These are the only three people left.
This is Mr Alex Steele, Mrs Juliette Ashby,
- Mrs Amy Winehouse. - Ah, my boobie.
ln other words, Mrs Amy Winehouse.
Um, everyone else has gone. This was my fourteenth. . .
D'you want a lick of the lollipop?
- Come on, have a lick. - No, l don't.
- Have a lick. - No, no, no.
Come here and lick it.
No-one wants, l ' m trying to talk.
No-one wants to lick your slobbery lollipop.
Lick it.
lt's my 14th birthday evening and party.
# Happy birthday to you.
- # Happy birthday to you. - # Happy birthday to you.
# Happy birthday dear Lauren
# Happy birthday
# to you. #
LAUREN: Oh, wow!
(AMY) # Moon river, wider than a mile
# l ' m crossing you in style someday. . . #
(AMY) l was singing with a little jazz unit,
the National Youth Jazz Orchestra.
l must have been about 16 and l just loved jazz.
Dinah Washington,
. .Sarah Vaughan, Tony Bennett.
l learnt to sing from listening to stuff like Monk
. .and a lot of soloists as well
rather than just listening to singers.
l learnt from everything really.
# . .same rainbow's end
# Waiting 'round the bend
# My huckleberry friend
# Moon river and me. #
So singing has always been important to me
but l never thought l would end up singing, l 'd be a singer.
l just thought l ' m lucky
that it's something l can always do if l want to.
l ' m so lucky like that.
But l didn't think it would be a career choice.
# . .And me
# Moon river and me. #
What's the date?
- Today? - 24th.
- ls it? - Yeah.
- The what? - 24th.
- Of what? - January.
- And what day is it? - Saturday.
And, um, what year is it?
- Lunchtime. - No, it's lunchtime. . .
(NlCK) l was a 19 year old office junior
. .for a promotions company owned by Simon Fuller.
l just started to try and kind of blag it myself
as a talent scout.
l was definitely out of my depth.
(AMY) My friend Tyler is a singer.
He was with Nicky Shymansky and Tyler said,
"My friend Amy sings jazz and she's great. "
And Nicky said to me,
"D'you want some studio time? " And l said, ' For what? '
He was like, "Well, if you write songs,
we'd make a record, get a record deal. "
l was like, "What d'you get out of it?"
Hello.
l look ugly.
Yeah, look at you. You look lovely.
l don't. My chin's massive.
- Worried about your chin? - That's there forever.
# There is no greater thrill
# Than what you bring to me
# Those sweeter songs
#Than what you sing
# Sing to me. . . #
(TYLER) Did you decide to record it?
Yeah. Hello. l ' m just here smoking a fag.
l 'd just like to. . . l look so grim.
l look like a floating head, l 've got no hair.
(CHUCKLES) l ' m just on a black screen.
There's my hand. What's going on?
We'd recorded quite a few demo recordings.
l started to talk about whether she'd ever consider writing.
She said she's not sure about writing songs
but she's written a lot of poems.
#. .he's my life. . . #
She knew full well she'd been writing songs
. .but they were very personal songs.
(AMY) l wouldn't write anything unless it was personal to me
. .just cos l wouldn't be able to tell the story right
. .because l wouldn't have done it.
Even though some of it is personal in a sad way
. . l 'd never let it just be that.
l 'll always put a punchline in the song.
Just try and be different with my lyrics.
(GUY) Someone gave me a CD, two songs
. .and they weren't necessarily what you'd call hit songs
. .but they conveyed an emotion that just touched me.
When you have that as an artist,
you usually have a story to tell behind it.
But it was a big leap of faith.
l think my boss even questioned the deal
. .because we were committing to giving an unsigned artist
. .close to a quarter of a million pounds.
(JULlETTE) We knew that we wanted to live with each other.
We both knew that we wanted to move out.
She had her family issues.
And l had lots of things going on with my family
. .and we looked after each other.
lt was amazing. We were young kids
. .and we were best friends in a flat on our own.
She loved it.
Juliette would sing, Amy would sing
and we just used to see each other all the time.
We used to go to so many gigs with Amy.
And when she first started doing her music,
we were all so excited and proud of it.
- Where are we, Amy? - We're in Brighton.
- But what are we in now? - A cab.
We' re in Regency Square in a black cab. . .
- No but, no but. . . - ln a white beautiful cab.
- And Lauren's with us. - Ah!
D'you know what my favourite thing about Nicky is?
His legs.
(NlCK) Ah!
Know what my other favourite thing is. . .
- What? - Not your hair.
She could make you feel so important.
And then, all of a sudden, very unimportant.
And then make you feel so important again.
That was what she did.
She liked to get people into a comfortable position
. .and then shock them.
(NlCK) lf l got my hair right, then what would that mean?
That would mean you were ready to marry me.
Her first relationship was with an older guy called Chris.
She really got the hots for him.
Madly in love with him.
She wrote a few songs about having the hots for him.
And then eventually she lost interest and. . .
She used to talk about it and she started writing about that.
l think when l was growing up, the music that was
. .in the pop charts or the music that people released at the time
. .l just thought this isn't music,
this is watered down, or you know, just crap.
Someone has written it for you and you have to sing it.
lt's very much the case with some music today.
So l started writing music to challenge myself.
To see what l could write or, you know,
. .just because there was nothing else there
. .that l could listen to at the time.
And having listened to jazz
. .and great songwriters like James Taylor and Carole King.
l felt like l had nothing new that was coming out at the time
. .that really represented me or the way l felt.
So l just started writing really my own stuff
. .and from personal experience.
This is " l Heard Love ls Blind. "
l 'll clip my hair out the way cos it's getting on my nerves.
l remember thinking when she walked in
. .she was this complete force of nature
. .and l thought, "Wow, there's something about you. "
And l remember thinking, "Please be good. "
l wrote this in Miami with a guy called Salaam
and. . . l 'm really proud of it.
She was 18 and a very classic North London Jewish girl,
a lot of attitude.
Quite shy.
Something emanated from her. She had a charisma.
When you looked at her lyrical capability
. .and her melodic capability
. .she was a very old soul in a very young body.
And we did the deal very, very quickly.
Amy's album came out yesterday
and how many has it sold so far?
A pretty staggering eight hundred, actually.
That is at least.
l 've emptied my bank account buying six hundred of them.
At least half my friends have bought the album.
Bastards. l 'd better call the other half up today.
Snug in a rug. She's going to get annoyed.
Amy. Explain what your little hub is all about.
- Oh, you' re coming. . . - Sleeping.
Just give us a smile and then we can turn the camera off.
- l 'm in the car now. - Give us a quick one.
A one second flash.
. . .is picking me up at ten o'clock.
(GARRY) How big d'you think you're going to be?
l don't, at all, because my music is not on that scale.
Sometimes l wish it was,
but l don't think l ' m gonna be at all famous.
l don't think l could handle it.
l 'd probably go mad, l would go mad.
- Where are we going? - We' re going to Birmingham!
- Why are we going there? - We're going to sing songs.
- Yeah? - And make merry.
(AMY) Oh, that was sick! That was sick!
- Get me, get me. - Nicky that was beautiful.
What are your thoughts on how beautiful that was?
My turn, my turn.
Let me get a really good shot. Oh, what a shot.
(AMY SHOUTS) Oh!
She don't even care.
Watch it, watch it go in there.
Got no light in here.
Don't get my spots in.
What spots?
(CHUCKLES) l love you.
