Tragic Details About Amy Winehouse’s Life

What most would probably consider the major contributing factor to Amy Winehouse’s tragic downward spiral was her well-documented dependency on drugs and alcohol. The singer spent years in the spotlight ridiculed for her behavior, much of which was prompted by drinking in excess, until alcohol poisoning eventually killed her.

In January 2008, a photo of Winehouse smoking crack cocaine was plastered over the front of tabloid magazines and what everyone had feared about her drug use appeared to be true. Her first manager, Nick Godwyn, spoke with The Times later that year about how he thought her then-husband Blake Fielder-Civil was to blame for her drug use. “Amy changed overnight after she met Blake. … Her personality became more distant. And it seemed to me like that was down to the drugs. When I met her she smoked weed but she thought the people who took class-A drugs were stupid. She used to laugh at them,” he said.

Between 2008 and 2009, Winehouse performed on stage drunkenly, stumbling and forgetting words to lyrics. Shows were canceled, the crowds booed at her, and it was clear that her alcohol dependency was now having an impact on her career. Winehouse’s stepmother Jane spoke with The Independent in 2021, confirming that while the singer did curb her drug habit, alcohol soon replaced it. “We thought she was going to pull through. We thought she was going to beat it,” she said.