By Osagie Alonge
Every once in a while we hear that yet another musician/actor has died from drug related issues. One would wonder if the ones alive ever take cue from other musicians that went down that road and never came back… apparently not, as almost every year, we lose one too many acts to the bottle, needle or pills. Jimi Hendrix, Michael Jackson, Brian Jones (of the Temptations), Hillel Slovak(of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers), Ike Turner…the list is endless…
On Saturday, July 23, 2011, British Singer/song-writer Amy Winehouse was found dead in her London apartment. The cause of death is described as unexplained by the Metropolitan Police. But those who knew the singer as far as from the other side of the TV screen were aware of her excessive substance abuse. Winehouse was a strong crack cocaine addict that also took to the bottle on too many occasions. An excellent singer on the verge of total domination with her sultry, sassy, self-spoken singing style, she was often pulled back by her unending addiction to drugs and alcohol.
Frankly stating, we all know she had it coming. Her abuse of drugs wasn’t just at its erratic height, but what surprised many was her openness about it. Her use of drugs dates back to the singer’s relationship with her former husband Blake Fielder-Civil who claims to have introduced her to crack cocaine and heroin. (Hamm, sounds like a Bobby Brown/Whitney Houston story all over again).
After the success of her 2003 debut album ‘Frank’ in the UK, a focused Amy worked on her next release but along the line was subjected to ‘self-harm, depression and eating disorders’, she later disclosed in a 2008 interview. She resulted to heavy drinking and drug use. It was quite surprising to see her bounce back about the same time she released ‘Back to Black’ the Grammy Award winning record in 2006. At the end of that year, ‘Back to Black’ went platinum.
The first single of the album ‘Rehab’ should have hinted us all; the lyrics read ‘They tried to make me go to rehab but I said ‘no, no, no’. We obviously overlooked her problems, gave her five Grammy Awards and left her to attend to her issues, which she never intended solving. Maybe we thought she would handle herself just like Lindsey Lohan and Britney Spears (both are constant victims of drug abuse) have done. We thought wrong.
She was a target for the paparazzi and blogs as they had a swell time exposing the singer who was always looking haggard and uncoordinated. On her several trips to the hospital, she was advised to quit drinking and smoking. Coupled with several assault charges, the singer became a working time bomb.
Winehouse will always be remembered for a lot of things, most notably her powerful vocals and creative blend of R&B, Soul and Jazz genres, her signing resemblance with R&B/Soul singer Macy Gray. Amy also paved way for Brit singers like Adele and Duffy and even US pop icon Lady Gaga as she made it easier for unconventional women to have mainstream pop success.
And let’s not forget her spitting at Pippa Middleton, sister to Kate Middleton, wife of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge.
3 comments
Brilliant and straight to the point.May she find the inner peace that eluded her in the world in the hereafter.
When I heard Amy Winehouse had passed away, the first thing that I recalled was seeing the very beautiful lady in a video several years back whose voice was so nice, but on the video close ups of her on a chaise lounge/couch, he skin looked putrid, that look was a look of ill health. As I learned and learned more about her, it was via media, Amy was akin to Michael Jackson in terms of paparrazzi, she was hunted to the point where if she opened her door, there would be a camera man behind the door.
Lemme share something with you, crack cocaine, a mixture of some strange stuff, I never ever touched it before, but I have met some people who have. For a lot of those who go into the heroin, crack arena, there is light at the end of the tunnel, however, if you are a troubled person who starts to take this drug, your troubles multiply and seem to acquire magnitude.
It envelopes users with a feeling that they are in a place far from all worry and all ills, far from anything that can hurt you and far from upset.
I know that because, I once had a close encounter with such a person. In the end, the only way he could stop was to move away from all locations where he could get the drug, and to go to AA.
The drug made him want to sell his last item of clothing so he could get it, if not, the next best thing was to drink himself into a stupor or overdose on tranquilisers.
Knowing that person changed my life, opened me up to the inner working of living in innner cities in London and made me develop a hatred for Westernised colouring.
As far as my little mind will let me think, you must remember that someone somewhere was willing to supply her with this drug. The most common cause of these people dying is dosing up on extremely toxic purer form of the drug which can escalate organ failure.
As far as my assertive mind will go, I am convinced that the yes men, the people in Amy’s camp who were brash and stupid enough without any autopsy report to hand to go on to the TV and say ‘we all tried to help’, are to blame.
When this my friend was doing this drug and i learned i could not beg him to stop, I sought a way to lead him toward a position where he could. For nearly a decade after i parted ways with him now, if you called him and told him where I am, he will start to write me thank you letters and plead me to come see him a changed person. But I saw that ugly side drugs bring and i never want to be a trigger for such a thing again.
I suppose what I am procrastinating about and saying is, sod off you stupid effing lolly popped flowery worded creepy creeps, you all killed her, paparazzi, the comments in the papers at excessive levels, the editorials in papers that were not even rags talking about what book she was reading, it made me feel ill. If I was subject to such scrutiny, I might want to die.
See that copper in the top photo, that was my reaction when I heard the news, that young girl never had children, never lived to even try plastic surgery, never had a chance in the thicket of Camden where getting high is a hobby and many would sell body parts. I am so saddened and I wish I could replace her life for her family, I wish she had been strong enough to resist the offers of a ‘good time’ and that someone would get the heck out there, and spend some good time yelping and howling, screeching, scoping, jocking, scrutinising and examining people who kill and maim with all these drugs.
As Tuface said in his song for NAFDAC, apayan, oloriburuku, oyinbolandmade!!!!
Rest with the angels Amy Winehouse, some of us know good soup and relish it and have it in small portion rather than rush it till the plate breaks.
I am guilty too, I loved her music, I loved her pretty face, but I am thankful that I never bought into the sleaze about her except when it was shoved down my throat.
I am not suprised her family want to have a private funeral, they may feel like I do, having said that this is just my opinion. When we set out to dish up the dirt on people who are super stars, we sometimes go too far, even I have experienced such and I know that if I don’t stop every now and again and show what people call ‘insanity’ as per I don’t have Madonna’s bank balance, someone will talk about me until my ears itch and fall off or my heart caves in and I become suicidal.
I never bought any of her singles, or albums, I just saw her on telly.
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