Do you know l ' m zooming in then?
You' re zooming in on my spots. You're a fucking cunt.
- Does my hair look okay? - Yeah, very good.
Looks lovely.
- Do you promise? - l promise.
- What song should l do first? - Start off with. . .
Oh, l love your little cap, it's so cute.
l think you should start off with a song called. . .
Oh, on camera. Okay.
- Go, sister. Go get done. - Shut up.
(AMY HUMS)
# ln my bed. #
(MALE lNTERVlEWER) Could you please introduce yourself?
Yes. Hello, l 'm Amy Winehouse. l ' m 20.
l 'm a jazz singer.
l 've heard your record and it sounds very mature.
ls it all live?
Also not only the singing but also the instruments?
Yeah, all the instrumentation is completely live.
l wouldn't have any fake horns on my record.
l think they put fake strings on "Take The Box" ,
but l wasn't a part of that.
l would never, ever have put strings on my record, ever.
And this guy doing the mix of this song, he just. . .
l didn't even think about it.
Okay. Just a couple of questions.
- Upset? - Yeah.
Oh, okay.
Okay, okay. Okay.
There wasn't a girl that had been gobby in the media
. .for a long time. And she could be very cutting.
Especially if she got bored or felt misunderstood.
(FEMALE lNTERVlEWER) lt seems to me, though,
. .that every woman who writes about, you know,
. .kind of puts it down on a record,
. .doesn't do them any harm, really. Look at Dido.
She used that album to clean out her emotional closet.
- Did she? - Yeah.
lt's all about the break-up of her relationship
. .and kind of like surviving.
Like the whole thing about not going down with the ship.
Yeah.
Dido's Dido, l mean. . .
l think she's one of the most exciting and brilliantly
. .talented vocalists to emerge in this country in many years.
lt is Amy Winehouse.
Fantastic.
You' re managed by the company who look after S Club 7,
. .who used to look after the Spice Girls, Simon Fuller.
Have they tried to mould you any way?
Have they tried to change the way you look, speak or behave?
One of them tried to mould me into a big triangle shape
. .and l went ' No' .
No. You know, l 've got my own style.
l 've got my own style and l wrote my own songs.
lf someone has so much of something already,
. .there's very little you can add.
Yeah. You know what l like about you as well,
-. .you sound so common. -Thanks.
No, because l am common.
lt's so refreshing to hear someone who isn't speaking like
. .they've taken elocution lessons.
- Yeah. - Yeah.
They gave me elocution lessons but they kind of. . .
- They didn't stick? - Off my back, yeah.
(JANlS) l realised early on when Amy made her mind up,
. .she made her mind up
. .and l found it difficult to stand up to her.
She would say: "Oh, Mum, you' re so soft with me.
l can get away with murder. You should be tougher, Mum. "
Well, l just accepted it.
l wasn't strong enough to say to her "Stop" .
l met another woman when Amy was about 18 months old.
We worked together. We were having an affair.
But eight or nine years were to pass before l left home.
l was a coward.
But l felt that Amy was over it pretty quick.
(TYLER) When Amy was a teenager,
. .13 and 14 she was being taken to the doctors
. .and she was on antidepressants.
Amy used to always say to me that that was her dream
. .to do those sorts of shows.
To play in jazz clubs to small audiences.
She had one of the most pure relationships to music.
Such an emotional relationship to music.
lt's like she needed music as if it was a person
. .and that she would die for it.
(BOBBY) Let me read this.
(MUMBLES) Oh my God.
And the winner
. .and the song is "Stronger Than Man"
. .by Amy Winehouse and Salaam Remi.
Let's give it up!
(PUBLlC CHEERlNG AND APPLAUDlNG)
This is me, this is me, isn't? Right here.
Wow.
l don't believe this.
Thank you, Salaam. There's no picture of him
. .but Salaam is the most inspirational producer
. . l 've ever worked with.
He has that unique skill of not just having
. .the most appropriate beat,
. .but also drawing the artistry out.
And l guess that's the story of this song. . .
(SALAAM) What l allowed her to do was
. .to put her wit into her songs.
When l heard her sing in front of me,
. .l could tell she was really like a jazz singer.
She had the stylings of a 65 year old jazz singer
. .who knew the ropes up and down.
lt was like, "Okay, if this is what you are when you' re 18
. .then what are you gonna be when you're 25? "
(PUBLlC APPLAUDlNG AND CHEERlNG)
(VERNON) We're now joined by Mos Def in the backstage area.
Thanks for coming and taking time out and chatting to us.
l heard they was doing something so l came down.
(YASllN) l became aware of Amy in 2004.
l was out in England.
l ' m a big jazz fan and l really liked what she was doing.
l thought it was unique.
l thought it was edgy and sincere
. .and that's the thing l liked most about Amy is that
. .she didn't have any airs. She was real.
(AMY SlNGS)
l had a chance to meet her while l was here
. .and we hit it off. We became fast friends.
She was just a charming, sweet lady.
l had a bit of a crush on her, to be honest.
She was raw, she was fast with a blue joke.
Could drink anybody under the table.
Wasn't afraid to roll a smoke. Had a big giant laugh.
And was just a sweetheart, you know.
(PUBLlC CHEERlNG AND CLAPPlNG)
(TlM) You don't seem that bothered about everything.
Some artists step in here and go, "l want that number one spot.
- l want my album to go number one. - Yeah.
- l wanna chase up with a second album. - Yeah.
- What's up with you? - l ' m determined on the next thing.
l ' m not interested in. . .
Success to me is not success to the record company or whoever.
Success to me is having the freedom to work
- . .with whoever l wanna work. - Yeah.
To always be able to just fuck everything off
. .and go to the studio when l have to go to the studio.
- Or. . . - But you can't do that.
You have other responsibilities now.
- You' re becoming an artist in the public eye. - Yeah.
So all of a sudden you're gonna be. . .
l 'm not saying you're gonna be hounded by the press,
. .but you're gonna have certain responsibilities
. .that you may not particularly welcome.
That's cool but l think the more people see of me,
. .the more they' ll realise that
. .all l 'm good for is making tunes.
So leave me alone and l 'll do it.
l will do the music. l need time to do the music.
(JULlETTE) When she went to Camden it was very exciting
. .cos it was her first property that she'd bought
and we were all really happy.
She loved Camden. She loved it up there.
But when she went to Camden, things started changing.
(lNDlE MUSlC)
(SPlKY) We were the lndi kids.
Gazelles, The Rakes, Babyshambles.
Every one was a Camden band. Like, it was cool again.
(PETER) ln them days it was very much like, basically
. .if you were in a signed band you were a cunt
. .because the best looking and the best dressed
. .and the coolest people
. .were the ones who were born to lose really.
(AMY) The Libertines, yeah? l slept on them.
l came to the Libertines like a year later than everyone else.
But, l ' m not being funny
. .they made people proud to be British.
That was London for a real spell, you know.
(SPlKY) l run a club called Trash with my friend Errol.
Did the door there.
Blake would give out flyers for Trash.
(BLAKE) We wouldn't have met each other
. .and a lot of people wouldn't have all known each other
- . .had it not been for Trash. - Yeah.
- That's fair enough, innit? - Yeah, yeah, yeah.
lt's the first place l learnt how to pull a bird.
(SPlKY) He just loved girls, you know.
He loved partying and he loved shagging.
Always in and out of bed.
