She's a young lady who's been through the mill somewhat this year, with the death of her famous godmother Amy Winehouse. But Dionne Bromfield has maintained an air of determination and professionalism in the months since the singer's death. As she proved when she appeared in the final of the Polish version of Dancing With The Stars this weekend, turning in a solid performance and looked great in a silver mini dress.
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On sparkling form: Dionne Bromfield performs on the Polish version of Dancing With The Stars (Taniec Z Gwiazdami)
Singing it loud and proud: The 15-year-old has a voice that's slightly reminiscent of her godmother Amy Winehouse
The singer, who is still only 15, sang her single Foolin' on the show and there were echoes of Winehouse in her sultry voice.
Dionne looked happy and relaxed as she performed in a skimpy silver mini dress, with a group of dancers performing behind her. The show was eventually won by actor Kacper Kuszewski, 35, who has played Luke Skywalker in the dubbed versions of the most recent Star Wars movies.
Short and sweet: Dionne wore a silver mini dress for her performance
Dionne's godmother Amy Winehouse died in July this year - on 26 October 2011 a coroner ruled that alcohol poisoning was the cause of her death. Last week, Daily Mail showbiz reporter Baz Bamigboye reported that a film of the singer's life and death could be on the cards. He said several Hollywood producers are considering buying the screen rights to a book about the hugely gifted, but fatally flawed, singer.
Rest in peace: Amy Winehouse passed away in July this year aged just 27
According to Baz there’s no screenplay and there isn’t a director yet, and any film is still a long way off. However it could be based on a book called Saving Amy, written last year by celebrity journalist Daphne Barak, who also made a documentary of the same name for Channel 4. It details Barak’s friendship with Amy and how she accompanied her to St Lucia and kept an eye on her while she was ‘resting’ at various hospitals in England. Barak also befriended Winehouse’s ex Blake Fielder-Civil and her father Mitch. It's all down to if the right calibre of script writer can be found to turn Ms Barak’s writing into a solidscreenplay, and an A-list director comes on board to take the helm. But the most important factor, he says, is to find an actress to portray Winehouse.
Amy Winehouse to Beyonce: Mel C chooses her top ten greatest female performers
By MEL C, singer and former Spice Girl
Last updated at 10:39 PM on 3rd September 2011
From a great artist with a self-destructive streak that ultimately killed her at the age of 27, to a modern superstar who recently made the headlines with news of her pregnancy, here MEL C picks her most inspiring singers
Janis Joplin was a fantastic performer who really transformed on stage
1. JANIS JOPLIN
Janis had one of the most distinctive voices ever. It sounded like it came from the very depths of her soul, and could go from a whisper to a raw rasp. She was a fantastic performer who really transformed on stage. She suffered from low self-esteem and was very insecure by all accounts, but she came alive for an audience, and having performed myself I can understand how music gave her the freedom to express herself and become someone else. I love Piece Of My Heart, her breakthrough single, and Cry Baby has such a raw quality. People always focus on her sandpaper vocal, but she could sing very softly and soulfully.
2. ADELE
Adele's made it on talent alone, and for someone so young to express such depth of emotion is remarkable. Rolling In The Deep is an exceptional song and will become a staple
Adele has dominated this year with her album 21, and it’s wonderful to see a young British artist enjoy global success. The market is saturated with pop and sex right now, and to see an artist do well without any of that is so refreshing. She’s made it on talent alone, and for someone so young to express such depth of emotion is remarkable. Rolling In The Deep is an exceptional song and will become a staple. She sounds like she has lived so much, but sings effortlessly. And she’s so down to earth. She’s the polar opposite of an artist like Madonna: she doesn’t want a superstar image. I love that she rejected playing all the festivals because she wanted to spend summer with her mates. I wouldn’t have the courage to do that. She’ll be around for a long time.
