Amy Winehouse
1983 – 2011 · United Kingdom
Known for: Once-in-a-generation voice of soul
“Every bad situation is a blues song waiting to happen.”
Biography
She sang like a woman from another era, the smoky depth of 1960s soul poured through a girl from North London with a beehive and a broken heart. Amy Winehouse's album Back to Black revived soul music for a new century, won five Grammys in a single night, and made her the voice of a generation almost against her will.
Her gift was total honesty: she wrote her pain plainly and sang it without armour, which made the songs immortal and the fame unbearable. She died at 27, joining the tragic club of that age, leaving a catalogue small in size and enormous in influence, proof that a few perfect songs can outlast a hundred careers.