(BLAKE) We met in a pub in "The Good Mixer" in Camden.
l was at the bar and then she came in.
We just sort of started playing pool,
. .then we went to another pub.
And then we went back to Amy's house.
She was seeing somebody else and l was seeing somebody else
. .but l didn't think of it as infidelity.
l just thought she was like a young girl
. .and she was a bit naughty. And l was the same.
- Are you alright? - How you doing? You okay?
What's going on with you at the moment?
Cos obviously "Frank" was last year
. .and we haven't really heard much from you since then.
So when are we gonna hear from you next?
- What's the next single? - l can't think of the next single.
l 'm just gonna write the next album at the minute.
- You having writer's block or. . . - Yeah, man. lt's hard to write
. .because you can write a million things a day
. .but it's hard to write something that you're proud of.
So l ' m just trying, you know.
(LUClAN) l asked to see her.
She was late and she came in with Nicky.
She was a character.
She called me Uncle Lucian, and l really liked her.
And l had enough of a relationship with her
. .so there's no flattery. lt was like blunt.
And l said: "Enough, l need another album.
Now go and write one. This is horse shit.
"Frank" was then, this is now.
They' re all gonna forget you. "
She didn't like it.
- Nick Shymansky. - Yes.
Sit up a bit.
- Yes? - How are you today, darling?
Very good, actually. Thanks.
- What about you? - Really good.
(NlCK) ln between all this,
. .she decided she wanted me to leave 19
. .with Simon Fuller to go and manage her.
She didn't like being connected
. .with Pop ldol and the Spice Girls
. .but l thought it would be incredibly disloyal,
. .at this point, to walk away.
And Blake was very quickly becoming
. .bigger and bigger character in all this.
She was with him the whole time
. .and didn't want to go places without him.
(BLAKE) We spent the summer together.
She used to say we were like twins and that was our relationship.
l 'd like to sabotage myself
. .and l think Amy would like to sabotage herself.
Maybe that was our nature.
l used to ask her why was she promiscuous
. .and why she was more like a man with sex.
lt's indicative of somebody that's had a traumatic event,
. .maybe sexually, themselves.
Sort of made sense to me from the way she was.
She'd just say, "lt's nothing.
l weren't abused when l was a kid. Nothing like that. "
And she said her dad leaving her mum was what caused this
. .and her not really seeing her dad.
l understood.
l cut my wrists when l was nine years old.
l don't know if l wanted to necessarily die,
. . l just wanted my mum to leave my stepdad.
Me and Amy were quite similar.
(AMY) l fell in love with someone who l would have died for.
We were in love and we were together.
And that's like a real drug, isn't it?
# lf my man was fighting
# some unholy war
# l would be behind him
# Straight shook up beside him
# With strength he didn't know
# lt's you l ' m fighting for
# He can't lose with me in tow
(CHORUS) # With me in tow. #
# l refuse to let him go
(CHORUS) # To let him go. #
# At his side
# and drunk on pride
# We wait for the blow. #
(LAUREN) Oh, let's see who's gonna be behind the green door.
Master of the house is not in right now.
She is gone somewhere for a minute to be somewhere.
She's having dinner
so l ' m having a cheeky cigarette while she gone.
Don't tell her. Sshhh. Don't tell her.
(LAUREN) Cheeky. "Mi scusi" . Tell me about this place.
While she's away, l 'll give you a tour of the house.
Okay, ready? Okay.
First of all l lead you into the main room.
This is usually reserved for entertaining guests
. .but you can be my guest, because no-one's here today.
Okay, l lead you out to the grand patio.
Please, please follow. Don't mind me in my. . .
Okay, darling. This is the grand patio.
This is Cecil.
Cecil lives here.
(LAUREN) Cecil.
Then we have the bedroom. lt's very nice.
There are some cupboards.
See up here, this is where l sleep
. .when the master come home.
The toilet.
Sometimes when l 'm alone,
. .l have a shower in all my clothes.
l find this is the only true way to relax.
Also here, this is the hook l hang from when l 'm in trouble.
lt's not very often, l 'm a good boy.
l ' m a good boy. Okay, well this is it.
Welcome to my humble abode.
Amy.
We are sitting in a little bar
. .drinking cocktails. There's my cocktail.
There's Amy's little cocktail.
l think it's got Rohypnol in it.
(LAUREN) All of a sudden she went to me:
"Lauren, listen to this message. This is a message from Blake. "
(BLAKE) l said to her that l didn't wanna leave my girlfriend
. .and we'd probably be better as friends.
(LAUREN) She was obsessing over these text messages.
He wanted nothing to do with her and she was obsessing over it.
All she wanted was for him to wanna see her.
(NlCK) lt got messy.
He went back to his girlfriend, then she got her own back.
She slept with his friend.
(LAUREN) The person that lived opposite in the little court
had Juliette's number and had called Juliette up to say:
"Amy's fallen over and she's hurt her head. "
So we've gone round there.
lt looked like people had been squatting in her house.
lt stank, it was dirty. And she was lying on the bed,
. .and she had this golf ball coming out of her head.
So we worked til like three in the morning and cleaned the house.
And l called her dad, and we called Nick.
(NlCK) We all met there and it was like,
"This is getting out of control. " "We need to get her some help. "
l 've tried speaking to the parents
. .and they really wanna kinda take it on.
And so l, technically, l sort of kidnapped her.
l picked her up and l thought,
. . "l 'm driving you to the middle of nowhere
. .and we're gonna sit there until you acknowledge what's going on. "
l drove her to Black Park in lver.
And it started off with her sort of laughing,
. . "You' re such an idiot. "
And then it turned into "Don't be a prick. "
She kicked my car.
And then she just broke down eventually.
Opened up about everything.
She said she thinks she's got a problem,
. .she was lost and out of her depth. Horrible.
She agreed to go to rehab.
l took her to see the rehab guy.
She was like, "l don't wanna talk about it.
l ' ll go if my dad thinks l should go. "
We'd spoken to Mitch. We'd set it all up
. .and she turned into a seven year old child.
Sat on her father's lap and put her arm round him.
(MlTCHELL) l said to the managers,
"She doesn't need to go to rehab, she's fine. "
My dad said "You' re alright, you don't need to go. "
So l said, "Alright, Dad, l 'll go and meet him
. .and then we' ll back out" , which l did.
(MlTCH) She didn't need to go to rehab.
(NlCK) That was the moment we lost a very key opportunity.
l ' m not saying it would have worked.
Very often you have to go two or three times
. .but she wasn't a star. She wasn't swarmed by paparazzi.
We could've just fucked "Back To Black" off,
. .and "Back To Black" might have never happened
. .but she'd have had a chance to have been dealt with
. .by professionals before the world wanted a piece of her.
(AMY HUMS)
# l never wanted you to be my man
# l just wanted to see what you can do. Yeah.
# No. Yo, yeah. #
(SALAAM) The label were considering letting her go.
She ends up coming back to Miami.
Guy Moot calls me up, like "Hey, are you sure you wanna do this? "
And l said, "Listen, even if you dropped her,
l would pay her to come to my house and sing
cos this shit fucking moves me. "
# Many times when l tried to set you right
# lt's just too hard
# l never wanted you
# to be my man but l really. . . #
And she totally didn't drink the whole time while she was here.
And she sat out in my back garden for four days.
She'd just take her little notebook and just keep writing.