Tina Turner (left) is exceptional in a way because her career really exploded when she was in her forties. Amy Winehouse (right) was a superb singer, with great timing, pitch and phrasing
3. TINA TURNER
You can’t have a list like this without Tina Turner. My mother sang in a tribute band called River Deep for a while, so I became incredibly familiar with her songs. Hers is an incredible story of female resilience, and to have a career for so long is inspirational. She’s exceptional in a way because her career really exploded when she was in her forties. She dominated the Eighties, and the album I always think of is Private Dancer with those fabulous legs on the cover and those massive singles. The one thing husband Ike did for her was to really push her voice and it went from strength to strength. It had such power and yet you could hear the pain, too. I saw her at Wembley in the late Nineties and the energy she demonstrated, strutting around the stage, was inspiring.
4. AMY WINEHOUSE
First and foremost Amy was a superb singer, with great timing, pitch and phrasing. Her style was rooted in jazz and soul, but she had a very contemporary way with a lyric. Because of the media attention these days, we’ve witnessed some of her sadder moments on stage, and that unfairly tarnishes someone who was a great performer. It’s incredibly sad to lose such a great artist. When you experience success quite early it can be a lot to deal with. You’re still finding out who you are as a person, and if you develop problems with drugs and drink it can become a downward spiral. As you get older you accept who you are, but I don’t think Amy had time to learn to cope.
5. BEYONCE
To sing and dance at the same time and do it in heels that big is awesome. Beyonce can do soul, R&B and hip-hop and she's always moving forward musically and prepared to push boundaries
I must confess I still haven’t seen Beyoncé live, which is a shame, but for me she’s the full package. She has a huge voice, a great set of songs, she looks great and she can really move. To sing and dance at the same time and do it in heels that big is awesome. She’s every inch the modern superstar and stands up next to any of the great soul singers of yesteryear. She can do soul, R&B and hip-hop and she’s always moving forward musically and prepared to push boundaries. It doesn’t hurt that her husband, rapper and actor Jay-Z, is so talented, either. That’s a real dream team.
Dusty Springfield (left) had a powerful soul voice for a Catholic girl from north London and didn't have to resort to tricks or screaming. Shirley Bassey (right) really lives a song as she performs it
6. DUSTY SPRINGFIELD
My music taste came from going through my mum’s vinyl collection, which is where I discovered Dusty, the ‘White Queen of Soul’. She had a powerful soul voice for a Catholic girl from north London and didn’t have to resort to tricks or screaming. I can reel off my favourite songs, but Dusty In Memphis stands up as a great album. I’ve been lucky enough to sing I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself and I Close My Eyes And Count To Ten, but I can’t touch her. Sadly, she suffered problems with drink and drugs brought on by depression. The Pet Shop Boys helped revive her career and it was great that more people realised what an icon she was before she died.
7. SHIRLEY BASSEY
Shirley seemed to be ever-present on TV variety shows when I was growing up and she left a huge impression on me. She’s almost impossible to compare to anyone else, with a powerful Welsh voice that can handle standards as well as pop hits, and she’s the ultimate Bond theme artist. You can’t think of her without hearing Goldfinger or Diamonds Are Forever. She is such a dramatic performer, too, with those big dresses and flourishing hand movements, and she really lives a song as she performs it. I was fortunate enough to share a bill with her at the concert for Mikhail Gorbachev at the Royal Albert Hall in March and she is one of those people you know has arrived the moment she enters the room. There’s a real aura about her. Shirley really walks the walk.
Annie Lennox (left) possesses such a truly huge voice. I love white soul voices and hers is one of the best. Madonna (right) did all the groundwork for artists like Lady Gaga. She's completely in control of her career
8. ANNIE LENNOX
I first came across Annie when she was in the Eurythmics. I loved her voice and the androgynous image she projected in those great Eighties videos. She’s a really beautiful woman, but she possesses such a truly huge voice. I love white soul voices and hers is one of the best. She’s a very strong character and a good role model for young women, especially where the music industry is concerned. When the Spice Girls were looking for a new manager, we chose Simon Fuller because he looked after her. I thought, ‘If he’s good enough for Annie, he’s good enough for me.’ We ended up meeting her, and she gave me a lot of good advice in those early days.
