Amy Winehouse: The Biography

by Chas Newkey-Burden

An indisputable musical icon and controversial celebrity figure, Amy Winehouse€™s unique blend of jazz, pop, and soul singing and songwriting have brought her a host of awards—including two prestigious Ivor Novellos and five Grammys—as well as an army of committed fans who adore her rich voice and painfully honest lyrics. Meanwhile, wild stories about her turbulent and hedonistic personal life have kept Amy in the headlines. She is a daily fixture in the tabloids and a fascination of celebrity magazines, yet she also holds the respect of many serious musicians. This remarkable biography traces the life of the tattooed wonder from her childhood pranks in north London through her days at the Sylvia Young Theatre School and her time spent working with pop impresario Simon Fuller, up to the talented and rebellious Amy Winehouse of today.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Music, British Literature, Autobiography, Unfinished, Biography Memoir

240 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Chas Newkey-Burden is a British journalist and author. His books include The Reduced History of Britain, Great Email Disasters and Not In My Name: A Compendium Of Modern Hypocrisy (co-written with Julie Burchill). He has also written unauthorised biographies of Simon Cowell, Paris Hilton, Amy Winehouse, Alexandra Burke and six official publications for Arsenal football club.

He has written for publications including The Guardian, Four Four Two, Total Football, Time Out, Attitude and The Big Issue; and internet sites including Ynetnews, The First Post and Guardian Blogs. A former Contributing Editor to Loaded magazine and former editor of the football website icons.com, where he was also Dennis Bergkamp's official biographer. Interviewees include David Beckham, Ricky Gervais, Frank Lampard, Rachel Stevens and James Bourne.

Newkey-Burden has discussed his books, football news and the Middle East on TV and radio shows including Sky News, CNN, BBC Breakfast News, The Today Programme on Radio 4, Five Live Breakfast, TalkSport, Capital Gold and BBC Radio London. He was featured on the BBC 2 documentary Cold War Kids, the Sky One show Celebrities On Heat and The Biography Channel and Fuse Television's documentaries on Amy Winehouse.

Newkey-Burden has a blog, entitled OyVaGoy, in which he describes himself as 'philosemitic' and posts opinions firmly in support of the state of Israel, and critical of those he perceives as being against Israel.
In July 2008, the British satirical magazine Private Eye reported that Newkey-Burden had posted positive reviews of his own books on the Amazon.co.uk online bookstore.

Reviews

[Megs ♥ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honestly, I have never been a fan of Amy's. It's definitely not that I thought she was a bad singer. Her music just wasn't my type. Pure curiosity is the reason I decided to read this book.

As far as biographies go this one was interesting enough to grab the attention of a non-fan and hold on until the end. It talked about relationships with her family, lovers, and friends. It also went into great detail about her albums, and showed reviews on them as well as several performances. It mentioned some memorable performances that I simply had to find on youtube to see. Some were truly heartbreaking.

Amy was a beautiful artist with an amazing talent. This book was written several years before her death, so it's peppered with little bits that would look like foreshadowing had this been fiction. The author truly believes the best in her, and thought she would be around making wonderful music for years to come. With that said there are still parts which show that the author as well as her fans knew how she was going to end up...Again...sad.

So yeah, the book was informative and interesting. I would recommend it to any of her fans obviously. The only problem I could find was that it was a little short.

[C.M. Subasic · Rating 1 out of 5]

Perhaps it is because of my expectations that I disliked this book so much. I thought I'd be getting some insight into her character, what she thought and felt about her rise to fame, her struggles, her loves. Instead this book is a collection of reviews of her concerts and some of the entertainment rags. The author does not appear to have thoughts about Amy, except of the hyperbolic sort. The author is a cheerleader. Perhaps that's okay for a brief article but for a book that is supposedly representing her life, it's a cop out.

If you are looking for a laundry list, this is your book. If you're looking for insight, look elsewhere.