# All l can ever be to you is the darkness that we knew
# And this regret l got accustomed to
# Once it was so right When we were at our height
# Waiting for you in the hotel at night
# l knew l hadn't met my match
# With every moment we could snatch
# l don't know why l got so attached. #
(AMY) lt took me a while to get my head round a lot of things.
The actual turning point when l was alright with it was
. .when l started writing the album.
l write songs because l 'm fucked up in the head
. .and l need to put it on paper
. .and then write a song to it and to feel better about it.
Have something good out of something bad.
# He walks away
# The sun goes down He takes the day
# But l 'm grown And in your way
# My deep shade My tears dry. #
(NlCK) The ideas were there. Four or five songs were there.
You can feel something creatively starting to happen.
But l was still very worried about her health.
She's really vulnerable and not in a good place.
And then she said, "Listen, are you leaving 19 to manage me?"
And l said, "D'you know what,
. .unless you let me help you sort yourself out
. .l 'm not doing this shit for you.
l can't watch you do yourself in like this. "
l remember she came to talk about wanting to change management.
l said, "Look, that's entirely your decision.
We will support you whatever you wanna do. "
And then she said she wanted to be managed by Raye Cosbert.
All l thought is, "Why are you gonna be managed by your promoter? "
l remember thinking "We' ll deal with a promoter whose main interest
. .will be to get her out on the road. "
And we knew she was very vulnerable on the road.
(RAYE) When l first met Amy, l was her concert promoter.
We talked and she said that her contract was up with 19
and she wanted to explore other possibilities.
She said, "Would you like to do it? "
And l was like, "Well, yeah, let's talk about it. "
We got on quite well.
l 'd be the guy that'd turn up after the gig
. .and say "Well done" . Have a glass of bubbly and l thought, well,
. .sometimes someone just wants a change
. .because they feel it's right for them to change.
lt's like switching bank accounts.
(NlCK) l was way too close to Amy.
l shouldn't have ever been that close.
lt should have been business.
But when you' re 19 and you meet a 16 year old
. .and you go through that you don't understand that.
We'd spent all these years together
. .and all of a sudden, out of nowhere, l wasn't there.
(MALE VOlCE) Let's get this taped.
And you' ll keep that one.
(AMY) When l started writing the first song about Blake
. .the other songs just wrote themselves.
l really was on a roll because l had these feelings,
. .had these words floating around in me.
When you write a song, you have to remember how you felt.
You have to remember what the weather was like.
You have to remember what his neck smelt like.
You have to remember all of it.
(MARK) She would tell me stories about Blake
. .and this tempestuous, extreme relationship.
That first day she wrote "Back To Black"
. .all the lyrics and the melody in two or three hours.
# Black
# Black. #
Oh, it's a bit upsetting at the end, isn't it?
- Rrrr, boom, boom, boom. - l love that. Yes, Amy.
Yeah!
(MARK) lt was just one of those serendipitous things.
Like l just caught her at that magic moment.
And she was just ready to get it going.
That's why l couldn't understand what everyone else was saying
. .about this procrastinating, troubled artist.
(DARCUS) l went out to New York to hear what they were doing.
When l was flying out l got a call from management saying
. .that Amy's nan had fallen ill
. .and she wanted to get straight back to her nan.
(JANlS) Cynthia used to look after Amy.
She was like the mother that l didn't have.
My own mother was not really motherly to me.
So, Amy and Cynthia were very very close.
(MlTCHELL) My mum died May the 5th, 2006.
She had lung cancer.
Cynthia was a strong person in her life
. .and used to tell her how it is. So it was horrible for her.
That killed her inside.
Hang on, l ' m not playing this track now.
Not playing this track now.
l 'm not playing this track now.
l spoke to them and they said it's just unnecessary.
Yeah, yeah. Okay.
(DARCUS) We were making the back end of the record
. .and we were at Metropolis Studios
. .and Amy had bits of vocal to finish.
Have l got any drink? Did they bring up that drink?
- lt's quite fun really. - An acoustic session.
l haven't been filmed like this. l haven't done it before.
(DARCUS) She was having a couple of whisky and cokes.
We had broke for lunch.
Amy had ordered this massive plate of food
. .and she had a big dessert as well.
She finished the whole thing off and she disappeared for a while
. .and 45 minutes later came back, a bit kind of dazed.
And the studio manager pulled me out of the session and said,
"Look, l need you to come and see something. "
She took me to the women's toilets and Amy had thrown everything up
. .and literally redecorated the toilets.
She'd obviously been wiping her face
. .and all the mascara had been rubbed off on the towels.
And that's when l kinda realised that something serious was wrong.
l had a toffee fudge. But l ate it.
(JANlS) Yummy.
When she was probably 15.
She one day said, ' l 've got this really great diet, Mum.
l eat what l want and then l just bring it all up' .
l know l 'm a pig.
l know l 'm a pig, l just can't help it.
(JANlS) l obviously did not think that deeply of it.
My feeling was it would pass.
And then she told Mitchell about it.
He also sort of pushed it aside not taking it seriously.
That basically is bulimia and it doesn't pass.
- Hello. Welcome to the show. - Hello, you alright?
You've been away for a while. What have you been up to?
l 've done an album, it's called "Back To Black" .
- How would you describe it? - lt's a lot more. . .
l don't wanna say more raw
. .but it's not got all the clever like jazz chords.
lt's not really like that now.
l 've listened to a lot of girl groups and garage bands.
lt's kinda what it's like. lt's a lot more guitar.
l mean l 'm a guitarist,
. . l 've been listening to a lot more guitar bands.
l mean in Camden, you can't really get away from it so. . .
- You can't. - lt's rubbed off on me.
Would you say it's more accessible than your debut?
l 'd say it's more, l 'd say it was more accessible.
lt's not necessarily more poppy but jazz is quite an exclusive.
lt's quite an elitist music. This album's a lot less like that.
# l 'd rather be at home with friends. #
(FEMALE PRESENTER) Let's talk about your music then.
"Rehab" has gone down so well. Are you surprised by the reaction?
(AMY) l am actually.
l never even thought it'd be a single really.
But the record company were just like,
"We want it to be a single" , and l was like 'Okay' .
l love all of it. l ' m really proud of it.
The Q Awards, which you were at yesterday.
Did you have a good time?
l had too good a time, to be honest.
lf that's possible.
Alcohol is bad, kids.
#. . . in a shot glass
# They tried to make me go to rehab
# l said, no, no, no. . . #
(MALE ASSISTANT) Can you tie that any tighter? What are you doing?
You have to be able to sing.
(FEMALE ASSlSTANT) How can you breathe when you' re singing?
- That's tight. - Breathe? Sing? What?
(ALL LAUGH)
(SAM) There was this atmosphere of celebrity all tied into "Rehab" .
"Rehab" was the pivotal song.
lt was the song that gets her into a particular place.
Her becoming a commercial star.
(JO) The winner of the Best British Female this year
. .way more rock and roll than Liam Gallagher,
. .it's the one, the only. . . Amy Winehouse!
(PUBLlC CHEERlNG AND CLAPPlNG)
(MAN) Amy.
(MAN) Amy!
(MAN) Okay, let's just go. Get the, get the, go.
Let's go, man!
# We' re, we're still friends
# We're, we' re still friends. #
Rach, this is Blake, he's my fiancé.
- Hi. - Hello.
(MALE RADlO VOlCE) Turn the volume up.
We're kicking off for one hundred and seven days of summer
. .on 107.5 WBLS.