9. MADONNA
I go way back with Madonna. I remember being embarrassed by the lyrics to Like A Virgin as a child, but I was secretly blown away. She’s the artist who made me want to be a pop star, and as a kid I learnt all the songs and routines. She’s a performer who really pushed the boundaries. People compare Lady Gaga to Madonna, but while I have a lot of respect for Lady Gaga, Madonna did all the groundwork for artists like her. She’s completely in control of her career, has an amazing work ethic and pays real attention to every aspect of her image. Her videos have always been spectacular; her shows are massive events. I’ve seen her several times – the first was The Girlie Show in 1993. That was a really breathtaking show. If I had to pick one of her albums it would be Ray Of Light.
10. KT TUNSTALL
KT Tunstall's one of the few performers in this list who can strap on a guitar and stand there alone on stage and hold an audience's attention, and I have total respect for her because of that
I absolutely loved Eye To The Telescope when it came out and played it non-stop. KT is a smart, funny and clever artist, a really talented songwriter who has music coming out of every pore and a wonderful sexy, husky voice. She’s one of the few performers in this list who can strap on a guitar and stand there alone on stage and hold an audience’s attention, and I have total respect for her because of that. I’ve been lucky enough to get to know her, and she’s great fun. I went to her birthday party a couple of years ago. She had a band and she was encouraging people to stand up and sing, but I didn’t have the bottle to get up there. I think I needed a bit of Dutch courage, but I was a new mum at the time and completely sober.
Mel C’s single ‘Think About It’ and album ‘The Sea’ are out tomorrow. melaniec.net
She has shown maturity beyond her years as she's struggled over the past days to cope with the tragic death of the godmother she described as her 'soulmate'.
But it all became too much for singer Dionne Bromfield, 15, as she played a show last night two weeks to the day since Amy Winehouse died, aged 27.
The young soul singer broke down in tears at the end of her set at the Big Chill festival at Eastnor Castle, Herefordshire last night as she dedicated final song to the star - a cover of her hit Love Is A Losing Game.
Breaking down: Dionne Bromfield can't keep her emotions inside as she begins to cry in front of fans
Devastated: Dionne is clearly distressed at the recent passing of her godmother
In an emotional tribute, Bromfield, who was signed to Winehouse's label Lioness Records, appeared teary-eyed and witnesses say she was barely able to sing the last few words as she choked up.
The crowd buoyed her up and kept her going by cheering. The star told the crowd: 'She was an amazing singer. She was not only my godmother, but she was my mentor and my boss as well.'
Staying strong: Young star drys her eyes as she tries to carry on with her Big Chill performance
Dionne performed for 30 minutes backed by a five-piece band and dancers. She also covered Cee Lo Green's hit Forget You and the Shirelles' Mama Said. Winehouse, who had struggled with drug and alcohol addiction, was found dead at her home in Camden, north London, on 23 July. The cause of her death has not yet been disclosed.
Poignant: Amy Winehouse's goddaughter dedicated her cover of Love Is A Losing game to the tragic star at the Big Chill Festival last night
Tribute: Singer dedicated her last song to Amy - a cover of Love Is a Losing Game
Brave: Dionne was performing at the show a fortnight to the day that Amy died
Much missed: Dionne was her godmother Amy in 2009
Dionne wrote at the time: 'I feel like apart of my Soul has departed with the beautiful Song Bird Amy. She loved everyone ... Thank you all for your loving messages and support.
'Amy had a Place in her Heart for each and everyone of you.'
Also performing at the Big Chill festival yesterday was Jessie J, who took to the stage in a leopard print body suit, purple wig and cat ears.
She sat on a throne as she recovers from a broken foot.
Other acts playing the three-day bash include The Chemical Brothers, Empire Of The Sun, Calvin Harris, Example and Kanye West.
