Amy Winehouse dead

[Matt]

I hope her death wasn't drug related but I don't really think there's a chance it wasn't.

As for what I thought of her? I heard like three of her songs. Hated Rehab, liked Back to Black and really, really hated Valerie (even though that's Mark Ronson I suppose) because The Zutons were my favourite band when it came out and her version became infinitely more popular. So yeah, I regularly said stuff like "I fucking hate her" and "she's a cunt" but that was more in line with my tendency to exaggerate/overreact than any real disdain for her. I mostly just saw her as a joke if I'm honest and like most, associated her with tabloid headlines and drug abuse as opposed to her music.

Not at all surprised this has happened but regardless of the cause of death I've got a lot of sympathy for her. Just because she was an addict it doesn't mean her death at the age of 27 isn't tragic and the people saying "well, if this is drug-related, she brought this on herself", as if we're five years old and don't realise that, are a little annoying.

Haven't heard a good joke yet either, which is disappointing.

Some people (read: a couple of people I know) are actually refusing to accept that she did bring it on herself though, saying it's not her fault she was led astray and she couldn't be blamed for not going to rehab when she needed to. But then they are the sort of people that will blindly believe whatever NME and the sort tell them to believe, so it's hardly surprising.

Also, there aren't any hilarious ones, a couple of alright ones - I'll PM you them.

[Nerf]

I've also just realised we should all be offering our sympathy to Amitai (I don't know if he still posts here) because IIRC apparently he's her cousin.

[King Ellis]

You mean Kandiman 2.0 except without the crazy RVD/Christian promises?

Not as good as Cavegirl being Summ's cousin though.

[Nerf]

For some reason, I thought for ages that Eddie F'n G was Amitai with a name change. I've no idea why.

[RPS]

Some people (read: a couple of people I know) are actually refusing to accept that she did bring it on herself though, saying it's not her fault she was led astray and she couldn't be blamed for not going to rehab when she needed to. But then they are the sort of people that will blindly believe whatever NME and the sort tell them to believe, so it's hardly surprising.

I'm sorry, but that's the dumbest thing I've seen posted in this thread yet. If you simply believe drug addiction is as easy as it's her fault, she used drugs and didn't want to go to rehab, than you shouldn't be commenting on the situation. I've personally known close friends and family members who have dealt with addiction. It's not as cut and cry as it's their fault, they need to take responsibility.

[Matt]

Some people (read: a couple of people I know) are actually refusing to accept that she did bring it on herself though, saying it's not her fault she was led astray and she couldn't be blamed for not going to rehab when she needed to. But then they are the sort of people that will blindly believe whatever NME and the sort tell them to believe, so it's hardly surprising.

I'm sorry, but that's the dumbest thing I've seen posted in this thread yet. If you simply believe drug addiction is as easy as it's her fault, she used drugs and didn't want to go to rehab, than you shouldn't be commenting on the situation. I've personally known close friends and family members who have dealt with addiction. It's not as cut and cry as it's their fault, they need to take responsibility.

It's not entirely her fault, no, but she's her own woman, she could say no, she could've gone to rehab when her family told her she needed to. She was clearly happy with her lifestyle, so she's responsible for herself.

I too have had a family member with an addiction (albeit he realised he was getting hooked before it got too bad and he didn't need to go to rehab, he just needed to, essentially, be childminded for a month or so) and I agree it's not as cut and dry is "it was his fault". I never meant to say the same thing about Winehouse either, but she can't be absolved of blame. She knew what she was doing to herself, she could've not got involved in that lifestyle or got out of it, she chose not to.

Anyway, I don't want to turn this into a full blown argument, so I'll be leaving it there.

[RPS]

he was clearly happy with her lifestyle, so she's responsible for herself.

Jesus Christ. That's a joke, right?

Edited July 26, 2011 by RockPaperScissors

[tristy]

just because she checked into rehab a few times doesn't mean it was on her own will. she never completed any of the programs either, always left early. this last time that she was in rehab, from what i heard, was only because she had a comeback tour coming up and her people wanted her clean after her awful iTunes Festival performance. then again, we'll never really know if she REALLY wanted help, because we're just people on an internet message board talking about it.

just sayin'. but, either way, yeah, it sucks.

[Nerf]

Everybody has the choice when they take heroin that first time. If you still choose to knowing the risks and effects, then yeah, you're totally to blame.

[METALMAN]

Addiction and depression on the scale she experienced is an illness or a disorder. It's not something you necessarily choose.

