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Amy Winehouse would have turned 43 today.
The British singer-songwriter died on July 23, 2011, at age 27. Her influence on modern soul and R&B has only grown since, most recently marked by the Library of Congress adding her landmark album ''Back to Black'' to the National Recording Registry in 2025.
According to the Library of Congress, her sound rooted in jazz, soul, R&B, and hip-hop resonated deeply with fans and shaped a generation of female vocalists who followed, including Adele, Duffy, Estelle, Lady Gaga, and Ellie Goulding.
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Music writers have similarly credited her with reviving mainstream interest in classic soul within the U.K., paving the way for artists like James Morrison and Duffy to find commercial success in the years after her breakthrough.
Amy Winehouse wrote the vast majority of her own music, drawing directly from her personal life. According to Radio X, like most of her songs, she wrote the lyrics to "Back to Black" herself, with the track described as deeply personal and rooted in her own heartache after a breakup.
uDiscoverMusic's account of the song's creation describes how producer Mark Ronson wrote the music first, and Winehouse then quickly wrote lyrics based on what she was going through at the time.
Amy Winehouse's story reached the big screen in 2024 with ''Back to Black,'' a biographical drama directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson from a screenplay by Matt Greenhalgh. The two previously collaborated on the 2009 John Lennon biopic ''Nowhere Boy,'' according to Billboard.
The film is told through Amy's eyes, with the story shaped around her personal experience of the relationship and events that inspired the songs, rather than a more detached, outside biographical viewpoint.
Marisa Abela stars as Winehouse, having worked with a vocal coach to capture Winehouse's distinctive singing voice.
The film had the full backing of Universal Music Group, Sony Music Publishing, and the Amy Winehouse Estate, and tells the story through Winehouse's own eyes, tracing her early rise to fame and the making of ''Back to Black.''
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