Amy Winehouse Music Videos, Pictures and Photos including Valerie, You Know I'm No Good, Rehab Music Videos on Roxwel

Amy Winehouse

Amy Winehouse is a rebel, and she always has been. The 24 year old tattooed English songstress - best known in the United States for her semiautobiographical 2006 single "Rehab", a soulful jazz-inspired number featuring a verse by rap mogul Jay-Z - is currently fighting a losing battle with drug addiction, and has been in and out of treatment facilities and courtrooms for years. While Amy’s erratic public behavior has become the stuff of tabloid legend, it’s really nothing new.

Born to a musically inclined family in London, Amy was a precocious child; she received poor marks in grammar school because she wouldn’t stop singing. Her talent eventually led to her enrollment in the Sylvia Young Theatre School, though she was soon expelled for bad behavior and getting a nose piercing, among other offenses. Despite this, Amy still managed to later attend The BRIT School, a prestigious performing arts academy whose alumni include Leona Lewis and Imogen Heap. While working as a freelance music journalist by day and as the singer of a local jazz band by night, one of Winehouse’s demo tapes came to the attention of Simon Fuller, the artist manager behind the success of the Spice Girls and Kylie Minogue. He liked what he heard, and soon landed the nineteen year old Winehouse a record deal with Island Records. Winehouse soon began working on her debut album, Frank, which was released in September 2003. Though Frank was hugely popular in England (even earning a double-Platinum certification), it failed to make a large impression in the United States - but it would later go on to sell over 200,000 copies when it was reissued in 2008. Frank eventually spawned four singles, among them "Stronger Than Me", "Take The Box", and "In My Bed".

Despite the fact that the jazz-inspired Frank was very warmly received by fans and critics alike, Amy was dissatisfied with the album and refused to begin working on another album for almost two years. She eventually began songwriting again in 2005 at the urging of then-boyfriend Mark Ronson, a prominent New York City DJ. In 2006 Amy began working on new material in the studio backed by soul/funk outfit the Dap-Kings (Sharon Jones’ backing band), eventually releasing her sophomore album Back to Black just six months later.