Tears Dry On Their Own and Addicted are fine tunes, otherwise I didn't really care for her music. On Sunday we had her album on all day at work and I got fed up of it pretty quickly. We sold out of her albums after like an hour or something.

[Skummy]

Everybody has the choice when they take heroin that first time. If you still choose to knowing the risks and effects, then yeah, you're totally to blame.

And everybody knows that smoking's bad for you, and they still do it. I'm not going to start slagging them off when they die of lung cancer.

I don't really give a toss about Amy Winehouse, and this hasn't affected me at all - Back To Black was a tune, but I always preferred Lightspeed Champion's version - but, and I know this is probably going to kind of contradict some of what I said in the Ryan Dunn thread, it's not her fault she died.

Nobody wants to be an addict. It's a horrible fucking existence. If it was simple as "well, she could've stopped", don't you think that she would have done? If it was as simple as stopping when you realise it's damaging you, there wouldn't be drug addicts, there wouldn't be alcoholics.

[Nerf]

Everybody has the choice when they take heroin that first time. If you still choose to knowing the risks and effects, then yeah, you're totally to blame.

And everybody knows that smoking's bad for you, and they still do it. I'm not going to start slagging them off when they die of lung cancer.

I don't really give a toss about Amy Winehouse, and this hasn't affected me at all - Back To Black was a tune, but I always preferred Lightspeed Champion's version - but, and I know this is probably going to kind of contradict some of what I said in the Ryan Dunn thread, it's not her fault she died.

Nobody wants to be an addict. It's a horrible fucking existence. If it was simple as "well, she could've stopped", don't you think that she would have done? If it was as simple as stopping when you realise it's damaging you, there wouldn't be drug addicts, there wouldn't be alcoholics.

No, I totally get what you're saying, because addiction is a horrible and impossible story, but nobody is addicted when they take heroin that first time, so they should know to stay clear of it. I mean, I've fucked around with drugs before, and I smoke, but there's a world of difference between that and heroin.

[Quom]

How so? It's just that smoking is more socially acceptable and so is drinking. I really can't be arsed looking for stats but not everyone who takes heroin is a strung out junkie chewing off someone's arm to get to their bag to get their next hit. If you see enough people who are functional it would change heroin from this deep, dark horrible drug some see it as to an okay it's not as bad as people make out, I'll try it too drug. It's no different to the way some people can smoke 10 cigarettes a week or quit and start whenever they like whereas when I smoked it was 50 a day.

I'd imagine the shit musicians see is far beyond the scope of what most of us have experienced when it comes to drug use. I'd imagine that you would likely be surrounded by it. The problem being that if you slip and start joining in then the people who aren't into it vacate and you are left with vapid junkies and hangers on who want nothing more than to see you as fucked up as they are.

Now I'm not excusing Amy, I'd assume she was a woman of wealth far beyond that of an average person. However fame itself is intoxicating. Not just for you but also for the people living off the brand you have become. So whilst Amy likely could have run away and become anonymous of her own accord, chances are there were plenty of people making money off her who wanted nothing less than for this to happen. Sadly similar to what Hbob said, Amy was synonymous with drugs. Everywhere she went she would have been offered them. People would have thought they were supporting her by giving her drugs or that it was an expected service or just plain good manners.

Again Amy could have told them all to fuck off, ran away and became clean. But imagine trying to do that whilst drunk but with the added need to have a cigarette whilst people constantly either surround you with it or wish to talk to you about it. It's a bit different to a junkie having to break off from their old circle of junkie friends to get clean when the whole world knows you are an addict and plenty of random people would consider it an honour to get high with you.

I have never been in an environment where drug use was seen as acceptable as smoking or drinking. Both of which are harmful and offer little or no benefit to humans. Yet knowing this I still drink and used to be a heavy smoker (and relapse occasionally).

[Lint]

Just to lighten to mood in here..

[Mj3]

Poor woman, everybody makes mistakes, unfortunately, her mistake lead to a serious addiction.

Wasn't she also clinically depressed? Anyone with this condition deserves sympathy, whether you look at the drugs problem or not.