Looking grrreat: Jessie J also performed at the Big Chill last night in Herefordshire last night
Kick out the jams: The star wore a leopard print catsuit and was sat on a throne as she has a broken foot
Amy Winehouse's final "performance" wasn't much of one. Two days before she was found dead, Winehouse walked out on stage at the iTunes Festival in London, danced around a little, resisted the microphone that was put in her face, and quickly left. It was, at the least, a better ending to her on-stage career than being booed off in Belgrade. Winehouse's cameo was really intended to be a gesture and not a performance, though. She was there to draw attention to her so-called goddaughter, 15-year-old singer Dionne Bromfield. Little could she have foreseen just how much attention her appearance would draw. It ended up being a greater gift to Bromfield than Winehouse could have intended, with the world suddenly curious to see the doomed diva's last public moments. If this was a torch-passing that was somewhat inadvertent in its finality, Bromfield was a far worthier recipient of Winehouse's largess than the term "15-year-old goddaughter" might unpromisingly suggest. Bromfield is an actual savant who's got the goods. She might just do something with that torch.
Don't judge Bromfield just by the video footage of her last hookup with Winehouse. She's fine there, performing the Shirelles' 1960 hit "Mama Said," which was her first single a couple of years ago (!), from her debut album of soul covers. It's a choice designed to show off the young teen singer's precocity. But the focus of this footage is undeniably Winehouse. Why does she resist actually performing with Bromfield during what turned out to be her last minutes on-stage? Was it inability, or humility? A combination of both, maybe; hard to know the answer to that for sure. But if you want confirmation that Winehouse's belief in Bromfield was well-placed, check out the recently released music video for "Yeah Right," the first single off the 15-year-old's second album, a collection o original material.
To be sure, the polished direction, choreography, and editing augment Bromfield's still-nascent performing skills. And it's hard to know whether the young singer would have arrived at that killer analog drum sound without the hovering influence of Auntie Amy. But she's got real presence, and damn if she doesn't sound like a pint-sized (or pint-ier sized) Winehouse, more by force of instinct than aping or affectation. YouTube also has a six-minute sampler from Bromfield's album, which so far is available only as a British import (though the single is on American iTunes and Spotify). Regardless of how you feel about the adolescent pop stars clogging our shores, this is teen music you can get behind.
If you want to see footage of Winehouse backing Bromfield where she put a little more effort in, you can take a look at Bromfield's debut on a popular British dancing show, where Winehouse actually joined the backing chorus and did all the requisite soul-backing arm movements (even if it doesn't look or sound like she's making much attempt to be heard in the mix). x And for a more candid look at Winehouse's interaction with her protege—and a rare reminder that the late star could play the guitar—there's this interesting behind-the-scenes footage:
Bromfield came to Winehouse's attention because her mum was a friend of Amy's dad, Mitch. The "goddaughter" term being widely used is unofficial, as it turns out. But Winehouse certainly determined to become Bromfield's fairy godmother, as she signed the girl to the label she'd created, Lioness Records. "Amy is really protective of me and that's a good thing because I am only 14," Bromfield said last year. "She is like a mother duck with me... We go shopping together and we love watching comedy programmes and she buys great presents. She has a heart of gold... Auntie Amy? She's Mother Teresa." Ah, if only. Given a desire Winehouse had stated over the years to someday have children, it's somehow comforting to know that she did find an outlet for those maternal instincts. And we may be the indirect beneficiary, if Bromfield delivers on her promise. Even in death, we may owe Amy one. To her credit, by the way, Bromfield doesn't try to come off as an old soul, even if the music she's appropriating is... old soul. She has a crush on Justin Bieber, not Otis Redding. "I am totally in love with him," she said in a recent interview. "I used to like the Jonas Brothers, but only because I thought that they were good-looking, not because I actually liked their music. But I don't have a real boyfriend. Well, I suppose I will have to go out with someone sometime. How else am I going to have kids?"
In just 27 years, Amy Winehouse has managed to leave behind her a soul legacy, with a band of modern British female soul singers - Adele, Duffy, Jessie J - celebrating success across the world borne almost entirely in her wake.
Sadly, however, the immeasurably gifted singer is unlikely to be remembered for her talents, which were so often starved; drowned by drink and tranquillised by drug abuse.
Amy Winehouse's death was one foretold by gruesome pictures of bloody plimsolls and near death experiences from drugs publicly retold by her lovers. It almost seems unsurprising that, in death, Winehouse joins many of her heroes - Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison - all of whom died aged just 27.
