NEWSAmy Winehouse's Tragic Last Days
July 28 2011, Published 2:00 p.m. ET
At 27, the tortured diva’s epic battle With booze and drugs comes to a lonely end. Perhaps the saddest thing about Amy Jade Winehouse’s death, from a suspected drug overdose, was that it wasn’t surprising; as her mother, Janis, said three years ago, “We’re watching her kill herself, slowly.” And indeed, the 27-year-old singer was known as much for her struggles with substance abuse — immortalized in her hit single “Rehab” — as for her bluesy anthems and raven beehive. We take a look at Amy's last days in the new issue of OK!.
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“It’s no secret that Amy was on a mission to self-destruct,” an insider tells OK!. “She was almost a caricature of the brilliant, tortured artist who can’t get past her demons.” The official end came at 3:54 p.m. on July 23, when paramedics found Amy’s body alone in bed at her London flat. But her tragedy was long in the making.
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“She was so sensitive from the time she was a little kid,” the source explains. “The slightest insult or rejection would send her into a cyclone of self-loathing and depression. She found alcohol and drugs when she was 14 or 15 and was off to the races.”
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A catalyst for Amy’s downward spiral was her smack- and crack-laced marriage (from 2007 to 2009) to Blake Fielder-Civil.
“She never got over her relationship with Blake, and it was basically what killed her,” the source says. “When it ended, it nearly paralyzed her.”
Ironically, Amy had been looking healthier than usual as of late and had planned a European tour. But she canceled the shows after a June 18 performance in Belgrade, Serbia, in which she forgot lyrics, seemed incoherent and was booed off the stage.
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“It was devastating,” the insider tells OK!. “She felt like everyone in the world hated her. She holed up in her place in London with tons of booze, pills and cigarettes. She’d call whomever she could think of and go on these insane rants. It was really sad. Her place was so dark and dirty.”
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Amy emerged briefly July 20, taking the stage at London’s iTunes Festival and flashing a few dance moves with her 15-year-old goddaughter, Dionne Bromfield. Three days later, Amy joined the roster of rock royalty who passed at age 27, including Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison and Kurt Cobain. In an interview this past October, Amy said, “If I died tomorrow, I’d be a happy girl.” One can only hope her words were prophetic.
FOR MORE ON THE LOSS OF AMY WINEHOUSE PICK UP THIS WEEK'S ISSUE OF OK! MAGAZINE ON SALE NOW!
