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"She was a genuine musician, among the very small handful of British singers whose version of Amerian soul music had a gutsiness and flair far beyond what could be studied."
—-Jon Pareles, N.Y. Times

AMY WINEHOUSE POST-MORTEM

Tributes Roll in, Sales Climb
With her death over the weekend at the age of 27, Amy Winehouse joins a dubious fraternity of rock stars who died at that age.

"All rock stars go to heaven, you said you'll be dead at 27," sings fellow pop icon M.I.A. in "27," a song she posted on Soundcloud over the weekend which alludes to Kurt Cobain, Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison, who also died at the same age. She might have mentioned both Jimi Hendrix and Brian Jones, too.

Unlike those martyred rockers, Amy Winehouse's career hadn't really even gotten off the ground. She released just two albums, 2003's Frank, inspired by her love of Sinatra, which combined jazz, R&B and hip-hop, and her 2007, multiple Grammy-winning breakthrough, Back to Black. On that album, critics noted she combined the sultry cool of Billie Holiday, the soulful anger of Etta James and the tough-girl stance of the Shangri-Las into one wobbly, beehive package.

At her L.A. debut at the Roxy shortly after the release of Back to Black, Winehouse showed what made her a star, alternating between belting out her soulful originals and stumbling around on-stage to such a degree you wondered if she'd make it through the set.

Predictably, her albums started selling over the weekend, with Back to Black now #1 at iTunes, Frank #3 and Back to Black B-Sides #7, while she's stormed back into the U.K. charts as well.

The N.Y. Times' Jon Pareles said: "Ms. Winehouse was no manufactured pop commodity. She was a genuine musician, among the very small handful of British singers whose version of Amerian soul music had a gutsiness and flair far beyond what could be studied."

Recording Academy President Neil Portnow praised Winehouse's "rich, soulful and unique voice [which] reflected her honest songwriting and earned her a devoted fan following, critical acclaim and the genuine respect and admiration of her musical peers."

Lady Gaga, whom Winehouse recently claimed she "hated," offered her own Tweeted tribute: "Amy changed pop music forever. I remember knowing there was hope, and feeling not alone because of her. She lived jazz, she lived the blues."

Tweeted her producer Mark Ronson: "She was my musical soulmte & like a sister to me. This is one of the saddest days of my life."

Bush's Gavin Rossdale wrote: "So sad and such a waste... Amy Winehouse ripped-away too soon -all wrong."

Sharon Jones and her band the Dap-Kings, who accompanied Winehouse on the Back to Black album, issued the following statement:: "We are very sad to have lost Amy Winehouse today. She was one of a kind and we were fortunate to have had the chance to make music with her. She was always gracious and a pleasure to work with in the studio and on the road. She brought a lot of people joy with her voice and her irreverent personality. It is a tragedy that she was taken from us so soon when she had much more music to give."

Winehouse had been increasingly troubled in recent months. In June, she went on stage in Belgrade for the first stop on her European tour apparently drunk, mumbling and falling on-stage and struggling to remember the words to her songs. The crowd pelted her with paper cups and booed in a clip that traveled over the Internet. She canceled the entire tour after that.

Her last recording was a duet on "Body and Soul" with 84-year-old Tony Bennett, recorded March 23 at London's Abbey Road studio, which will be included on his album Duets II, set for September release on Columbia.

"She was an extraordinary musician with a rare intuition as a vocalist and I am truly devastated that her exceptional talent and has come to such an early end," said Bennett. "She was a lovely and intelligent person and when we recorded together she gave a soulful and extraordinary performance."

Although no official cause for her death has yet been announced, Winehouse reportedly purchased a variety of drugs on the day before her death, including cocaine, ecstasy and ketamine. An autopsy will be performed today.

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