48 Fun Facts About Amy Winehouse

Which prize did the 2015 documentary Amy win in 2016?

An Oscar for Best Documentary Feature went to Amy in 2016, even though Winehouse's family had called the film misleading.

Beyoncé covered Back to Black for which 2013 film?

The Great Gatsby cover caught Mitch Winehouse off guard: he said Beyoncé hadn't told him and asked that its income go to the Amy Winehouse Foundation.

Which single was the first released from Back to Black?

Rehab drew on Winehouse's own refusal to go to rehab after her management team urged her to, a firm she later dropped.

Which Brit Award did Winehouse win in February 2007?

British Female Solo Artist went to Winehouse in 2007, three years after Frank earned her a nomination in the same category, which Dido won.

Which New York band backed Winehouse on Back to Black and on tour?

The Dap-Kings, Sharon Jones's Brooklyn soul band, were brought in by producer Mark Ronson to help Winehouse capture the 1960s girl-group sound she loved.

Which superstar lost the Best New Artist Grammy to Winehouse in 2008?

Taylor Swift lost Best New Artist to Winehouse in 2008, then won Album of the Year two years later with Fearless.

Why did Winehouse perform at the 2008 Grammys by satellite from London?

Her visa was not processed in time: US officials first refused it over her drug use, then relented too late for her to fly to Los Angeles.

Accepting Record of the Year in 2008, Winehouse declared which London district 'ain't burning down'?

Camden Town was on her mind after a fire swept Camden Market the night before, damaging one of her favourite pubs, the Hawley Arms.

Which Ronson single featured Winehouse on vocals and reached UK number two?

Valerie was first a Zutons song, named for an American friend of singer Dave McCabe who had got into trouble with the law.

Which 2007 covers album by Mark Ronson featured Winehouse on vocals?

Version grew, Ronson said, out of the fun he had turning Radiohead's Just into a funk jam for a 2006 tribute album, so he gave other acts' songs the same brassy treatment.

What was her father Mitch Winehouse's job?

Her mother Janis was a pharmacist.

Which jazz saxophonist and club owner had dated Winehouse's grandmother Cynthia?

Ronnie Scott once dated Cynthia, a singer who, with Amy's parents, nurtured her granddaughter's early love of jazz.

Which Croydon performing arts school, also attended by Adele, did Winehouse go to?

The Brit School didn't keep Winehouse long: she left before finishing her studies and went to work as a showbiz journalist.

Winehouse's childhood rap duo Sweet 'n' Sour was inspired by which hip-hop act?

Salt-N-Pepa made Winehouse feel she had found her music, so she and her best friend formed a rap duo, Sweet 'n' Sour, with Amy as Sour.

Which actress played Winehouse in the 2024 biopic Back to Black?

Marisa Abela trained her voice for months and sang Winehouse's songs herself throughout the film.

Winehouse sang with which ensemble before her record deal?

The National Youth Jazz Orchestra suited a jazz-raised singer: several of her uncles on her mother's side played jazz professionally.

Winehouse was lined up to sing the theme for which James Bond film before the plan fell through?

Quantum of Solace went instead to Jack White, who wrote Another Way to Die and recorded it with Alicia Keys.

What did two inquests find caused Winehouse's death in 2011?

Alcohol poisoning killed Winehouse rather than drugs, which she had given up: the inquest heard she was more than five times the drink-drive limit.

Which record label signed Winehouse in 2002?

Island signed Winehouse after her friend, the singer Tyler James, passed her demo along.

Which Frank single won Winehouse her first Ivor Novello Award?

Stronger Than Me railed at an ex-boyfriend for not being the stronger partner, and won Best Contemporary Song at the 2004 Ivor Novello Awards.

Winehouse's debut album Frank was shortlisted for which album prize in 2004?

Mercury Music Prize judges shortlisted Frank, yet the acclaimed album climbed no higher than number 13 in the UK chart until after her death.

Winehouse's final concert, in June 2011, took place in which European capital?

Belgrade saw such an erratic set from Winehouse that the rest of her European comeback tour was cancelled.

In which US city did Winehouse marry Blake Fielder-Civil in May 2007?

Miami saw a wedding on impulse: Fielder-Civil had left Winehouse, the heartbreak behind Back to Black, before they reunited in early 2007.

Whose album broke Back to Black's US chart-debut record a week later?

Back to Black's number-seven entry was the best by a British woman until Joss Stone came in at number two a week later, a peak Winehouse's album only matched after her Grammy wins.

Which Carole King song closed Winehouse's private funeral in July 2011?