# The man said, Why do you think you' re here?
# l said, l got no. . .
# l ' m gonna, l ' m gonna lose my baby
# So l always keep a bottle near
# He said, l just think you' re depressed,
# Kiss me, yeah baby, and go rest. #
(FEMALE FAN) l love not like,
. .Amy Winehouse because her voice is the most original voice
. . l 've heard in the last ten years.
(MALE FAN) My daughter has turned everybody on to it.
(FEMALE FAN) And l 've turned all my friends on to it.
(DAVID LETTERMAN) Her CD is entitIed "Back To Black" . PIease weIcome Amy Winehouse.
# l just. . .
# Oh, l just need a friend
# See l 'm not gonna spare ten weeks
# Have everyone think l ' m
# on the mend
# lt's not just my pride
# lt's just till these tears have dried
# Tried to make me go to rehab. . . #
(YASllN) Amy called me. And then l saw her in New York.
She wasn't puffed up about herself at all.
She was almost embarrassed by the fact that she was doing so well.
She expressed a lot of concern and fear about the way things
. .were gonna go and how she was gonna handle it, you know.
She was like, "What am l supposed to do in this space? "
# Go, go, go. #
(JAY LENO) Amy Winehouse. Nice job. Thank you very much.
(FAN SHOUTlNG) Amy!
(MONTE) Everybody just wanted to spend time with Amy.
ln our business there's nothing that can prepare you
. .for that level of success.
There's no textbook. You can warn an artist,
. .you can try and prepare them for it
. .but at the end of the day, until you go through it
. .it's unlike anything you've ever encountered.
(MAN) By yourself, by yourself.
By yourself!
(BLAKE) How do you think the shoot's going, baby?
Really well, baby.
- Enjoying yourself? - Yeah.
What's it like to be shot by Terry Richardson?
What's he like at shooting?
lt's a lifelong dream come true.
(CHUCKLES) What d'you think about the broken glass?
l wrote "l love Blake on my tummy. "
Did you? Did you outline it?
No, l wrote "l love Blake" on my tummy.
l can't see any scars.
lt's just chicken scratch.
Have you seen how good l am?
(BOTH CHUCKLE)
So what's been your highlight of the day?
- lt'll be in five minutes. . . - When. . .?
We go in the toilet and l fucking. . .
(TERRY) Blake, sit here.
Yes, Terry sir.
Amy, sit there.
That's good, that's lovely.
(STEVE) You've been famous in the UK for a little while longer.
Does it seem different how you' re treated here in a way
. .compared to the way that people write about you,
. .it's almost like a 23 year old's never wanted to go
. .and have fun before.
lt's you know, it's kind of hypocritical in a way.
l wouldn't know. l really wouldn't know.
You have known each other a long time?
You've known each other. You grew up together?
You were fighting to get her back?
And what happened?
Always plays up to it.
(BLAKE) The day we got married, we went out on a boat round Miami.
Smoked a cigar
. .and it was like a real achievement,
. .an amazing thing that me and her had actually done.
We'd actually gone and got married.
And we did it exactly how we wanted to.
You lazy people.
Wave.
Her whole thing was she wanted to feel how he felt.
And she was like, "l just wanna feel what he's feeling.
l wanna be on the same level otherwise he's there and l ' m here. "
That's what she wanted, that was the goal.
(YASllN) Welcome back to 45th and 9th.
Please give a warm, warm round of applause for Amy Winehouse.
# Yeah l cheated myself
# Like l knew l knew l would
# l told you
# l was trouble
# Yeah you know that l 'm no good. #
Thank you very much.
(PUBLlC APPLAUDlNG)
Have they? Bollocks.
Have they? Fuck. l heard about that as well.
(BLAKE) Amy. . . go and talk in the kitchen.
l dunno.
Yeah, l dunno.
(BLAKE) After we came back from America, married
. .that was the first time Amy tried crack cocaine and heroin.
l 'd used by then and enjoyed it.
lt completely eradicates any sort of negative feelings.
And then Amy tried it with me.
Then it just got a grip of both of us really quickly from then.
- Amy. - Yeah.
Come in here.
Coming.
Oh, change the record. Just come on.
Pass me a little. . .
(lNSTRUMENTAL MUSlC)
(PUBLlC CHEERlNG AND CLAPPlNG)
(MAN) Come on, Amy!
Guys, will you stand back from the car there, please.
(MAKE-UP WOMAN) Are you alright keeping the rollers in?
- Yeah. - Yeah?
(MALE lNTERVlEWER) D'you ever have time to stand back and think
- "This is alright, quite good this?" - Yeah.
l dunno, yeah, l suppose so.
l suppose if my husband's happy, l 'm happy.
But yeah, yeah, l 've done well. l 've done really well.
But l just wanna be able to go and do an album again
. .and keep doing it. Just keep doing music really rather than. . .
l love doing gigs, though.
l just wanna go and do another album now. . . Yeah.
(JULlETTE) l got a phone call in the middle of the night
. .and Blake said to me 'Something's happened.
She doesn't know who l am and she keeps saying your name.
Can you come round? '
So l got up and l got in the car and l started driving.
(NlCK) l got a phone call from Blake freaking out, off his nut,
. .saying "She's overdosed. "
And l said, "Right go to the closest hospital, now,
. .and l ' ll be there. "
(JULlETTE) She was petrified. He was petrified.
She looked like a child. She'd scared herself, basically.
(NlCK) And the doctor called us into a room and said,
"With the amount of cocaine, heroin, alcohol
. .and crack cocaine in her blood system,
. .we' re amazed she's not in a coma.
You've got away with it this time. But she's a petite, young girl,
. .her body can't keep up with this. "
(JULlETTE) She was asleep and it was very calm.
Nicky was one side of the bed, l was the other side of the bed
. .and we said, "What are we gonna do now?
How do we deal with this? "
And then it all just started up. The whole circus started up again.
(NlCK) And that's when Raye and Mitch decided to do an intervention.
Within hours there were Sun, The Mirror,
. . News Of The World journalists booked up in every room.
Every single conversation that happened
. .was in The Sun and The Mirror.
Fuck knows if they were hacking the phones or whatever.
And there's pictures of all of us there, sat outside.
(JULlETTE) Amy was awake by then and she was eating
. .but she wasn't well and she wasn't right.
The doctor that they got in looked me dead in the eye
. .and he said to me, "lf she has another seizure, she' ll die. "
Then l was told that she was going to America to perform.
l was like, "No, she's not. "
(LAUREN) We had Mitchell in a hotel room with us
. .begging him "Please do something. "
"What am l gonna do? She's gotta go on tour. "
"Take her passport away from her.
Do something, she can't go on tour. " "She needs help. "
"Can't do that, she's got a tour booked. "
(JULlETTE) So l went into her room and l stole her passport
. .and then l got told, "Well what you done that for?
She's gotta go to America. Why have you done that?"
(NlCK) The doctor has been round to check
. .her blood and check everything.
Blake's managed to get to Hook get into her bedroom
. .and the next check-up the doctors found out
. .she'd got heroin in her blood again.
(LAUREN) When l found out with the girls that she was taking heroin
. .and we went to this hotel room that she was staying in,
. .and Amy just sat there and didn't really say anything.
(UPSET) Her manager then said something like,
"Girls, there are professionals, lawyers and doctors,
. .all sorts of people that function on this stuff.
(RAYE) ln helping promote the album and get the shows on the road
. . l kind of done what l was supposed to do
. .and l felt that it's now the family's responsibility.
l ' m here but there's only so much l can do about this.