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Fresh faced: Amy Winehouse looks healthy in her early years
Frail: Amy looking thin and far older than her years
Scared: Amy in Camden little over a week ago
Amy Winehouse was born in 1983, a second child to cab driver Mitch and his wife Janis, a pharmacist, from North London.
Her parents split when she was nine years old and she and older brother Alex moved to live with their mother in Southgate, North London - just minutes away from The Priory, the rehab clinic favoured by celebrities, which she would revisit just months before her death. 'She was always very self-willed,' her father Mitch told Rolling Stone in 2007. 'Not badly behaved but...different.'
Innocent: Winehouse before the career, the drugs, the drink and the scandal. Aged just two (left) and eight
The balance between her precocious musical talents and a seeming inclination to self-destruct were clear from a young age. At just 12, Winehouse enrolled at the Sylvia Young Theatre School but was expelled not long after for getting her nose pierced.
She had previously - aged 10 -formed a rap group, Sweet 'n' Sour - Winehouse was Sour - that she later described as 'the little white Jewish Salt 'n' Pepa.'
She joined the Brit School and by 16 her otherworldly soul voice - deep, full and knowing but light and fresh and fragile at the same time - had won her a contract with Simon Fuller's management company, which led to her being signed by Island Records.
Keeping things simple: A fresh-faced Amy performs wearing just a white T-shirt and jeans back in 2004 and at the Q Awards the same year
In 2003, she would release her first album - to much critical acclaim - while also meeting the man with whom she would share possibly the most destructive celebrity relationship of the decade.
The jazz-influenced debut, titled 'Frank', was critically praised for its gems - the anthemic Stronger Than Me, about a weak, feminine boyfriend and F**k Me Pumps, in which she ridiculed tired female gold-diggers, and earned Winehouse an Ivor Novello songwriting award, two Brit nominations and a spot on the shortlist for the Mercury Music Prize.
But Winehouse soon expressed dissatisfaction with the disc, saying she was 'only 80 per cent behind' the album.
A tattoo appears: Winehous still looking fresh faced in 2005, and sporting her new tattoo the next year
That same year, she met Blake Fielder-Civil at a bar and swiftly had his name tattooed above her heart.
The relationship was on-off and infamously tempestuous, involving drug and drink binges. In one picture from 2007, she was seen with bruises on her face and blood seeping from her pink ballet shoes.
She grips Blake, as he displays a face full of scratches after a particularly viscious late night bust-up.
Losing weight: The singer has acquired more tattos at the 2007 Brit Awards, left, and looks gaunt at the MTV music video awards in Losa Angeles in the same year
By 2006, after three years with Blake, rapid weight loss, an ever-expanding beehive hairdo and documented drug and drink problems, Winehouse released Back to Black, her breakthrough album, which made her a huge star across the world.
Working with producers Mark Ronson and Salaam Remi and soul-funk group the Dap-Kings, Winehouse fused soul, jazz, doo-wop and, above all, a love of the girl-groups of the early 1960s with lyrical tales of romantic obsession and emotional excess.
Back to Black was released in the United States in March 2007 and went on to win five Grammy awards, including song and record of the year for Rehab.
The voice: Amy Winehouse's talent was such that it has opened doors for many other young female soul singers who have earned huge success since her breakthrough. She is pictured performing in 2008
'I did [go to rehab], for just 15 minutes,' she told The Sun at the time. 'I went in and said, "Hello" and explained that I drink because I'm in love and have f****d up the relationship. Then I walked out.'
Winehouse's rise was helped by her distinctive look - black beehive of hair, thickly lined cat eyes, girly tattoos - and her tart tongue.
She was famously blunt in her assessment of her peers, once describing Dido's sound as 'background music - the background to death' and saying of pop princess Kylie Minogue, 'she's not an artist ... she's a pony.'
The songs on Black to Black detailed her relationship with Blake with a similar frankness.
Baring all: Winehouse leaves her flat in Camden with no shoes on
To the pub: Winehouse heads to her local, the Hawley Arms
Struggling: Winehouse at a McDonald's after a court hearing
Big night: Amy climbs into a car at the end of an evening out drinking at Balans in Soho
'I listen to a lot of '60s music, but society is different now,' Winehouse said in 2007. 'I'm a young woman and I'm going to write about what I know.'
