Something About Amy: 20 Artists On Why Amy Winehouse Continues To Inspire
“I used to see her on TV or in magazine shoots with a pink electric guitar, and I used to think she was the coolest motherfucker on the face of the Earth. And because of her, I picked up a guitar and because of her, I wrote my own songs.
“The songs I got signed on were the songs that I wrote completely on my own. If it wasn’t for her, that wouldn’t have happened [...] I’m obviously completely happy with all the music that she left behind because it’s all genius. But every day, I wish I could hear a new song from her.”
“She was my only hope when I was up and coming. Nobody knew who I was and I had no fans, no record label and everybody, when they met me, said I wasn’t pretty enough or that my voice was too low or strange. They had nowhere to put me. And then I saw her in Rolling Stone and I saw her live. I just remember thinking ‘well, they found somewhere to put Amy…’.
“She’s my G. I saw the [documentary, Amy] – it got me flipping angry... [Amy’s story] struck a chord with me in the sense that, as a creative, it looks like on the outside, that it’s very ‘go studio, make a hit, go and perform it around the world, champagne in the club, loads of girls’. But the graft and the emotional strain of being a musician is very hard. No one ever sees that part.
“I was very influenced by her, and her voice and her singing of her pain, and playing guitar and just being a normal girl. She just wants to express herself. I loved her and I still listen to her music.”
“She’s a massive inspiration... I didn’t know her and I’m so sad that I never got to meet her, and I’m so sad about how it ended because she was just an unbelievable talent. Unbelievable. She’s one of the greatest artists to ever come out of this country and to come out of London.”
“I watched the Amy Winehouse documentary on the plane and I had tears in my eyes because I could see what the media was doing to her, how they were treating her. People thought it was funny to poke her when she was at rock bottom, to keep pushing her down until she had no more of herself.”
