Amy Winehouse found dead in London, causes unknown

Amy Winehouse, the richly talented but deeply troubled singer whose innate but often misused gift won her five Grammys with a single CD has been found dead at her home in London. She was just 27.

Police have confirmed a woman was pronounced dead at a home in the London suburb of Camden at around 3pm local time [10am ET,] but no cause of death has so far been released. A spokesman for the Ambulance service said the victim was dead before their crew arrived on the scene.

Born on September 14, 1983, Amy enjoyed a peaceful childhood among London’s enclaves but her prodigious musical gifts soon shone through – She and a friend formed her first singing group – ‘Sweet ‘n’ Sour’ – when Amy was just ten years old.

A course at theater school followed, then further training at the Brit School; London’s answer to the hot-house of talent depicted in the TV show ‘Fame.’

Her first album ‘Frank’ appeared in 2003 and scored a Novello songwriting award, two ‘Brit’ nominations and was even a contender for the Mercury Prize. But Amy always hated the marketing side of being a singer and was never content with that early work.

This dissatisfaction soon showed in a failed romance, a long period of refusing to record or even write, and the first appearance of what would sadly become one of her ongoing demons – an indulgence in drugs.

“I had writer’s block for so long,” she confessed in 2007. “As a writer, your self-worth is literally based on the last thing you wrote. It had been two years since the last record and the record company actually said, ‘Do you even want to make another??’”

Finally she did. And it was a sensation. Released on October 4th, 2006, “Back to Black” blended soul, jazz, doo-wop and a nostalgic love of 1960′s girl-groups, and was rich with lyrical musings on love, romantic obsession and the excesses to which deep emotion can drive those who love.

It won five Grammys and Amy was an overnight star.

“I listen to a lot of ’60s music, but society is different now,” is how Amy explained ‘Black’s motivations. “I’m a young woman and I’m going to write about what I know.”

But her live shows already hinted at troubles to come; Even Amy admitted she was “a terrible drunk.” She also suffered eating disorders and was diagnosed as manic depressive but refused to take the medication. Her unstable behavior caused several concerts to be scrubbed and the drugs seemed to take over her life.

Her last tour was a discordant disaster. Despite having just left rehab before it began she was booed off the stage in Belgrade after a drunken display in which she forgot her own lyrics and the audience did most of the singing. The tour was rescheduled, then finally scrubbed and Amy flew home with both her career and reputation in shreds.

With today’s news Amy joins a sad ‘Hall of Fame’ – Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain and Janis Joplin all died at the same age, and all but Kurt were lost from what may be the same cause. Both her fans and the music world as a whole are in shock at the loss and we’ll update you as more news arrives.

Let’s hear your views on Amy, her music and what went wrong…