at the Park Lane Hotel in London when the shortlist for that year's Brit Awards was announced, as well as it in the music video for "Take the Box."
Besides designer clothes and accessories, many of her personal items were also up for bidding, including a birthday card sent by Adele. Estimated to sell at around $200-400, it netted $3,200 instead.
The proceeds of the two-day auction at Julien's will go to the Amy Winehouse Foundation, which supports teenagers and young adults with addiction problems.
The legacy of Amy Winehouse on the streets of Camden
Music icon Amy Winehouse loved living in London's Camden Town, where the local community embraced her as their own. What traces of her life and impact remain in its eclectic streets?
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As eclectic as Amy
Amy Winehouse felt at home and one with herself in Camden Town, a colorful neighborhood just north of central London filled with music venues and bars. But it is also here that she adopted some of the self-destructive behavior that led to her death of alcohol poisoning at the young age of 27.
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Camden's proudest export
A plaque opposite Camden Town underground station commemorates Amy's life and legacy. The vinyl-shaped plate joins a number of others on Camden's "Music Walk of Fame," which celebrates local legends such as The Who and Madness. It was unveiled by Winehouse's family last year. During the ceremony, Amy's father, Mitch Winehouse, was visibly moved to tears almost a decade after her death.
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Immortalized in street art
There are also numerous informal artistic celebrations of Winehouse, with graffiti of her likeness on several of the colorful walls of Camden Town. Walking around, there's a feeling that Amy Winehouse was local to the area. However, she actually grew up 7 miles (11 kilometers) further north, in the suburb of Southgate.
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The toast of Camden
The picturesque market in Camden reflects the bric-a-brac quality of Amy Winehouse's style: something borrowed, something new, something old and a lot of blues. As an adult, Amy was practically married to Camden, and the locals celebrated their "bride" with a great deal of pride.
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'I will stand beside you'
This life-sized statue in Camden Market shows off the petite figure Amy had at the zenith of her career and emphasizes her beehive hairdo, which was bigger than her head. Hundreds of people walk past it every day as they look for trinkets in the market. The off-center gaze of the statue makes you wonder what her thoughts might be on all the tourists swarming throughout her beloved Camden.
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Early beginnings
Jazz was always Amy's first love, even though she later blended hip-hop and reggae into her unique sound. But when she performed at the Jazz Cafe in Camden, she kept things pure. One of her biggest idols was American jazz singer Dinah Washington (1924-63) — another outstanding voice who died young due to substance abuse.
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Her favorite spot
Camden's pub scene was where Amy felt most at home. The Hawley Arms was her favorite spot. Its unique cocktail, the '"Rickstasy" — a potent blend of vodka, banana liqueur, Southern Comfort, and Bailey's — was reportedly Amy's favorite. Another local pub, the Dublin Arms, was another regular haunt. There, she'd sometimes climb over the countertop and help serve drinks and pull pints.
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Home in Camden Square
Amy Winehouse' address on Camden Square has never really been a secret, and it continues to serve as a pilgrimage site for her fans today. In fact, it has become quite the tourist attraction: The local government has even had to appeal to visitors to stop stealing street signs like this one after at least 14 such instances were recorded in the years following her death.
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The house where Amy Winehouse died
Amy Winehouse lived in this house on Camden Square for one year before her death in July 2011; she had only purchased the property in March 2010. Winehouse would often spend days on end inside, locked away from the paparazzi waiting outside her front door. Her uneasy relationship with such fame exacerbated her alcohol abuse, according to her friend and confidante Tyler James.
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'Love you, Amy'
Even now, fans leave messages on the entrance to the property. The new owners have used opaque plastic to board up the fenced gate from the inside. The honesty of Winehouse's music and life inspired many throughout the world, and some still come to her house and use it as a place to pay their respects to Camden's reluctant icon.
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Queen of many hearts
Across the road from her house, fans continue to leave messages and flowers for Amy Winehouse even today. Locals seem to be unperturbed by attention that the square gets. It may even boost local property prices. About 18 months after Winehouse's death, the family sold the property for nearly GBP 2 million (€2.45 million at the time of sale).
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May her memory be a blessing
The grave of Amy Winehouse is another popular site for fans wishing to feel close to their idol one more time. Some leave gifts such as bottles of booze in her honor. Others think that given the circumstances of her death, this is in poor taste. The Winehouse family have set up a charity in Amy's memory to help youth battling with addiction. It carries the same songbird logo as seen on her grave.