When Amy Winehouse won Record Of The Year for "Rehab" at the 2008 Grammys, she was visibly stunned. Footage still circulates, her face frozen in pure shock. She had won five awards that night.
Her friend Juliette Ashby turned to her and told her she was proud of her. "Jules," Winehouse replied, "this is so boring without drugs." The singer’s short life was littered with tragedy, but that disillusioned moment encapsulates the darkness she inhabited. She had just achieved international success with her second album, Back To Black, which came out 20 years ago today in her native UK. (It would arrive in the US about five months later.) Recognition couldn’t save Winehouse — in fact, it could only accelerate her plunge as she endured scrutiny and mockery.
She was only 23, yet sang soulfully with the skill, cleverness, and pain of someone who’s lived a thousand lives. She always came off as bigger than herself, an instantly distinguishable cultural icon with her trademark black beehive, huge eyeliner wing, and Monroe piercing. Frank, Winehouse’s debut LP, was released in 2003, establishing her as an unapologetic, rebellious star in the making.
For Back To Black, Winehouse secured Mark Ronson, the hip-hop DJ and rising producer known for bringing a modern touch to retro soul. Also in the mix were the Dap-Kings, the backing band for funk and soul revivalist Sharon Jones, and Frank collaborator Salaam Remi. The record was cleaner, more focused, and had the hits.
Traces of the youthful playfulness from Frank lingered, but her voice was staggeringly more developed and mature, her lyrical subjects more harrowing. Winehouse communicates her gnawing troubles with commanding coolness, her contralto unfurling effortlessly over the band's jazzy exuberance. Nothing about “Rehab,” a song about refusing help, indicates defeat or sadness.
The timeless tune — a certified dive bar classic — feels like a victorious march into the abyss. I’m not frightened of appearing vulnerable. I write songs about stuff that I can’t really get past personally — and then I write a song about it and I feel better.” It was easy for many critics to dismiss Winehouse — a messy public figure showing up to performances drunk, getting booed off the stage, and throwing punches at fans who groped her — as an idiot.
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