(NATASHA) Amy Winehouse has pulled out of a string of concerts
. .in the US and Canada next month because of health issues.
(SOPHlE) Now she's one of Britain's brightest talents,
. .but the singer Amy Winehouse has cancelled yet more gigs,
. .this time in Norway,
. .after she was admitted to hospital in London yesterday.
Her record company say it was just down to severe exhaustion
. .but with her reputation for hard drinking and drugs and fast. . .
(CHlP) The Amy link came about through Russell Brand
. .who was trying to get Amy to come into rehab.
And then also Mitch had got involved
. .and l first met Amy when she came with Blake
. .to be assessed for treatment. lt was very much being led by Blake.
Although she was more willing to go to rehab than he was.
She was a very vulnerable woman and l felt very clearly that
. .it was a common case of one person having a situation
. .that was very beneficial to their using
. .and not wanting the other person to get better
. .for fear of losing the gravy train.
They were insistent on doing rehab together
. .which we would have considered to be disastrous.
l would personally find it almost unethical
. .to take the couple into treatment at the same time.
But her management, and Mitch,
. .managed to find somewhere where they could go together.
(BLAKE) Oh, it's recording, shit. lt won't stop.
Hey. . . Say hello.
(ALEX) Hello.
(BLAKE) Amy, got anything to say?
(BLAKE) Only if you sing your favourite hit ' Rehab' .
# They tried to make me go l said no. #
(BLAKE) Where are we right now?
Alex? Can you say where are we?
Known to some as. . .
Can we have the new updated version of ' Rehab' , Amy? First time.
Amy?
l want the new version of ' Rehab' .
Please, baby, it's for our personal private movie.
(RAYE) They came back from Osea lsland.
And had a suite at the hotel. And they binged.
lt was ugly.
They weren't happy souls when they were high.
(BLAKE) l kicked off l broke a bottle and l cut my arm.
Then she grabbed the bottle off me and she nicked her arm.
And she said, "l 'll do anything you do. "
(PHOTOGRAPHER) Come on. Amy. Look, Amy.
(RAYE) She said, "Love is, in some ways, killing me, Raye. "
She felt torn between those two things.
A guy that she really loved,
. .but having to keep up with the consumption of substances
. .that they both were trying to do at the same time.
lt was a horrible pendulum of swinging one way to the other,
. .one extreme to the other all the time.
Thank you.
(PUBLlC CHEERlNG AND CLAPPlNG)
Ladies and gentlemen, Amy Winehouse. l 've worked with a lot of people.
She has one of the best voices of anybody of all time.
Amy Winehouse!
(TV) More trouble for Amy Winehouse.
The singer's Camden home was raided by police last night
. .who used a battering ram to smash down her front door.
This was the moment police arrested and handcuffed
. .Blake Fielder-Civil
. .on suspicion of attempting to pervert the course of justice.
A spokesman for the star saying
. .she was in no way connected with the arrest.
(MAN) Can you shut the door?
(RAYE) When he went to jail,
. .she spiralled downward very quickly.
- Amy, how are you? - Amy!
(MlTCHELL) Get out of the way.
(MEN SHOUT) Oi, out!
(HERBlE) For Album of the Year
. .Amy Winehouse for ' Back To Black' .
(PUBLlC CHEERlNG AND CLAPPlNG)
(DAVE) For Best Female Pop Vocal Performance
. .Amy Winehouse for ' Rehab' .
Can somebody wake her up this afternoon
. .around six and tell her.
Drunk ass.
(TV) For Best New Artist the nominees are Amy Winehouse. . .
(MlTCHELL) We did everything within our power to help Amy.
But you can't force treatment on somebody.
Amy's responsibility was to get herself well.
(MAN) Okay, fellas, make some room, please.
This way, this way.
(MlTCHELL) l can't see the steps.
(LUClAN) By then she was incredibly famous. Very wealthy.
And she had a complete infrastructure around her
. .where everybody was doing everything for her.
And that's not real life.
We had the Grammys coming up. l said, "You need to be clean.
lf you' re not clean, you're not doing anything. "
So l had a contract drawn up and it said, "You, Amy Winehouse,
have agreed to go to a facility now.
You' re never gonna make another record again.
You' re never going to perform again unless you get clean. "
God bless her, she did.
(MAN) Thank you.
(MALE PRESENTER) Live. lt's music's biggest night of the year
. .as the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
. .presents the annual Grammy Awards.
(PUBLlC CHEERlNG AND CLAPPlNG)
(MALE PRESENTER) This is going live tonight to the Grammys in the States.
Now the lady behind me is up for six awards!
(PUBLlC CHEERlNG AND CLAPPlNG)
She's already won two.
(PUBLlC CHEERlNG AND CLAPPlNG)
l thank you.
(FEMALE PRESENTER) Ladies and gentlemen, pIease weIcome two Grammy favourites.
. . Natalie Cole and Tony Bennett.
(PUBLlC CHEERlNG AND CLAPPlNG)
(NATALlE) Good evening. Grammy history has never sounded
. .or looked any better than this man right here.
(AMY) That's right.
Dad. Dad. Tony Bennett.
These are this year's nominees for Record of the Year.
(PUBLlC CHEERlNG AND CLAPPlNG)
"lrreplaceable" , Beyonce.
(PUBLlC CLAPPlNG)
"The Pretender" , Foo Fighters.
"Umbrella" , Rihanna. Featuring Jay-Z.
"What Goes Around Comes Around" , Justin Timberlake.
His album's called "What Goes Around Comes Around"?
And "Rehab" , Amy Winehouse.
(PUBLlC CLAPPlNG)
And the Grammy goes to. . .
Amy Winehouse!
(PUBLlC CHEERlNG AND CLAPPlNG)
(PUBLlC CHEERlNG) Amy! Amy!
Er. . . Thank you to everyone at lsland Records.
Everyone at EMl Music Publishing.
To Raye Raye. To Mark Ronson and Salaam Remi.
(SOBBlNG) To my mum and dad.
For my Blake, my Blake incarcerated and for London.
This is for London.
(PUBLlC CHEERlNG AND CLAPPlNG)
(PUBLlC WHlSTLlNG)
(RAYE) lt was a beautiful evening.
You get those awards like that
. .it just made all the work seem worthwhile.
(TYLER) Amy's completely clean and looking amazing.
lt's just overwhelming.
(VlOLlN MUSlC)
(JULlETTE) l was just hysterically crying.
l was so overwhelmed, l was so proud of her.
And l was just flashing our whole life,
. .our childhood and then she saw me crying.
Juliette, come up.
She grabbed me, pulled me up on stage and took me off the stage.
And l was like having a bit of a panic attack.
l was like "l can't believe this is happening.
This is amazing. l 'm so proud of you. "
And l 'm looking at her trying to get some form of reaction.
She went "Jules, this is so boring without drugs. "
And l felt really, really, really sad for her.
(VlOLlN MUSlC CONTlNUES)
(MALE REPORTER) Amy.
Amy, how d'you feel after winning a Grammy?
(MALE REPORTER) Congratulations.
- Did you enjoy it? Whoops, sorry. - l 'm going to see my husband.
(YASllN) l was staying at the K-West Hotel.
Very late in the night she knocks on the door and l 'm alone.
She comes in and she just sits on the couch.
l remember feeling like really happy for her
. .and also concerned cos she really didn't know
. .how to be that thing that she had been pushed to become
. .from her own success.
