Amy Winehouse: in her own words

14 September 2024, 08:00

On what would have been her 41st birthday, we reflect on how Amy Winehouse saw herself, in a collection of archive quotes.

It's been over a decade now since Amy Winehouse was sadly died in her home in Camden, North London and 14th September 2024 would have been her 41st birthday.

The troubled singer was just 27 years old when she left us, but her body of work is still revered to this day. In her short lifetime she released two albums - Frank (2003) and Back To Black (2006).

Here, in the shape of quotes from interviews conducted with the press, is how Amy saw herself, her work and her legacy.

1. "I just dress like it's still the '50s."

   Harper's Bazaar, October 2010

   

2. "Every bad situation is a blues song waiting to happen"

   GQ magazine, 2006

   

3. "I really do try not to drink, but I'm a very self-destructive person."

   The Irish Times, December 2006

4. "At the end of the day, I don't have to answer to you, or my ex, or ... I shouldn't say God ... or a man in a suit from the record company. I have to answer to myself."

   The Guardian February 2004

   

5. “I love pool and if I could invent an eighth day of the week, the morning would be spent playing the guitar and the night I’d be a pool shark.”

   Unpublished interview, 2004

6. "I'm very bad at saying I'm sorry. I'm really stubborn; I can be a right little donkey sometimes.

   The Independent February 2004

7. "Some people go to rehab and treat it like Butlins. Some people go because they think it will really sort them out and it does. But me, I'm from the school which believes that you can only sort yourself out, you can't rely on other people to sort out your problems."

   The Irish Times, December 2006

   

8. "People that go to rehabilitation don't have music in their lives. I can wake up wanting to die - I just have to listen to Dinah Washington or some Ska for a bit and I'll feel on top of the world again."

   Black Sheep, summer 2006

9. "I don't write music when I'm happy - I write music when I've got nothing"

   Interview magazine, August 2007

   

10. "I'm an open book. Some men do think I'm a psycho bunny-boiler. But I think that's funny."

    The Guardian February 2004

11. "I'm romantic. I fall in love every day."

    GQ magazine, 2006

    

12. "I want to do at least four or five albums and I want to get them out of the way now. And then I want to take 10 years to go and have kids, definitely. Goodness in life comes from a sense of achievement and you'd het that from having a child and putting it before yourself."

    Q magazine, January 2004

13. “When I was a little kid it was my dream to go to drama school, but it was never something I thought would happen to me. I was a Jewish girl from North London and things like that don’t happen to Jewish girls from North London called Amy Winehouse."

    Unpublished interview, 2004

    

14. "I don't care what they think of me. I'm a nice person, I'm a sweet person. But I don't care."

    Interview magazine, August 2007

15. "If you can't look after yourself then no one can."

    The Observer January 2007

    

16. "I don't listen to anyone except my inner child."

    Evening Standard. August 2007

17. "When I was growing up and having the pain and suffering that teenagers do, when you think the world hates you... I could sing like a bird. I can't sing like that no more."

    The Word, April 2004

18. "I don't have any regrets, nothing whatsoever, life's too short."

    The Independent February 2004

    

19. "I feel like the audience wants more. I don't give them enough. Maybe that's just me being neurotic."

    Interview magazine, August 2007

    

20. "I am a very romantic person. I don't mean romantic in a flowers and chocolates kind of way. It's more like if it's raining, I'll go up to the window and press my nose against the glass and sigh at how beautiful it all looks."

    The Irish Times, December 2006

    

21. "I am difficult if I am drinking. I can be a cruel person."

    GQ magazine, 2006

22. “I’d like to be remembered as someone who wasn’t satisfied with just one level of musicianship … as someone who was a pioneer. I’ve got all this time to make that happen, that’s what’s so exciting. I’ve got years to do music.”

    Unpublished interview, 2004

    

• Amy Winehouse's Back To Black 15th anniversary marked with heart in Camden
• Is Back To Black Amy Winehouse's most poignant song?