[Roberta Gomes · Rating 2 out of 5]

240 páginas de manchetes e críticas de tabloides compiladas. Nada que qualquer fã razoavelmente informado já não tenha lido.

[Angela · Rating 1 out of 5]

Yawn. What a boring book, and not because Amy winehouse herself was boring, but because of the writing style of the author. The endless £he said, she said" gets very old after the first few pages. It is largely based on interviews and doesn't have any new, exciting information. The author makes it sound like Winehouse was a singer with an attitude and that's it. Um, I already knew that! I could have done without reading any of it with all that I learned. I am sure the book by her dad will be more forthcoming in what she was like as a person.

[Jade Stoltz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish I had paid attention to her music when she was alive. When I hear her sing Valerie, I just want to reach out and hug her.

[Jules · Rating 4 out of 5]

Following the recent death of Amy Winehouse, it seems that this previous released biography from 2009 has been swiftly updated and re-issued after these sad events. Although quite skimpy tome for a biography of such a colourful artist (less than 230 pages), Newkey-Burden does well to present the life of Winehouse and her musical prowess in a sympathetic tone. As a fan of Winehouse, I appreciate the fact that the author stays on the moderate and supportive side of her career. It would be easy for any writer to stray into listing her many faults and flaws, instead Newkey-Burden stays respectful and, whilst acknowledging issues and problems, his focus remains on her talent, collaborations and productivity rather than rustling up another media frenzy regarding some of Winehouse’s headstrong disruptive traits.
There are two main things I enjoyed in reading this biography. Firstly, Winehouse’s musical talent is made explicitly clear as her musical history and achievements are listed in clear detail (need one mention her multi Grammy winning achievement in February 2008). Secondly, Blake Fielder-Civil the much-reported destructive force in Amy’s life is spared much mention until the last half of the book. His inclusion being compacted in this way allowing Winehouse’s strengths to be showcased first. For me, this very much illustrates once again the supportive tone or even bias of the author BUT in a good way. Fielder-Civil is noted as a primary influence on Winehouse but Newkey-Burden mentions many others helping Winehouse to be presented as a more rounded and less helpless and dependent character.
Some may question the re-issuing of such a work coming out so quickly after Winehouse’s death and I can see where some people may be critical of this, particularly Amy’s family. This said, however, one can only understand the media and common interest towards such a unique talent. Although personally I’ve always been a great fan of Winehouse (I would say Black to Black is definitely one of my top ten albums of all time), I didn’t feel I knew enough about her or especially about her early career and this book helped to fill in the gaps somewhat. After reading this biography, it’s even more clear to me than I’d previously thought that the lady herself had a talent and personality that knew no bounds. An amazing artist sufficiently respected in this work where her musical ability is framed and remembered for others to read about and remember.
R.I.P Amy.

[Pete daPixie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is hard to think of any British artist of recent decades who has been more assailed by the press pack than Amy Winehouse. The Gallagher brothers and Pete Doherty pale in comparison. To off set the distortion of News International et al I grabbed at 'Amy Winehouse-The Biography.'
As poptastic biogs go, this one wasn't bad, it's just that it was published back in 2008 and therefore misses the last few years of Amy's life.
Chas Newkey-Burden writes in his Introduction, "She has not, at the time of writing, yet reached that dangerous rock-and-roll age of twenty-seven. It was at this age that Janis Joplin, Doors singer Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix and Kurt Cobain all died, at the height of their infamy. There's no disputing that she has issues with drugs to overcome, but the longer her true story goes on, the more clear it seems that Amy will neither burn out nor fade away but instead go on to even greater (natural) highs."
Sadly Mr Newkey-Burden did not recognise his subject as the vulnerable abuser of heavy alcohol and drugs use, with added problems of self harm, depression, eating and bi-polar disorders.
Along with this authors biography, 'The Amy Winehouse Story' by Nick Johnstone was published simultaneously, and in 2010 the unfortunately titled 'Saving Amy' by Daphne Barak.

