Friday 23 July, 2021 marks the 10th anniversary of the tragic death of singer Amy Winehouse. Amy died when she was just 27 after a long and turbulent relationship with addiction.
To celebrate Amy’s life and to keep her memory alive, her mum Janis has narrated a new BBC documentary about the singer’s life. With never-before-seen footage, Amy’s closest friends and family open up about the life and death of the Enfield-born star.
We learnt a lot about Amy’s life from the heartbreaking yet celebratory documentary – here are some key facts about the singer that you might not have known before.
1. Amy had a relationship with her friend Catriona, but felt she couldn't talk openly about her sexuality
Amy had a very “intense, obsessive” friendship with her three closest friends, Naomi, Chantelle and Catriona.
The four girls grew up in London and shared almost everything together. In the documentary, while having a candid chat with Amy’s mum Janis, they revealed how Amy had a lot of complexities in her personal life and that there were a lot of things she felt she couldn’t talk about.
Her friends explained that they can’t see her through a “2021 lens” because people today are so much more open to talking about the concerns and problems we all endure. Her friends explained that today people are more open to discussing their mental health and sexuality, but back when they were all growing up with Amy, nobody had that knowledge.
On what would have been the star's 40th birthday.
Amy would write notes while her flatmate and best friend from her ‘inner circle’, Catriona, was sleeping. She’d write things like, “You’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen”
Amy’s friends revealed that Catriona and Amy had been involved in a romantic relationship. “It was just a kind of a funny thing ‘Cat and Amy slept together’ and we’d all laugh and that would be it”
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Catriona revealed that she and Amy were involved romantically, saying, “Our relationship was so unique, undefined, we just loved each other, very much.”
2. Music was in Amy's blood
Her family revealed that Amy had interest in music from a young age, which was most likely down to coming from a very talented and musical family.
Her dad Mitch was a semi-professional singer, while her mum Janis had four musicians on her side of the family.
Reading a school report, Amy’s mum Janis read:| “Amy has had many ups and downs, she makes it clear that the only real interest she has is for performance”
Amy’s school friend Michael also appeared on the documentary, speaking of the first time he realised she could sing during a school production of Grease, where Amy performed the role of Rizzo. He explained how everybody was singing, but Amy could “SING”.
3. Amy’s mum believes that the documentary ‘Amy’ didn’t do her daughter justice
Amy’s mum Janis doesn’t think that the Oscar-winning documentary ‘Amy’ did her daughter any justice, saying it portrayed her as a "caricature.“
In 2015, her father Mitch had a breakdown after being accused of not doing enough to help his daughter at the height of her addiction, due to the way in which Amy’s life was depicted in the film.
The film also portrayed Amy’s childhood as ‘unhappy’, which hurt Janis. Mitch explained that as Amy grew up, the family was "so full of love."
4. Amy suffered from bulimia from a young age, and felt ashamed because of it
Amy’s friends always knew that she suffered from an eating disorder, but it was following the success of Back to Black and the death of her nan that Amy’s problems with food escalated.
“It’s something you feel deep shame over,” her friend Naomi explained, “Back then, they were really taboo subjects still. She was trying to hide it. I think she felt guilty about putting her issues onto other people.”
Amy's friend and former lover Catriona touched on how she was concerned about the singer’s eating habits, saying, “She was making herself sick all the time.”
Her brother even recalled a worrying moment when he hugged Amy and his arms could wrap around her completely.
5. She was very close to her nan, and started to unravel when she died
When Back to Black was released and hit number one all over the world, Amy was catapulted to fame. Combined with the death of her nan Cynthia, this really took a toll on her mental and physical wellbeing.
Cynthia was Mitch’s mum, and Amy was incredibly close to her, which meant she was devastated when she passed away because she'd always been there for her. Mitch also explained that it was Cynthia who kept Amy in line the most.
“The thing that really lit the fuse was Cynthia dying,” one of Amy’s friends revealed. After Cynthia died, things began to unravel for Amy, with her drinking increasing which her friends believe was spurred on by her yearning to “feel normal.”
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Amy even got a pin-up style tattoo of her nan in memory of her, and is now buried with her in a cemetery that Janis visits often.
6. Although close to her mum, Amy went through a period of lashing out
Amy went through a period of being horrible to her mum after her parents split up.
“When I was there, she was fine with me,” Mitch said in the documentary, “when I wasn’t there, she’d kick off.”
In archive footage, Amy is heard saying, “I knew I could, because my dad wouldn’t be there to shout at me.”
Amy’s mum described her as a “sharp cookie” asking, “How do you tame a volatile creature? She outdid me.”
7. She didn’t want to admit that she had mental health issues
Her friend Naomi explained how Amy was addicted to drugs before switching to alcohol, and that her friends and family wish they'd spotted the root cause of Amy’s addictions.
“The addiction was a byproduct of something much deeper that needed addressing, and that was mental health issues,” Naomi explained.
Due to the way society treated people who had mental health issues back then, and even the way mental health was a taboo topic in 2011, Amy was reluctant to admit that she had problems with her mental health.
“It’s only looking back now that I realise how little we understood,” said Janis. She continued, “[Amy] was prone to addiction, she could not stop herself, it’s a very cruel beast.”
Reclaiming Amy will air on BBC Two on Friday 23 July at 9pm.
