Winehouse eventually moved to the Sylvia Young Theatre School in Westminster, but was expelled at 14 for reportedly not applying herself to her studies, following which she spent time at the famous BRIT School, in Selhurst, Croydon.
At the age of 18, Winehouse was signed to a management contract by Simon Fuller's 19 Management, and received a heavy amount of interest from record labels before eventually signing with Island/Universal.
After working alongside producer Saleem Remi, Winehouse released her jazz-inspired debut album Frank in 2003 to widespread acclaim from critics. Frank was shortlisted for the 2004 Mercury Music Prize and also earned the singer her first Ivor Novello songwriting award for the single 'Stronger Than Me'.
Despite the success of her debut release, Winehouse would later admit that she had not been entirely happy with the record, and had been pushed by her label to include certain tracks.
While working on the follow-up to Frank in 2005, Winehouse began what would become a tumultuous relationship with the tabloid press, after she began showing increasingly erratic public behaviour, fuelling rumours of heavy drug and alcohol abuse.
2006 saw the release of Winehouse's second album Back to Black, which was co-produced by Remi and Mark Ronson. The album went on to win five Grammy Awards including 'Best New Artist', 'Record of the Year' and 'Song of the Year', and became the best-selling UK album of 2007, as well as the overall third-biggest seller of the decade in the country.
The album was a marked departure from Winehouse's previous musical style on Frank, and featured a sound more inspired by the girl groups of the 1950s and 1960s. Back to Black spawned several successful singles including Winehouse's most well-known songs 'Rehab', 'You Know I'm No Good' and 'Back to Black'.
It was during the promotion of Back to Black that Winehouse's personal troubles began to overshadow her music career, after several panned performances caused her to cancel the remainder of a 17-date tour in August 2007, with the singer's record company citing exhaustion and ill health as the reasons behind the cancellations.
Winehouse found herself in legal difficulties in 2008 after a video emerged on the website of British tabloid The Sun, which seemed to depict the singer smoking crack cocaine and discussing her regular drug use, although no official charges were ever brought against her.
She wed partner Blake Fielder-Civil on May 18, 2007 with a ceremony in Miami, Florida. However, their union would be marred by claims that Fielder-Civil was responsible for fuelling Winehouse's growing substance abuse issues. The newly-married couple were arrested later the same year in Bergen, Norway, on charges of possession of marijuana, but they were both later released with a fine.
The tempestuous marriage began to show signs of trouble after Fielder-Civil was jailed in July 2008 after being found guilty of trying to pervert the course of justice and grievous bodily harm with intent. In January 2009, only one month before Fielder-Civil was due to be released from prison, a spokesperson for Winehouse confirmed that she had been issued with divorce papers.
Despite repeated claims on her part that she wouldn't allow the divorce to go through, Winehouse and Fielder-Civil were officially divorced on August 28, 2009, and it was noted that he had requested no money from the singer as part of the divorce settlement.
Following the end of her marriage to Fielder-Civil, Winehouse retreated to the Caribbean island of Saint Lucia for much of 2009 to begin work on her third album alongside regular collaborator Remi. Despite repeated claims that the album was progressing well, an official release date for the untitled record was never announced.
Winehouse's legal difficulties continued throughout 2009 after she was charged with common assault stemming from an incident at the September 2008 Prince's Trust charity ball. Despite being found not guilty, Winehouse was arrested in December that year again on charges of common assault and was handed a two-year conditional discharge and fine.
Constant paparazzi presence led Winehouse to seek and receive an anti-harassment injunction against the Big Pictures photo agency in May 2009, which stopped the paparazzi from coming within 100 metres of her home or pursuing her.
An interview in late 2010 saw Winehouse insist that she had been drug-free for the past three years, but the singer later admitted herself to the Priory rehabilitation clinic in May 2011 to receive treatment for alcohol addiction. Winehouse was allegedly told by doctors that she needed to 'stop drinking or die', but checked herself out of the clinic after only one week.
Winehouse's music comeback faced problems in June after a disastrous performance in Belgrade that marked the beginning of her 12-date European tour. The singer's vocal performance was critically panned and she was eventually booed off-stage after seeming drunk and disorientated by those in attendance. Following the performance, Winehouse pulled out of scheduled concerts in both Istanbul and Athens before cancelling the entire tour. A spokesperson for the singer said she would be given 'as long as it takes' for her to get back to her best.
On July 23, Amy Winehouse was found dead at her North London home. The singer was 27 years old. Metropolitan Police has so far described the singer's death as 'unexplained', and an autopsy is expected to confirm the cause of death. (Credit : Digital Spy)