Even then, Winehouse's performances were sometimes shambolic, and she admitted to being 'a terrible drunk.'
Increasingly, her personal life began to overshadow her career.
She acknowledged struggling with eating disorders and told a newspaper that she had been diagnosed as manic depressive but refused to take medication. Soon accounts of her erratic behavior, canceled concerts and drink and drug-fueled nights began to multiply.
Photographs caught her unsteady on her feet or vacant-eyed, and she appeared unhealthily thin, with scabs on her face and marks on her arms.
There were embarrassing videos released to the world on the Internet. One showed an addled Winehouse and Babyshambles singer Pete Doherty playing with newborn mice. Another, for which Winehouse apologised, showed her singing a racist ditty to the tune of a children's song.
Winehouse's managers went to increasingly desperate lengths to keep the wayward star on the straight and narrow.
Though she was often reported to be working on new material, fans got tired of waiting for the much-promised follow up to Back to Black.
Wrecked: Amy is bruised, smudged and has blood on her feet, while Blake's face has been scratched
Damaged: A close-up of the shot of Winehouse's blood-soaked pink ballet pumps
Occasional bits of recording were released. Her rendition of The Zutons' Valerie was a hit for producer Mark Ronson but other recording projects with Ronson, one of the architects of the success of Back to Black, came to nothing.
She also had run-ins with the law. In April 2008, Winehouse was cautioned by police for assault after she slapped a man during a raucous night out.
The same year she was investigated by police, although not charged, after a tabloid newspaper published a video that appeared to show her smoking crack cocaine.
'I'm a musician; I'm not a model,' she said on her 2007 concert DVD, I Told You I Was Trouble. 'The more insecure I felt, the more I'd drink. The more insecure I feel, the bigger my hair has to be.'
That year, after breaking up with Blake, going out with chef Alex Claire, and getting back together with her former lover, they married in Miami.
'I know I'm talented, but I wasn't put here to sing,' she told Rolling Stone. 'I was put here to be a wife and a mum and look after my family.'
The renewed relationship with Blake led to cancelled tours and hospital visits after overdosing on drugs.
A day after being told she had received three MTV Video Music Award nods, the singer was rushed to the University College London Hospital after an overdose, which was initially dismissed as 'exhaustion'.
'I really thought I was on the way out,' she said. 'My husband Blake saved me.'
Later that year the pictures were taken of her blood-addled pumps. In emails to blogger Perez Hilton, she insisted Blake did not hit her. 'I was cutting myself after he found me in our room about to do drugs with a call girl and rightly said I wasn't good enough for him. I lost it.'
Happier times: Amy is seen here looking healthier with her father Mitch
Triumphs: Amy Winehouse hugs her mother Janis Winehouse after accepting a Grammy Award in London on February 10, 2008
Later that week, on BBC's Radio 5 Live, Fielder-Civil's mother, Georgette, said: 'I think they both need to get medical help before one of them, if not both of them, eventually will die.'
That November, Fielder-Civil was arrested for an attack on a pub manager the year before. Fielder-Civil later pleaded guilty to assaulting barman James King and then offering him £200,000 to keep quiet about it.
Winehouse stood by 'my Blake' throughout his trial, often blowing kisses at him from the court's public gallery and wearing a heart-shaped pin labelled 'Blake' in her hair at concerts. But British newspapers reported extramarital affairs while Fielder-Civil was behind bars. They divorced in 2009.
After the split, Fielder-Civil described how he thought Winehouse had died in his arms following a three-day drugs binge.
Amy went into a seizure at a party at her home in Camden, North London, and had stopped breathing.
Blake told The Sun: 'She started having a fit on the bed. She slid down on to the floor before I could stop her. She started quivering again and it suddenly grew into what seemed like a full-blown epileptic fit.
'I was panicking. I didn't know know how to help her. I was out of it on drugs as well - and was sobbing and crying out, "Amy!"'
