Her name is enough to bring to mind beehive hairdos, kooky dresses and black lacquered nails clutching a microphone while crooning about love.
Amy Jade Winehouse, singer of Rehab and winner of five Grammys, is the quintessential modern day success story.
Born to a taxi driver and pharmacist in Enfield, London, Winehouse rose to the top entirely on her own merit.
Given her first guitar at the age of 13, she started writing her own music a year later, and got a lucky break when her then boyfriend passed her demo tape to someone in the music industry.
Charting her success
Winehouse's first album Frank released in 2003 did well; it really took off after her nominations for Best Female Solo Artist and British Urban Act at the BRIT awards. It went on to achieve platinum sales.
International success came to Winehouse with her second album Back to Black released in October 2006. Selling 3.67million copies in the first half of 2008, Back to Black became a bestseller of epic proportions. With hit singles such as Rehab, You Know I'm No Good and title track Back to Black the album won multiple awards and put Winehouse in a category of her own.
Unique style
Muse to Karl Lagerfeld, her unique style has resulted in giving her iconic status, with some calling her the next Bardot.
But despite all her success and fame and her recent troubles, Winehouse remains a true artist whose music remains unaffected by her rise. Far from needing awards and statistics to prove their worth, Winehouse's songs speak for themselves. Spanning genres like soul, rock and roll, jazz and R&B, her music possesses a universality that appeals to pop fans, hip hop followers and alternative music lovers alike.
Awards and nominations
2004
- Won the Ivor Novello Award for Best Contemporary Song (musically and lyrically) for Stronger Than Me.
- Nominated in two categories at the BRIT Awards – British Female Solo Artist and British Urban Act.
2007
- Won the BRIT Awards for best British Album (Back to Black) and best British Female solo artist.
- Nominated for Female Artist of the year, Best New Artist and Video of the year (Rehab) at the MTV Video Music Awards.
- Won Album of the Year (Back to Black) and Artist's Choice awards at the MTV Europe Music Awards; was nominated for Most Addictive Track (Rehab).
- Nominated for World's Bestselling New Artist and World's Bestselling Pop/Rock Female Artist at the World Music Awards.
- Won five Grammy Awards out of six nominations. Winehouse won Record of the Year (Rehab), Song of the Year (Rehab), Best New Artist, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance (Rehab), Best Pop Vocal Album (Back to Black). She was also nominated for Album of the Year (Back to Black).
2008
- Won the Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically (Love Is A Losing Game); Winehouse was also nominated for Best Song Musically and Lyrically (You Know I'm No Good) and Best Selling Song (Rehab).
Get your own beehive
- Wash hair and towel dry.
- Set hair in curlers or use a curling iron – the curls will add additional height and volume. Do not brush the curls out.
- Add hair gel or hair spray to the roots of the hair to give it initial volume and a strong base to build on.
- Clip the hair from the forehead to the crown out of the way – this hair will be styled last to give a polished, finished look to the beehive.
- Starting in the back, bring hair up to the back part of the crown in sections. Secure each section with bobby pins and hair spray and pile each successive section progressively higher to build height. Use a rattail brush to tease for more volume if desired.
- When the back height-building is complete, style the front section of hair by adding more height, building it around the sides of the beehive, or swooping it across the forehead.
- Add a final blast of strong hair spray for extra hold and durability.
