Amy Winehouse

The album was also a critical success, winning the artist a BRIT award for Best Female Solo Artist and a BRIT nomination for Best British Album in 2007. Less than a month after her BRIT win, Back to Black made its American debut. It was an instant smash, hitting higher on the Billboard music charts than any other American debut by a British female recording artist in history. The album stayed in the Top 10 for several months,

In April of 2007, Winehouse's relationship with Blake Fielder-Civil also blossomed into an engagement. Winehouse revealed that her romance with the 23-year-old was the inspiration for several of the Back to Black tracks. The couple married May 18, 2007, in a ceremony in Miami, Florida.

Unfortunately, when it came to on-stage appearances, Winehouse returned to her old habits. The first night of a 17-date U.S. tour opened to an incapacitated Winehouse, who showed up to perform while under the influence of illegal substances. The crowd at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, Alabama, responded with boos and walk-outs. Winehouse responded to the crowd with sobbing and swearing. Her erratic behavior caused an uproar with fans and turned her into tabloid fodder.

Winehouse, an admitted marijuana smoker, was dogged by reports of continued drug abuse and strange behavior. On August 8, 2007, the singer slipped into a coma after overdosing on several drugs. First claiming exhaustion, Winehouse later told the News of the World that she overdosed after she had used a mix of heroin, cocaine, ecstasy, ketamine, whisky, and vodka during a bar crawl in London. The episode put a planned tour of North America on hold. The August 21, 2007, announcement indicated that Winehouse had been ordered to rest and was working with doctors to address her health.

Erratic Behavior

Her European tour in the fall of 2007, however, was scheduled to continue. But while in Norway in October of 2007, an anonymous tip led police to the star's hotel in Bergen, where she was arrested and held in prison overnight for marijuana possession. Winehouse, her husband Blake, and a third unidentified person were jailed. The trio was released after paying $715 in fines.

In November 2007, Winehouse's husband was arrested again for allegedly offering a $400,000 bribe to a bartender whom he he had allegedly assaulted in June 2007. Shortly after, he was taken into custody, and Winehouse canceled all concerts and public appearances for the rest of 2007, again citing "doctor's orders." A month later, Winehouse was arrested on suspicion of attempting to interfere with her husband's case. She voluntarily reported to a police station and was arrested before questioning. She later blamed her husband's legal woes for her inability to continue her tour.

Despite her inconsistent touring schedule, Winehouse's album continued to sell, going platinum nearly five times that year. It became the best-selling album of 2007 in the United Kingdom.

In January 2008, a video allegedly showing Winehouse smoking crack cocaine surfaced, leading to a brief stint in rehab.
She was arrested in May 2008 for questioning, but wasn't formally charged in the case after police said they could not officially determine what the singer was smoking. After publicly admitting to illegal substance abuse, Winehouse was denied a U.S. visa due to her "use and abuse of narcotics." The visa prevented her from performing live at the 2008 Grammy Awards. Instead, the she performed in London via satellite. During the evening's ceremony, Winehouse won five Grammy Awards,including for best new artist, record of the year and song of the year—becoming the first British singer to win five Grammy Awards, as well as tying with singer Beyoncé Knowles for the record of the most Grammy wins by a female artist in a single night. (Knowles broke that record in 2010, when she won six Grammy Awards in one night; and Adele tied that record with six Grammy wins in 2012.)

Personal Setbacks

Despite her musical success, Winehouse's health and personal life began to quickly deteriorate. Her erratic behavior continued in June 2008, when she appeared to punch a fan during a performance at the Glastonbury Music Festival in England. Londoner James Gostelow, 25, told BBC News that Winehouse elbowed him in the forehead after someone in the crowd behind him threw a hat at her. In a widely circulated video of the incident, Winehouse was seen throwing a series of punches into the crowd. Gostelow said he had no intention of making a complaint to police, and Winehouse escaped criminal proceedings.

After the concert, Winehouse returned to a London clinic, where she had been receiving treatment for "traces of emphysema" and an irregular heartbeat caused by smoking crack cocaine and cigarettes. Winehouse's father told reporters that his daughter was warned that she would have to wear an oxygen mask if she didn't stop abusing drugs. That same month, Fielder-Civil and his three co-defendants pleaded guilty to assault and obstruction charges. The courts released Fielder-Civil from jail time on the condition that he stay in a drug rehabilitation center for long-term treatment.

By the end of 2008, the singer's marriage had dissolved. During Fielder-Civil's court appeal to leave rehab, Winehouse spotted German model Sophie Schandorff mouthing "I love you" to the singer's husband. Sources say that Winehouse's spouse later told his wife that he wanted to end their relationship. "It's over," Winehouse told reporters. "There's no way back for us now. It was never going to last." In January 2009, Winehouse's spokesperson confirmed that divorce proceedings had begun between Fielder-Civil and Winehouse, claiming adultery as the reason for the split.

Attempted Comeback

Regardless of personal setbacks, 2009 proved to be another strong year for Winehouse. In 2008, her album Back to Black was declared the second-highest selling album in the world, and in 2009, she earned entry into the Guinness Book of World Records for "Most Grammy Awards Won by a British Female Act."

Additionally, Winehouse announced that she was starting her own record label, Lioness Records, later signing her 13-year-old goddaughter, Dionne Bromfield, as the first musician on the label.
Sadly, at the end of her life, Winehouse's enormous talent was overshadowed by her addiction to drugs and alcohol. The singer died tragically on July 23, 2011, at the age of 27, from accidental alcohol poisoning.
Source-Wikipedia.