Singer Amy Winehouse Found Dead

Singer Amy Winehouse Found Dead

Amy Winehouse's story is not atypical in the hard and fast world of rock and roll.

In fact, her passing at the age of 27 actually put her in the so-called "27 Club," a loose affiliation of rock stars who passed on at that age, which includes the likes of Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison and Jimi Hendrix, among others.

After a successful career in the UK and among the hipper pockets of American culture, Winehouse exploded onto the international pop charts with her 2007 hit song "Rehab," an anthem that soulfully chastised those who would intervene on her abuse of drugs and alcohol.

Following her arrival on the music scene, it wouldn't be Winehouse's singing, but her personal life that made her a star; a star of the tabloids and a star of late night talk show monologues. Her drinking, drug abuse and wild partying would steal the headlines even as she won six Grammies in a single night for her breakthrough album "Back to Black."

The subject of jokes and gossip centered on her drug abuse, Winehouse was often treated as a walking punchline, and for those who know of the singer only through her status as a troubled addict, her early demise has not been much of a surprise. It is easy to forget, however, that underneath the angry, self destructive shell was an immensely powerful singing voice, wielded by a wounded, fragile young woman.

Initially ambiguous and inconclusive, the most recent reports on Winehouse's death at her Camden, London flat reveal that she had bought ketamine, cocaine and various assorted drugs and intoxicants mere hours earlier.

Winehouse's death on the 23rd of July, 2011 follows a much-celebrated return from rehab in 2008, which saw the frail singer looking heartier, healthier and more beautiful than ever before in her career. Whether these drugs were bought in a moment of weakness or if the last years of the singer's life weren't as rosy as they seemed is as of yet unknown.

Winehouse's death will make for some jokes around the water cooler, it will make for a hefty round of applause emanating from the audiences at comedy clubs and television studios, but hopefully, there will be those who prefer to mourn the passing of a talented young artist, rather than mock the folly of a woman who lived too hard and too fast.

Deceased July 23rd, 2011.