Amy Winehouse

Amy Winehouse: 1983-2011

The best singer-songwriter of her generation

AMY WINEHOUSE has written enough timeless material in her 27 years to leave a proud musical legacy

She will be remembered as the best singer-songwriter of her generation - creating such classic tracks as Rehab, Love Is A Losing Game and Back To Black.

It is a testament to her incredible talent that she had won five Grammys, three Ivor Novellos and a Brit for Best Female by the time she was 26.

But, like one of her idols, Billie Holiday, she was also as troubled as she was gifted.

Her death will go down as one of the darkest days in British music. A talent lost to addiction. A shock - but not a surprise.

There is a bitter irony to her decline. Boyfriends and break-ups were inspiration for the moving lyrics that made her a fortune. Those boyfriends also played their part in her spiralling addiction issues and her tragic death.

From an early age she was an effervescent character, catching everyone's attention with her booming voice.

Amy Jade Winehouse was born in 1983 and grew up in the north London suburb of Southgate in a family home buzzing with music and song.

Her old man Mitch was a typically loud London taxi driver and her mum, softly-spoken Janis, worked as a pharmacist.