Then she pulled out this aluminium foil.
She said, "Does this bother you?"
And l said, "Amy, l love you. l don't mind that you get high
. .but l mind that you'll get high. "
She did what she did
. .and it was like this is someone who is trying to disappear.
(ANDREW) Alright, gents, give her a break now.
Gents, get away from the door, please.
Go on, mate, fuck off, please. Sorry, mate.
l was called out to do security for her.
The security that she had
. .it just could not handle the whole paparazzi situation.
(AMY) See ya.
(MALE PAPARAZZl) Night-night, Amy.
(SHOUTS AND SCREAMS)
l could feel that she was a humble person
. .but she was just caught up in a bad situation.
(SHOUTS)
(FEMALE VOlCE SHOUTlNG) Amy!
(SHOUTS)
(FEMALE VOlCE SHOUTlNG) Amy!
(JULlETTE) She was not well at all physically, mentally not well.
All she ever wanted was people to tell her
. . "Pack it in, stop it. "
And me and Lauren would not tolerate any of it.
(GLASS BREAKlNG)
(MAN SHOUTlNG) Amy!
(LAUREN) lt was Nick that said,
. . "The only thing you girls can do is show her that
. .you don't wanna be a part of it
. .and when she needs help you' re there for her. " Tough love.
And l just said to her,
(UPSET) "lf you want me to help you, l ' ll help you.
l love you but l don't like who you've become
. .and l don't wanna be around you' .
(PUBLlC CHEERlNG)
(CHlP) Where a lot of money, and a lot of expectation is at stake
. .people's ideas become a bit skewed.
They want to try and get it sorted out in a way that
. .doesn't upset this financial trajectory that's going on.
(MlTCHELL) From the 6th of September,
. .we' re not doing any more work for the foreseeable future.
Amy's going to be concentrating on writing her new album.
There's five gigs which we are obliged to do.
There's a couple this weekend.
(AMY HUMS)
(SAM) lt was all over the media
. .that Amy was getting a million dollars for some shows.
Huge money.
But by that point it was much more likely
. .to not be a good show than to be a good show.
She just wanted to get better. She knew that things were wrong
. .and she was just very exhausted and tired of the whole situation.
# . .my daddy thinks l 'm fine
# He's tried to make me go to rehab
# but l won't go, go, go. #
(PUBLlC CHEERlNG AND CLAPPlNG)
(NlCK) She couldn't escape her life in this horrible goldfish bowl.
She began to unravel in public and the media treatment
. .pushed her further and further over the edge.
(FRANKlE) D'you see Amy Winehouse in the paper this week?
My God, she looks like a campaign poster
for neglected horses.
(FEMALE FAN) Amy!
- Easy, lad. - Fuck off!
(NlCK) lt was like a feeding frenzy.
Suddenly it was cool to crack jokes
. .about a bulimic's appearance, or her drug addictions.
(JAY) According to Contact Music dot com
. .Amy Winehouse's next album
will feature songs about cooking.
About cooking, that's what they say.
Cooking crystal meth, black tar heroin.
(PUBLlC LAUGHS)
(MALE PAPARAZZl) Amy, cheer up.
(NlCK) She couldn't escape it.
No-one would leave her alone. lt was just disgusting.
The mainstream media were just all over her.
Amy Winehouse, she's like a mad person.
(PUBLlC LAUGHS)
(lNSTRUMENTAL MUSlC)
(ANDREW) St Lucia was our place.
We were supposed to be there for a week.
We ended up there for like six months.
(BLAKE) She decided that St Lucia was a place
. .that she really liked and she invited me to go.
As soon as she went to St Lucia there was no more crack cocaine.
That was done, and that's when the heroin stopped.
But give her a free bar of course she's gonna drink.
lt was obvious that she was supplementing
. .alcohol for drugs.
l haven't seen Amy for six weeks. We've got a lot to talk about,
. .a lot of exciting things happening.
We're talking about the forthcoming album,
. .some other business matters.
So l think it's gonna be an exciting time.
Ah-ah, naughty.
Amy, Amy. . .
(SALAAM) She was like,
"Yo, why is he bringing another camera crew to St Lucia?
Dad, you want money? l ' ll give you the money.
Why are you doing your life story which is my life story?"
She just felt like, you know,
"My dad's doing a lot of stuff for money or limelight. "
- D'you want me to go with you? - Yeah.
You can follow us if you want.
(MlTCHELL) l ' ll ask her.
Amy.
- How d'you do it? - We' re sorry to bother you.
l 'm really sorry. ls that alright?
- Cheers, darling. - Okay.
- How's that? Okay? Pleasure - Thank you.
l 've gotta say, why have you gotta make a comment like that?
Why have you gotta do that?
They asked to take a picture of you.
No. . . Richard, l don't want you to do this.
No, that's got nothing to do with it.
- Dad, l don't mind. - l 'm talking to you
. .about those two people who wanted a lousy photograph
. .and you've gotta make 'em feel bad about it.
(SHOMARl) She just wanted her dad.
And he didn't just come by his self.
He came with cameras and audio guys.
But she worshipped the ground he walked on.
(BLAKE) l was in jail with 500 fellas reading the papers
. .and there's a picture of my wife on a beach with a fella.
lt's not easy to go through things like that.
To put it bluntly, l didn't have a high opinion of myself
. .after the treatment l 've had
. .for the past two years with my wife.
l 've had the wind knocked out of my sails.
So l just thought, "Fuck this" , you know, l 'm a big man.
l ' m a handsome fucking guy. l ain't on heroin.
l ' m going to the gym a lot, l dress well.
So what the fuck am l doing wasting my time with her?
(PlANO MUSlC)
And then the chorus come in and on the last verse is:
(TONY) My son came up with the idea of getting
. .the most contemporary artists and l kept saying to myself
. . "Who sings the right way? The real jazz singing? "
And when l heard Amy Winehouse
. .l immediately said, "This one's got it. "
Everybody just said,
"Oh, l don't know how you' re gonna handle her. "
- Where d'you wanna be? - l 'll be here and you there.
Okay. This is weird. l 've never done anything like this.
ln which way?
- To sing with one of my idols. - Oh, no.
And have it filmed. But it's good, it's good.
lt's good cos then l can make my dad jealous after,
. .when l show him. When he sees it.
# l can't believe it
# lt's hard to conceive it
# That you would turn away romance
# Are you pretending
# lt looks like the ending
# Unless l could have
# one more chance to prove, dear.
Sorry, sorry, it was me. l was terrible.
- No, no, no, you were. . . - l don't want waste your time.
lt's getting better each time. No, really. . .
l just don't wanna waste your time, that's all.
We' ll keep doing it till we got one. lt's right in there, okay?
You' re not in any hurry, are you?
- No, of course l ' m not. - l ' m not either.
- l just. . . - So we have time.
l 've just gotta get it right. l 'm not getting it right.
Oh, you are. You are.
lt's getting better each time and you sound wonderful.
Just a minute, l ' m getting some water.
The most famous artists l ever met
. .are the most nervous before they hit that stage.
No matter how much you feel it, you wanna feel it even more
. .so that it becomes an honest recording.
And that's what Amy had. She had that gift.
She was a natural, true jazz singer.
And a jazz artist doesn't like 50,000 people in front of him.