So Far Away was Winehouse's favourite song, which is why it ended her private funeral service.

Which rapper featured on the remix of Winehouse's You Know I'm No Good?

Ghostface Killah's verses were added later: Winehouse recorded You Know I'm No Good solo, and the remix also sits on his own album More Fish.

Which Motown classic does Winehouse's song Tears Dry on Their Own borrow from?

Tears Dry on Their Own was first written and recorded as a ballad, a recording released only after her death; the uptempo hit borrows the music of Ain't No Mountain High Enough.

Winehouse's 2010 cover of Lesley Gore's It's My Party appeared on a tribute album to which producer?

Quincy Jones produced the original It's My Party in 1963, one of his first major pop production credits, long before his work with Michael Jackson.

Which ska band did Winehouse join on stage at the 2009 V Festival?

The Specials invited Winehouse to guest after meeting her backstage, as she had missed their reunion tour while away in St Lucia.

Winehouse's live DVD I Told You I Was Trouble was recorded at which London venue?

Shepherd's Bush Empire hosted the filmed concert, and the DVD's title comes from a line in her song You Know I'm No Good.

Which song won Winehouse the 2008 Ivor Novello for Best Song Musically and Lyrically?

Love Is a Losing Game was sung by George Michael as a tribute on his Symphonica tour, which opened weeks after Winehouse's death.

Whose 90th birthday concert did Winehouse play at Hyde Park in June 2008?

Nelson Mandela's tribute concert featured Winehouse despite a recent hospital stay after she had collapsed at home.

What was the name of the record label Winehouse launched in 2009?

Lioness Records signed a 13-year-old singer as its first act, and Winehouse mentored the young singer herself.

Who was Winehouse's goddaughter and the first signing to her label?

Dionne Bromfield was joined on stage by a dancing Winehouse at the Roundhouse three days before Winehouse died, her last public appearance.

Which British fashion label launched a clothing collection designed with Winehouse?

Fred Perry pursued Winehouse because she had worn the brand for years, and her line reworked its classics with twists like raised collars.

Winehouse's final recording was a duet with which singer?

Tony Bennett recorded with Winehouse at Abbey Road in March 2011, four months before she died, and showed footage of the session in MTV's awards-night tribute to her that August.

Which jazz standard was Winehouse's final recording, made in March 2011?

Body and Soul came out as a charity single after Winehouse's death, with its proceeds going to the Amy Winehouse Foundation.

Which 1960s girl group inspired Winehouse's beehive hairdo?

The Ronettes' lead singer Ronnie Spector saw her own look in Winehouse, and later sang Back to Black in concert as a tribute.

Who directed the 2015 documentary Amy?

Asif Kapadia built the film from mostly unseen footage and put Winehouse's lyrics on screen so viewers would pay attention to her words.

Who directed the 2024 biopic Back to Black?

Sam Taylor-Johnson told the story from Winehouse's own point of view, so Blake Fielder-Civil appears as she saw him, leaving judgment of him to viewers.

What was the title of Mitch Winehouse's 2012 memoir?

Amy, My Daughter sent its proceeds to the Amy Winehouse Foundation, which her family set up after her death to help vulnerable young people.

The Amy Winehouse Foundation was launched on which occasion?

Her birthday brought the official launch in September 2011, weeks after the family found that someone else had registered the foundation's name first.

Which comedian helped launch the Amy Winehouse Foundation's Resilience Programme for Schools in 2013?

Russell Brand, himself a former drug addict, backed the scheme as Mitch Winehouse warned that people were confusing legal highs with safe drugs.

Winehouse's death drew comparisons with Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Kurt Cobain, placing her in which so-called group?

The 27 Club may be a myth: a 2011 BMJ study of 1,046 musicians with UK number-one albums found no spike in deaths at age 27.

Roughly how many copies has Back to Black sold worldwide?

Reports put sales near 20 million, lifted by a surge after Winehouse's death, when Back to Black returned to the top of the UK album chart.

Which US institution preserved Back to Black in its National Recording Registry in 2025?

The Library of Congress calls its registry picks the sounds of America, yet the 2025 list took in this album by a Londoner, alongside the Windows 95 start-up chime.

Which Bob Dylan comment about Winehouse was reported in 2017?

'The last real individualist around' was Dylan's reply when asked if he was a fan, right after naming her last album among records he liked.

Which London museum staged Amy Winehouse: A Family Portrait, an exhibition of her belongings, in 2013?

Jewish Museum London suited a family who said Winehouse was proud of her Jewish-London roots, though they were not religious.