Woes multiply for Grammy-winning Winehouse

Big award win in February doesn't appear to have helped singer clean up





Even for Amy Winehouse, it was a dramatic
chain of events: After fainting and being rushed to a hospital,
Winehouse's father said her crack and cigarette smoking had so damaged
her lungs, she was risking emphysema and death if she didn't clean up.

Yet
Winehouse — famous for her rebellious anthem "Rehab" — was photographed
with a cigarette dangling from her lips as she left the hospital.
It
was a potent symbol of how Winehouse's troubles have multiplied since
February, when she was enjoying the triumph of her young career.

There she was, before a worldwide audience,
surrounded by family after winning a record-tying five Grammys for her
album "Back to Black." True, the 23-year-old Brit couldn't make it to
the Los Angeles show — she had finally entered a rehabilitation clinic.
But the Grammys were still a brilliant achievement after months of
reported drug use, attempts at rehab, canceled performances and erratic
behavior.

Immediately
after the Feb. 10 ceremony, there was talk of relaunching her American
tour. "There was a sense that maybe she was going to turn it around and
she was going to get it together and it was going to be a great
feel-good story," said veteran music journalist Alan Light.
"We
all have a walk in life," legendary singer Chaka Khan, herself a past
user of drugs, said backstage after Winehouse's wins. "We have hard and
difficult times and going through that chaos often leads to clarity."
But
since being released from the hospital this week, the only thing that's
gotten clearer is how deeply troubled Winehouse remains. Police have
investigated her for an alleged assault and for drug use; she's been
photographed looking particularly wan and disheveled, with pockmarks on
her face and marks on her arms; videotapes have been released showing
disturbing behavior, including one where she sang a song full of racial
slurs. Her father was quoted as saying she had only "70 percent lung
capacity."
While
drugs and music have a long history together, Winehouse's problems are
remarkable given their prominence in a relatively short career (she
made her U.K. debut in 2003 and her U.S. debut last year).
"It's
definitely been a rough time for her," said Rick Krim, an executive
vice president at VH1. The channel will broadcast taped highlights of a
Friday birthday concert for Nelson Mandela; Winehouse was due to
perform at the London show.

Cole: ‘I don't think she deserved it’

If
she makes it to the venue, it's not clear which Winehouse will show up
— the sultry, forceful singer or the bumbling, unfocused person who
arrived an hour late to a June concert in Portugal. The brief set was
marked by her croaking voice, highlighting the damage that smoking can
cause to any singer's instrument.
After
her stunning Grammy wins back in February, while there were lots of
good wishes for Winehouse, not everyone thought The Recording Academy's
coronation was a positive moment. Past Grammy winner Natalie Cole — who
had battled drug addiction years ago — was quoted as saying: "I don't
think she deserved it. ... I think she needs to get her life together
first, and then get the awards later."
Noted Light: "It certainly doesn't look like the Grammys helped in any way for her to get cleaned up or figure it out at all."
But
he cautioned against tying up an artist's personal conduct with getting
awards, a notion shared by Recording Academy President Neil Portnow.
"Creativity and great artistry is really the
benchmark of our evaluation and for our membership's judgment of their
fellow artist's musical work," he said.

"We're
always hopeful that a positive experience in the Grammy process is
beneficial and uplifting for artists, on many levels," he added, "but
we also know the stark realities of the difficulties of addiction and
addiction recovery, and I think it would be naive for anyone to think
that one event, even as much as a milestone for what it was, would
erase those elements and circumstances that lead to those kind of
difficulties in the first place."
Winehouse, born to a pharmacist mother and
taxi-driver father, grew up in the London suburbs and attended
performing arts schools. She found critical and commercial success with
the release of her first album, the jazzy "Frank," when she was just 20
years old. But even then her alleged drug use was becoming fodder for
London tabloids.

Dr.
Charles Sophy, an addiction specialist who works with celebrity
clients, said that shining moments can often cause a relapse: "The
trigger can be the emotional discomfort of things being happy ... it
becomes that uncomfortable self-sabotoge where they don't know how to
deal with something so wonderful and they get scared."
When
Winehouse performed at the Grammys from London via satellite, taking a
respite from rehab, some wondered whether that distraction was wise for
someone battling a serious addiction. Now that she is attempting to
resume performing, the question remains.
But Sophy said it could be a boost for
Winehouse to do something that reaffirms a positive aspect of her life:
"Anybody building on their strengths is the best thing to do."

In
addition, Krim believes Winehouse's management and record label have
her best interests in mind: "If they're going to have her perform on
(the Mandela show), I think the people around her feel she's ready to
do it."
She may be
ready for Friday's performance, but doubts linger about when — or if —
she'll be ready to resume her career. She had been working in the
studio but reportedly stopped even before her recent hospitalization:
Producer Mark Ronson, who won a Grammy for his work with the singer,
recently said she wasn't "ready to record any music."
Meanwhile,
her near-tragic personal life is keeping her in the headlines. If her
troubles remain, the public may lose interest in that part of her life,
too.
"This is very
early in a career to have now to deal with all of this stuff," said
Light, pointing out celebrities who have had monumental crashes —
Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston and even Britney Spears — were in the
public eye for years before their downturns.
"Once you've been a train wreck longer than you've been the pop star," he said, "I don't know how long people really care."