[Pesci]

I'm somewhere in between PRP and Nerf on the addiction issue. Kicking addiction is obviously a lot more complex than "call a rehab centre and get clean", especially when you factor in severe depression, which I don't think anybody can really understand until they suffer from it. If you're depressed, it's a lot easier to slide into addiction and a lot harder to get out of it. It's also not as simple as saying "she took that first hit, she should've known she would become addicted". That's a pretty crass way of putting it. But at the same time, I think the "blame" for this has to be put on her - it may be hard to get clean but it's something you need to do, and it's something you need to stick to, and if you don't, there will always be consequences like this. Do those who led her into that lifestyle and encouraged drug use need to share some of the blame? Of course, but I think "she brought it on herself" is still a pretty apt expression. Like I said before, though - it doesn't mean her death isn't tragic or that we should view it as something she deserved.

There needs to be more done to stop addiction and like Russell Brand said, we should stop looking at addicts like scum and instead look at them as people suffering from a disease, who need help. It's too naive to think everybody can sort out their own problems.

Edited July 27, 2011 by Pesci

[apsham]

The family are now saying that she died from alcohol withdrawl - after quitting cold turkey her body couldn't handle the shock and went into seizures, etc.

[Lint]

In what I'm sure will surprise no one, the cause of death was released today..alcohol poisoning! More specifically, 5 times the legal limit

http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/26/world/europe/uk-winehouse-inquest/index.html

London (CNN) -- Singer Amy Winehouse's death this summer was the result of alcohol poisoning, an inquest ruled Wednesday, as it reached a verdict of "death by misadventure."

A pathologist told a coroner's court in north London that alcohol toxicity was the cause of the 27-year-old's death, with her blood-alcohol levels measured at more than five times the legal limit for driving.

The Grammy award-winning artist, who had struggled with alcohol and drug abuse over several years, was found dead at her north London home July 23.

A family statement, given by spokesman Chris Goodman, said: "It is some relief we finally found out what happened to Amy.

"We understand there was alcohol in her system when she passed away. It is likely a buildup of alcohol in her system over a number of days.

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"The court heard that Amy was battling hard to conquer her problems with alcohol and it is a source of great pain that she could not win in time. She had started drinking again that week after a period of abstinence," Goodman said.

Winehouse's blood-alcohol levels were 416 milligrams per 100 milliliters of blood, the inquest was told. The legal limit to drive in Britain is 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood.

Winehouse's father Mitch and mother Janet were among those who packed the small courtroom at St. Pancras Coroners Court to hear the evidence from key witnesses.

Her family set up the Amy Winehouse Foundation last month to raise money to help young people in Britain and elsewhere, especially those suffering the effects of ill health, disability, poverty and addiction.

Goodman said the ruling "underlines how important our work with the Amy Winehouse Foundation is to us to help as many young people and children we can in her name."

Winehouse's family said in August that toxicology tests had found that "no illegal substances" were in her system at the time of her death but alcohol was present.

The singer's soulful, throaty vocals brought the British musician stardom in 2007, but her troubled off-stage life -- chronicled in her top 10 hit "Rehab" -- won her notoriety.

Her death came less than two months after her latest release from a rehabilitation program and weeks after she was booed offstage by disappointed fans in Serbia.

The tattooed London-born singer-songwriter's first album, "Frank," debuted in 2003, when she was 19.

International success came with her 2007 album "Back to Black." She dominated the 2008 Grammys, winning five awards that night and delivering, via satellite from London, a strong performance of "Rehab."

Mitch Winehouse has said he plans to write a memoir, called "Amy: My Daughter," to be released next summer, which he said would tell the story of the Amy that the public never got to know.

[gunnar hendershow]

Was coming to this thread to post that news.

So what I got from that article was that she hadn't drank for awhile and then picked up the bottle again. 5 times the legal limit is always dangerous and puts you in a precarious situation, doing it during a binge on the heels of abstinence is even more of a problem. At least there finally appears to be some closure to it.

[Guest The Phenomenal Red]

In what I'm sure will surprise no one, the cause of death was released today..alcohol poisoning! More specifically, 5 times the legal limit

http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/26/world/europe/uk-winehouse-inquest/index.html

I knew that she died of an od. I was actually surprised she lasted THAT long because let's face it, her addiction was an illness. However unlike some illnesses where you can't choose that you can get it, she did. I feel bad for the family but any "artist" that sings in a song "Try to make me goto rehab and I say no (no, no, no)" they asked for it. They walked themselves down a path that is hard enough even when you know you have a problem and try to get clean. I liked her song "I'm no Good" but then with Rehab, the idea of the song pissed me off so much that I gave up on her. I'm sorry, that's the same as someone doing a song on being a mass murderer on claiming it's art. No it isn't, it's sleazy and trashy.