[Rachel Yuska · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amy's tragic life was already predicted by many. Blame it on the drugs. RIP Amy. You'll be remembered through your sultry voice and music.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a waste of life,

[Debbie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm glad it's over - the book.

[Diane Wilkes · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was recently Amy Winehouse's birthday and I started listening to one or two videos and realized anew how compelling her music was to me. Jeff and I had tickets to see her, but it was during the period when she cancelled her American tour. So we got our money back instead of what we really wanted. I'm sure there's a Winehousian metaphor in that--we would most have wanted her to survive and thrive, but it was not to be.

I decided to read a bio and my eLibrary had this one, which was said by various Amazon reviewers to be the best. If that is true, I'd be nauseated by the worst, because I read biographies for insight, not factual regurgitation, and this book lacks any insight.

I really feel anyone could have written this book, and I think I'd have preferred if anyone else had written it. Much as I didn't get what I wanted from this biography, the author clearly did some research, by which I mean he compiles and shares passages from various reviews and write-ups. At least he didn't make shit up out of whole cloth, but that's not really my criteria for what makes a noteworthy biography. (I am feeling my optimistic streak here--with the metaphor of receiving a pile of manure and looking through it to find the pony.)

Enough with the metaphors. At least the factual material is better than the author's voice, which is so callow and annoying that I wanted to slap him. He is one of those fans who defends the indefensible when it comes to Winehouse, but still likes to make his own smirky set-downs of her and other things to show he's a master of snarkery, when in fact, as an author, he's just a raving twit.

I wouldn't write this stuff if I didn't have examples and you know I do. He writes about Winehouse's drunken appearance on Charlotte Church's tv show, but then says that the key to the survival of a talk show is such gossip-worthy appearances. This is what I mean about twit snarkery. (On the other hand, I didn't know Amy and Charlotte performed Beat It together, so I looked it up on YouTube, along with other songs/videos Newkey-Burden mentions--so the read wasn't a complete waste of my time.)

The author slags Charlotte Church for appearing to criticize Winehouse for her drunken, out-of-it state because Church brags about partying ON HER OWN TIME. If he can't see the difference between drinking on and off the job, he's even more of a twit than I think he is.

Here's a weird, unmoored comment he makes re: the popularity of Back to Black in the United States: "Industry commentators argue that Americans feel the need to have their own music 'sung back at them' by foreign acts. It reassures them of the worth of the American music scene and it is a welcome occurrence whenever it happens." One: if he's quoting one person, that doesn't equate to "industry commentators (plural). Two: he is drawing a contrast between Back to Black and Winehouse's first album, Frank, which a) wasn't even released in the United States until after the second album did so well here and b) what music is MORE American than jazz? It's a snarky comment that is illogical (wrong). Snark gets it power from being en pointe.

You see my point?

Newkey-Burden is not the clearest writer in the world either. Here's a sentence fragment I have to share: "[S]aid the waiter who looked after Amy, who was wearing a green top and tight jeans, and her in-laws." She was wearing her in-laws? How very raffish of her. LOL

Other authors he cites also struggle with finding the mot juste. A review Newkey-Burden quotes: "While the latter disc found Winehouse cackling over lush vintage soul backdrops . . ." Cackling? Nothing could be less descriptive of Winehouse's vocals. So why is it included in a book written by someone who is alleging himself a fan? It's just dropped in the middle of the book like a giant turd.

Here's another from the author himself: "It should have been one of the happiest nights of Amy's life. She discovered she had been nominated in three categories at the MTV Video Music Awards. However, she was instead rushed into A&E at University College London Hospital at 1 a.m." The way this is written is absurd, coalescing the awards and her self-induced health problems as something to "discover." This is what I mean when I say his fandom interferes with his rationality when it comes to Winehouse.