Trial: Amy is photographed as she is led to court for an appearance
Stern: Winehouse was accused of attacking a theatre manager in Milton Keynes
Fielder-Civil put Winehouse into the recovery position and pulled her tongue out of her mouth to stop her biting it.
'I knelt over her as she kept on fitting. But then suddenly she just passed out and stopped breathing. It was the most frightening thing I had ever seen. I felt sure I was watching her die right in front of me. I didn't know what to do or how to save her. I held her to me - and I thought she was dying in my arms. But somehow I managed to open her mouth and breathe air down her throat,' he added.
'At first nothing happened. So I did it again. I was feeling for her pulse because I thought her heart might have stopped.
'Then she spluttered - and I saw her chest rise. I was still sobbing and panicking but I just felt this huge relief that she was alive.'
In June 2008 and again in April 2010, Winehouse was taken to hospital and treated for injuries after fainting and falling at home.
Her father said she had developed the lung disease emphysema from smoking cigarettes and crack, although her spokeswoman later said Winehouse only had 'early signs of what could lead to emphysema.'
Memorable: The singer is unlikely to be forgotten for a long time - for her music as much as for her troubles
Tragic: Amy Winehouse at the peak of her powers, wowing crowds with her incredible voice and haunting lyrics
She left the hospital to perform at Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday concert in Hyde Park in June 2008, and at the Glastonbury festival the next day, where she received a rousing reception but scuffled with a member of the crowd.
She also, in 2010, pleaded guilty to assaulting a theatre manager who asked her to leave a family Christmas show because she'd had too much to drink.
She was given a fine and a warning to stay out of trouble by a judge who praised her for trying to clean up her act.
In a bid to save her ailing health and desperate addiction problems, Winehouse most recently booked herself into rehab in May.
A month previously she had pulled out of her European tour after she was jeered while appearing drunk on stage at her comeback gig in Serbia.
She left the stage frequently, with her band having to improvise in her absence, and was said to have mumbled through parts of her songs.
After the disastrous gigs, the stint at The Priory in May was hoped to have been a means finally to refocus the young singer.
Winehouse, however, checked herself out after just one week.
Amy Winehouse dead at 27 - is she another member of the 'Stupid Club'?
ANALYSIS by PAUL CONNOLLY
When Kurt Cobain, then 27, killed himself in 1994, his mother Wendy said that, 'Now he's gone and joined that Stupid Club.'
She was referring to the long list of rock stars who have died by their own hand at the age of 27: Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Brian Jones to name only a few.
Now, very sadly, Amy Winehouse has died at 27. At the time of writing it's unclear what the cause of death was, so to speculate would be grossly unfair. Like Cobain, Winehouse has left us with a frustratingly meagre canon of work. A voice and a talent like hers should have a much more substantial legacy than just two albums, 2003's promising Frank and 2006's Back To Black, which was a masterpiece of soul.
There's been little new material since Back To Black apart from her cover of The Zutons' Valerie with Mark Ronson and another cover last year, this time Lesley Gore's kitsch classic, It's My Party for a Quincy Jones tribute album.
Clearly, since Back To Black made her a star, she's become more renowned for her lurid lifestyle and, although she's been working on new material, no release date had been scheduled. I sincerely hope she's not remembered more for her drug use than her music but I'm not optimistic. Adele, at least, has much to thank Amy for - Back To Black's success in America made it easier for her to make the huge inroads she's enjoyed across the pond.
I met Amy once, way back prior to the release of Frank, and I found her witty, intelligent and sparky company. She certainly had a mischievous glint in her eye but I did not have her marked down as a potential member of the 'stupid club.' She seemed too perky, alive and confident.
The demons that have been clamped to her back in recent years were nowhere to be seen. Where did they come from? Did the pressure of fame conjure them up? Is that why she was so often drunk on stage? Did she, like Cobain, not enjoy fame? Like Cobain why did she not simply walk away? Perhaps that's why progress on her third album was so slow. Maybe she didn't want the attention focused back on her again.
Again, why didn't she just walk away?
It's desperately sad when someone who brought so much joy to so many dies unnaturally young. It really, really stings. But let's please remember just how talented she was. R.I.P. Amy.