# My life a wreck you' re making
# You know l ' m yours just for the taking
(BOTH SlNGlNG) # l gladly surrender
# myself to you
# Body and soul. #
(SOUND ENGlNEER) Beautiful.
- Thank you. - l think we got it.
- Yeah. - Okay.
Yeah, l 'm like you. Each time it's different.
- Yeah, yeah, yeah. - lt's different, you know.
- lt's never the same thing twice. - Yeah, right, right.
Well, no, l ' m like you. Not you' re like me.
l 'm like you. l get it from my idols like you.
That's the right way to do it.
(SALAAM) She Skyped me.
She was happy. The Tony Bennett thing.
l mean, she was a fan. lt was about her saying
. . "l 'm not a singer, l ' m a jazz singer. "
(AMY) Hello.
(SALAAM) Then she said, "Let's do this jazz project with Questlove. "
(QUESTLOVE) She's such a jazz snob.
She would always be on her computer sending me mp3s.
"Listen to this, listen to this. "
l thought l 'd had my doctorate in jazz but, no, l ' m like. . .
She taught me a lot.
She was like, "Alright, we' re gonna start a super group.
You, me, Mos and Raphael Siddiq. " l was like, "Okay" .
And she would like assign homework.
"Alright, study this record. Study this record. "
(CRlSTlNA) Amy had a good period.
She could go for four weeks at a time with no alcohol.
And she very much felt that
. .she was the best that she has ever been.
But she went to the Priory in May to be checked
. .and there was some very serious things that were being spotted.
There was the cumulative effect of drinking and bulimia.
She could feel perfectly fine and have heart irregularities.
Her heart can stop if she started drinking again.
l said, "Look, is this what you want? Do you want to die? "
And she said, "No, l don't want to die. "
(RAYE) All the signs were positive and l thought,
"Right, okay, we've got a little chink of light. "
The Tony Bennett thing was a good catalyst
. .and it shows that she still had it.
We had the offers to do these shows.
And l said to her, "You don't have to do them.
There's no pressure. We've got no record to promote. "
But she wanted to do it.
(SALAAM) She Skyped me,
. .she wanted to do all these other projects
. .with Questlove and Mos Def.
She was like, "l don't need this. " She just didn't wanna go.
(SAM) The material felt so tired
. .and didn't feel relevant to her any more.
But because she was such a huge star
. .and there was all of these different pressures
. .she had to keep performing ' Back To Black' .
She didn't wanna do that.
(TYLER) As soon as she knew that tour was looming
. .she got wasted.
Wasted so that she wouldn't be able to go.
Amy was passed out, asleep, on her sofa.
She gets put in the back of a car, asleep
. .and she wakes up at the airport and gets put on a private jet.
(PLANE SOUND)
(PUBLlC SHOUTlNG AND CLAPPlNG) Amy! Amy!
Amy! Amy! Amy! Amy!
(BAND MEMBER) lntroducing Amy Winehouse!
(PUBLlC CHEERlNG AND SHOUTlNG)
(PUBLlC CLAPPlNG AND CHEERlNG)
(FEMALE FAN SHOUTlNG)
(FANS APPLAUDlNG)
(PUBLlC SHOUTlNG)
(FANS) Amy! Amy!
(FANS BOOlNG)
(DALE) l wasn't sure what was going on.
She just wouldn't sing.
lt was the first time ever that had happened.
(FANS BOOlNG)
(MUSlC STARTS)
(FAN BOOlNG)
(MUSlC FADES)
(lNSTRUMENTAL MUSlC)
(SAM) lt felt like the end.
lt was someone who just really didn't care anymore.
To the extent where she was willing to sabotage
. .not just her career but her friendships
. .and her musical relationships.
(lNSTRUMENTAL MUSlC)
(TV) But it's amazing to me,
. .why do they keep putting her on the stage?
Because surely her managers know she has a problem?
This was supposed to be a major comeback,
. .and she totally blew it.
Go!
(NlCK) The 24th of July was my wedding day
. .and Amy was due to be at the wedding and we'd spoken.
And l felt like she was really excited about my wedding.
And she said she hadn't been drinking
. .and she can't wait to see the family, and Salaam.
Some people that were on the journey were gonna be there.
(PHONE RlNGS)
(JULlETTE) She rang me up and l looked at the phone
. .and l thought, "Oh my God" . Like, "What's happened now?
"cos that's the first thing that goes in my head
. .and she just went "Jules" .
(SAD) And it was my Amy, completely normal.
And all she kept saying was,
. .and she'd never done this before, She just kept saying "Sorry" .
lt was like complete clarity over the whole situation
. .of the nightmare of the past
. .however many years that we'd just gone through.
(SAD) "Jules, l ' m so sorry. l 'm so sorry.
l ' m so sorry, l 'm so sorry. "
(UPSET) You know like when you' re a kid and you panic
. .that you've done something wrong
. .and you wanna just fix it there and then, that's how it was.
l just wanted to go and grab her, bring her back to me.
Wrap her in my house, not let her out.
And she called me the next day.
And it was just so weird hearing her talk normally
. .because, for so long, we'd just been pining for her
. .to just like l missed my best friend.
(UPSET) Lauren missed her best friend.
We just wanted to have a normal conversation.
She just kept going, "Can l see you? "
"Will Lauren speak to me?" "Can we start again?"
l was like "Of course we can. We're always here, you know we are.
We've been waiting for you to talk to us. "
And she said, "Right, l ' m gonna call you tomorrow" ,
. .and l was like "Okay, l love you. " "l love you, too. "
(PlANO MUSlC)
(ANDREW) She just looked like she was sleeping.
She was on top of the bed just. . . sleeping.
But she was gone.
(PlANO MUSlC)
(FEMALE FAN) No!
(FEMALE FAN) Oh, my God!
(FEMALE FAN) Rest in peace, Amy.
(PlANO MUSlC)
(CRlSTlNA) Amy's blood alcohol level was
. .four to five times higher than the drink driving limit.
Maybe a combination of her eating disorders
. .and the alcohol just made her heart stop.
She was one of the truest jazz singers l ever heard.
To me she should be treated like Ella Fitzgerald,
. .like Billie Holiday. She had the complete gift.
lf she had lived, l would have said,
. . "Slow down, you're too important.
Life teaches you really how to live it,
. .if you can live long enough. "
(PlANO MUSlC)
(PlANO MUSlC CONTlNUES)
(MELODlC GUlTAR MUSlC)
# Well some times l go out by myself
# And l look across the water
# And l think of all the things what you're doing
# And in my head l paint a picture
# Since l 've come home Well my body's been a mess
# And l 've missed your ginger hair
# And the way you like to dress
# Won't you come on over
# Stop making a fool out of me
# Why don't you come on over Valerie
# Valerie
# Did you have to go to jail
# Put your house up for sale
# Did you get a good lawyer
# l hope you didn't catch a tan
# l hope you find the right man who' ll fix it for ya
# And now you're shopping anywhere
# Changed the colour of your hair
# And are you busy?
# And did you have to pay that fine?
# That you were dodging all the time
# Are you still dizzy?
# Since l 've come home
# Well my body's been a mess
# And l 've missed your ginger hair
# And the way you like to dress
# Won't you come on over
# Stop making a fool out of me
# Why don't you come on over Valerie
# Valerie
# Oh, oh, oh, Valerie
# Oh, Valerie
# Oh, Valerie, yeah
# Valerie, yeah
# Valerie
# Why don't you come on over
# Valerie. #
Subtitled by Reyes Boluda.