Here he veers from fawning to bitchy: "Amy also had blood pouring through her silk ballet shoes, leading to speculation that she had been injecting heroin in between her toes. They talk about washing your dirty linen in public--this was more like washing your bloodstained linen in public." He italicizes "bloodstained," in case we miss his subtle humor. WTF?

But making fun of an artist's severe drug addiction isn't limited to the author. He gathers quotes from actual famous people who say things like Simon Le Bon: "Even if she doesn't die of a drug overdose, she's going to die of malnutrition. That's what worries me. What happened to those fabulous tits?" Winehouse, like Billie Holiday and many other artists before her, had an addiction problem. But as usual, there's a double standard. Men are likened to dashing daredevils when they show signs of addiction (look at Keith Richards as just one prime example), and famous women are torn apart and scorned/objectified for the same. I know who the fabulous tits are, and one of them is Simon Le Bon.

At the same time, for Newkey-Burden, Amy's addiction with its "politically incorrect nature" is "a breath of fresh air in America, where sanitized goody-goody artists have increasingly ruled the roost." Like Marilyn Manson? Kurt Cobain?

Not to mention the whole Grunge period. We could go all through American music history debunking this bizarre assessment, moving from Johnny Cash to Alice Cooper to the Stones, who are huge in America.

I don't know where the writer gets his ideas about the United States, but clearly they have nothing to do with reality. He describes the New York Post as "prestigious," but not the New York Times. He even blames America for Oasis's breakup because they "seemed to implode as a band the minute they arrived at the US." The only reason artists from everywhere, including Great Britain, want to break the American market is because it means more money--there's nothing sinister or mysterious about it. In response, the American market isn't some siren, waiting to wash another artist or group onto the rocks.

Newkey-Burden also mentions frequently that Winehouse is Jewish--maybe it's a bigger deal in Great Britain than America, but some of the allusions made me uncomfortable. Then again, Europe is much more anti-Semitic than the US (even during the Trump and post-Trump eras), so I guess it's to be expected.

I hope a real writer who digs behind the superficial writes a book about Amy Winehouse, because that I would like to read. This book offers quite a few facts I didn't know, but it is really not what I hoped it would be--or what Amy Winehouse, poor girl--deserves.

[Tammy Lynn Doyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intricate writings of The Famed and Fated Londoner. Knowing Amy was so damn talented and reckless at the same time breaks my heart. Her unique style, obscure truth within her songs, and jazzy blues wail will never be forgotten.

[Monique · Rating 1 out of 5]

Despite being a fan, I was disappointed with the book. I found it tiring and shallow like a movie trailer.
Nothing different from what we saw and read so much in the media.
Anyway, it’s always good to remember Amy. Her personality and her unmistakable voice. RIP Amy.

[Jackie Northall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good to know the inside story, but very sad.

[Dylan Marchant · Rating 1 out of 5]

Author is one of the worst writers I've ever read, simply boring. How you make an Amy Winehouse biography boring is beyond me.

[Vicente Rosa · Rating 3 out of 5]

eu ganhei esse livro num amigo secreto, e demorei mais do que deveria pra terminar (é um livro curto e tal).
mesmo assim, achei que foi uma leitura boa. o autor escreve bem, mas às vezes parece (muito) que algumas partes do livro são inventadas, principalmente as "um amigo íntimo disse...". achei também que a infância dela passou meio rápido, e o pacing do livro é meio estranho mesmo (capítulos gigantes depois capítulos pequenos e corridos). dei 3/5 estrelas porque achei interessante conhecer mais sobre a Amy (sou íntima já kkk), mesmo tendo esses probleminhas com o livro.
ps: ah, e uma parte que achei especialmente ~pra baixo foi que, no epílogo, falava sobre as ambições da amy para o futuro, tipo como ela queria ter filhos e lançar mais 5 CDs, sendo que o livro acaba em 2008, antes de ela falecer :c

