Winehouse was born on September 14, 1983, to Russian Jewish parents in Enfield, Middlesex, England. Her father was a taxi driver and a lover of jazz, who left the family when Winehouse was nine; her mother worked as a pharmacist. From an early age, the Winehouse home was filled with the music of Julie London and Dean Martin, and one of her uncles played jazz professionally. Winehouse attended London's Sylvia Young Theatre School, but was expelled for wearing a nose ring. "The thing about stage school," she told McDonnell, "is that it doesn't necessarily prepare you or train you for your skills." Next she attended an all-girls' school, where she learned to play piano. When her brother Alex left for college, he gave his 16-year-old sister his jazz collection. Winehouse immersed herself in the music, although she later expanded her musical tastes to TLC and Salt-N-Pepa during her rebellious teen years.

Winehouse planned for a career in music, but estimated that she would be 30 before she had signed a contract with a major label and recorded her first album. Her timeline accelerated when a school friend, already beginning his music career, passed along a demo of Winehouse to his management. In 2002 the agency Brilliant 19 signed the young singer, and the following year she signed to Island Records. Winehouse, at 20, was on the verge of reaching her goal.

Island released Frank in 2003, and the album was short-listed for the prestigious Mercury Award. The title referred to one of her idols, Frank Sinatra, but the music abruptly departed from her mentor's style. Combining jazz, R&B, and hip-hop, Winehouse melded these influences into a distinct style that retained its rough, soulful edge. Her subject matter also ranged from the ordinary to the incendiary. "October Song" memorialized her dead canary that she had buried in a Chanel sunglasses box. Other songs, such as "Stronger Than Me," explored troubled relationships with the opposite sex. Winehouse's skill as a writer shared the stage with her rough, expressive vocal style. Dan Cairns wrote in the LondonSunday Times, "It is no exaggeration to state that the voice with which Winehouse articulates this mental warfare is one of the most extraordinary to be heard in pop music for years."

Winehouse released her second album, Back to Black, in 2006, and the critics greeted the album warmly. Unlike Frank, Back to Black climbed the European Hot 100 chart, spawning the single "Rehab." "It's a terrific album," wrote Peter Ross in the Glasgow Sunday Herald, "a modern take on a Sixties soul sound, smooth stuff given a jagged edge by lyrics which deal with alcoholism, sexual compulsion, loneliness and the inevitability of infidelity." The new album also found Winehouse expanding her style. "Although Back to Black does see her deserting jazz and wholly embracing contemporary R&B, all the best parts of her musical character emerge intact," wrote John Bush in All Music Guide. Winehouse continued to write her own material, exploring the dynamics of personal relationships as she had on Frank. "I wouldn't say I'm a feminist," she told Chloe Diski in the London Observer, "but I don't like girls pretending to be stupid because it's easier."

Despite critical and popular success, her managers worried that Winehouse's erratic behavior would eclipse her music. In 2006 her management requested she enter rehab for alcohol abuse. Instead, Winehouse recorded "Rehab," a song detailing her refusal to join rehab, and changed management. While the single rose on the charts, it was Winehouse's behavior—not her music—that grabbed headlines. At the beginning of 2007, an appearance at London's G.A.Y. club ended after the singer had completed only one song. "It marked a new low for the singer," noted John Dingwall in the Glasgow Daily Record, "and marks the latest shameful episode in a career which has been beset by problems caused by drink, drugs and bulimia."

While personal demons have marred Winehouse's success, she continues to tour, write new songs, and push toward new musical horizons. "It's important to remember that despite all the mocking headlines," wrote Ross, "Winehouse is all about music.…For her, music is sacred—when she is making it or listening to it she is safe within a magic circle, a pure, profound and healing space."

Charting her own artistic path, Winehouse has remained immune to the lures of fame and fortune. "My ambitions," she told Aizlewood, "are different to the management and the record company's.…I don't care about all that pop stuff and I couldn't go to the Smash Hits poll winners' party without bringing a gun." While Winehouse's sharp tongue and wayward ways have offended many, it is the same independent outlook that informs her music, providing each song with a distinct edge. "My attitude has changed," Winehouse told Chitra Ramaswamy in Scotland on Sunday. "I never used to believe that I'd get anywhere and thought people wouldn't like me.…But now I'm a lot more inclined to think that the world is yours if you want to take it."

Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/amy-winehouse#ixzz1T2sOieMo