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Today marks ten years since the untimely passing of Amy Winehouse.
The jazz singer passed away after a long battle with alcohol and drug addiction aged just 27. In the last few years of her life she became tabloid fodder and spent more time being hounded by the paparazzi than recording new material.
In an intimate conversation with one of her childhood friends in the days leading up to her death it’s reported she said: ‘If I could give it [fame] back, just to walk down that street with no hassle, I would.’
Tragic as her life was, there’s no denying that she was one of the most talented musicians of her time. Many of her contemporaries added her to the roster of all-time jazz greats alongside Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday and Nina Simone, despite the fact she only released two albums: ‘Frank’ in 2003, followed by ‘Back to Black’ in 2006.
Her close friend, photographer Phil Griffin – who has worked with Britney, Rihanna and Prince as well as with Amy on ‘Black to Black’ – is now bringing the more personal side of the singer to life as part of an exhibition of never-before-seen images called ‘Amy in the Light’.
The exhibition, made up of re-imaged photos of the late star, will be Griffin’s first show since ‘Unseen Icons’ in 2018, which attracted widespread attention due to his raw and intimate portraits of some of the world’s most famous faces, including Sir Paul McCartney and Pete Doherty.
The artworks will be shown free of charge at the Brownsword Hepworth Gallery in Knightsbridge from July 26 to September 14.