---

i got this book at a secret santa, and it took me longer than expected to finish (it's a short book n stuff). even so, i thought it was an enjoyable read. the author writes well, but sometimes it seems (a lot) like some parts were made up, specially the ones with "a close friend reported that...". i also thought that her childhood was rushed over, like the book's pacing is kinda weird (looong chapters after really short and rushed ones). i gave 3 out of 5 star because i think it was interesting to know more about Amy (close friends already lol), even though i have these lil problems with the book.
ps: oh, and on a side note, a specially *sad* part was, on the epilogue, when the autor talked about Amy's ambitions about the future, like having kids and making other albums (she talks about 5 more), since the book finishes in 2008, before her passing away :c

[Iida Mäkinen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nojoo.. Olen aina tykännyt Amy Winehousen musiikista, hän on oikeastaan ainoa naisartisti, jota jollakin tapaa siedän. En ole tiennyt hänestä juuri mitään, mitä nyt aikoinani tuli luettua lehtiotsikoita hänestä, eihän niitä kukaan päässyt karkuun. Kirjasta sain jotakin uutta tietoa mutta kyllä tämä kirja keskittyi, valitettavasti, enemmän skandaaleihin ja Amyn surullisenkuuluisaan elämäntyyliin. Tottakai tämäkin asia nousee esille, kun on kyse Amysta,onhan hän sen itsekin myöntänyt avoimesti, mutta miksi esimerkiksi kun viimeisessä kappaleessa mainittiin Amyn tekevän uutta albumia, häntä ei haastateltu asiasta kirjaan ollenkaan vaan keskityttiin (taas) hänen miehensä vankilatuomioon ja huumausaineisiin. Amya oli muutenkin haastateltu itse kirjaan kovin vähän.
Ehkä kirjan kirjoittaja arvasi jo mitä tuleman piti ja sillä valitsi tämän skandaalinkärytteisen tyylin..
Amy Winehouse on sen verran hieno laulaja, että hänestä saisi paljon irti. Kirjailija nimenomaan itsekin painotti, että ihmiset unohtavat tarkastella Amya hänen musiikillisten ansioiden pohjalta,koska he keskittyvät hänen sekoiluunsa, mutta on itse ottanut sen teoksessaan melkoisen johtavaksi karaktääriksi. Harmi sinänsä.
Toisaalta, ehkä se pieni salaperäisyys edustaa Amya parhaiten. Kaiken tarpeellisenhan minä saan irti kuutelemalla hänen laulujaan, oi Valerie...

[Carla JFCL · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book fascinating, perhaps all the more because it was written before Amy Winehouse joined the "27 Club" of music stars who have died at that awful young age, seemingly at the height of their careers. It was pretty easy while reading the book, though, to guess how this sad tale would play out, even if I hadn't already known.

In places the book reads more like a mere "fanboy" piece than a true biography; it jumps around a lot in places enough to make it difficult to figure out the timeline; and the author leaves out enough details in enough places to make reading it a bit of a challenge at times. Still, the book is an intriguing insight into the life of this intriguing woman, and it also helps answer the question of why it so often seems no one can help someone who is bent on self-destruction. Well, we all know the answer, really: they can't be helped if they don't want to be. It seems Amy had more than the usual number of people in her life who would have done anything for her, but she would have none of it. Call it arrogance, ignorance or the illusion of invincible youth: no matter the cause, Amy Winehouse's senseless death took away a phenomenal talent much too early.

[Paulien · Rating 3 out of 5]

This biography is fluently written. It was published in 2008, which sometimes leads to phrases that are painful to read in 2012. The author is clearly smitten with Amy Winehouse and barely manages to hide that. For an author of a biography, he's not neutral enough for me, but his bias is of the adorable kind. I do think that he tries to downplay the alcohol and drug abuse a tad bit too much.

He writes about Amy's life and about her musical career, always making sure that the reader doesn't forget her talent. He does this in an enchanting way. I never was an outspoken fan of Amy Winehouse, but I never had much of a problem with her either. Still, reading this biography makes me want to listen to and discover all her music. And in the end, I think that's what the author wanted to achieve.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

It appears that this book was written before Amy’s tragic death at the age of 27 and then completed and published after her death, because most of the chapters seemed to be written as if she was still alive. This book was factual and to the point and went into detail in regards to her music. Her personal life was described with compassion and as a reader I couldn’t help but feel for Amy as she dealt with all her demons. I came away from the book with a greater appreciation for her music and a sense of loss that she died so young and wasn’t able to give us more of her talent or realize more of her dreams.

[Urszula · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bought it for a pound in a charity shop. It's rather a fan-book the biography that compiles pieces of interviews from different media together as a nice memory of someone's idol. I still read it though, because I wanted to remind myself the Amy's story and the benefit was to see the role of the UK media clearer in the whole picture. We don't have such vicious media in Poland, it would not fly. So it was quite saddening to see how much unnecessary attention certain parts of her life brought and how easily and disgustingly they were judged. I don't recommend this book, because it's there are probably better biographies out there but I am OK with reading it to get some perspective.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has some good basic info about the Winehouse. It is sad that all of his conclusions (about how she would pull it together and get better) turned out to be too optimistic.

Worst artistic criticism I've ever read and his album descriptions were just like the lyrics verbatim with no interpretation of the message behind them. As if everything she wrote and sang was literal? October Song is only about her dead bird? Really? Then I guess she had sex with her bird because she talks about it in that song...I don't get this guy's analysis.

[Sonja · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is a great compilation of media information and music reviews, even some good descriptions of Amy's songs by the author but in the end, it felt like I came away only knowing the side of Amy that can be gleened from interviews and tons of news reports. There weren't that many, if any, quotes from the family that had not been previously published. So as a bio goes, it gets the facts and chronological order of things down, but it left me wanting more, which is why I will probably read her father's book, My Daughter.

[Mara Ojeda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't really love this book, but I didn't hate it either. I am not a fan of biographies, so I did find it a bit tedious to read. Also, the author would sometimes jump around between past, present, and future. This was annoying and confusing. I did like however that the author did not get too into depth on any one subject. It was just a nice overview of her life, struggles, and accomplishments.

[Tushar · Rating 2 out of 5]

I decided to read this one on a lazy Sunday. Light and one day read. I am a fan of her music and never peeped into her life. Though after reading this one i understood her music and life far better but i still think the writing style could have been better. In fact i wouldn't even call this book a biography. It is just cut-paste of all the media interviews, supporters, fans and critics views. She deserve a better Biography.

[Lucie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really did not enjoy the way the book was set up by the author. The writing was quite sloppy and the copy pasting of the many reviews one after the other did not help either. On the other hand one does learn a bit more about Amy, her family and Blake. Especially important is the last part of the book where the author shows what the movie AMY (2015) failed to present and that is that towards the end of her life she was actually getting better.

[Donna-Jo Webster · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Biography" of the enigmatic British R & B superstar that reads more like a high school student's disjointed book report. Not too much actual "biography" and chock-full of random quotes from reviews that do little to further the story. Sadly, we all know how it ends...but this early edition of The Story of Amy stops short of that. (Hey, but it's the first eBook I've ever finished!) Photos would have been nice.

[Rushay Booysen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is suppose to be some sort of biography of Amy Winehouse but it failed being a biography on many levels.It seems the author basically just googled some stuff on Amy and decided to title this a autobiography.The book highlights some of her internal struggles with drugs etc but its nothing we didnt read about in the tabloids.May Amy R.I.P

[Bailee · Rating 4 out of 5]

i read this way before she even passed away.

Amy is a great soul and talented singer, i found this a very interesting read of how it all started and her addiction. Who she met along the way. By far a great read.

[Clarissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. Not sure if the two stars is for the content/subject matter or the writing. Sorry, Amy, but you just weren't that interesting! Talented on some level, yes, and hellishly persecuted by the scum media, but something just didn't click for me.