Amy Winehouse was one of the biggest musical stars of the early 2000s, but unfortunately, her battles with drugs and alcohol also landed her in the headlines.

After trying repeatedly to get her life on track, she took to the stage in Serbia on June 18, 2011, for what was meant to be the start of a European tour.

Instead, it would be her last performance. Five weeks later, the world was plunged into shock when Winehouse died at just 27.

It was a tragic ending for the talented singer and left her family, friends and fans reeling.

Amy Winehouse pictured during her final performance on June 18, 2011; she died five weeks later. (WireImage)
Winehouse was born on September 14, 1983, in Enfield, about 16km outside London. Her father, Mitch, was a window panel installer and taxi driver while her mother, Janis, was a pharmacist.

Growing up, her father would sing her Frank Sinatra songs. His mother, Cynthia, was a former singer while uncles on her mother’s side were jazz musicians.

When she was nine, her grandmother Cynthia suggested Winehouse attend weekend tap dance and singing lessons.

She later became a full-time student at the theatre school, and while there, taught herself guitar and began writing her own songs.

In 2002, Winehouse was signed by talent manager Simon Fuller of Spice Girls fame.
Winehouse was nominated for two Brit Awards after the release of her first album. (A24 Films via AP)
Her first album, Frank, was released in October 2003. Apart from two covers, Winehouse wrote every song on the jazz-influenced album, which raced up the UK charts.

Winehouse was nominated for two Brit Awards. That year she performed at the Glastonbury Festival.

Winehouse moved away from jazz for her second album, Back to Black, which was released in October 2006, and went straight to number one in the UK and number seven in the US.

It included the mega-hit Rehab, which Time magazine named the best song of 2007.

Back to Black became the UK’s best-selling album of 2007.

The singer’s second album Back to Black took her career and fame to a whole new level. (AP)
Behind the scenes, Winehouse’s dependence on drugs and alcohol was threatening to derail her career.

Winehouse’s battle with substance abuse and an eating disorder first came to light around 2005.

By August 2007, she cancelled a number of shows in the UK and Europe due to exhaustion and ill health.

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Around that time, she was hospitalised following an overdose. She reportedly had heroin, ecstasy, cocaine, ketamine and alcohol in her system, and said afterwards she “thought that it was over for me.”

Later that year, she entered a treatment program, but soon after her release, a UK tabloid posted a video allegedly showing Winehouse smoking crack cocaine.

In January 2008, she entered rehab but by April her erratic behaviour, including an alleged assault, raised fears she had relapsed.

The Rehab singer, pictured with dad Mitch Winehouse, won five Grammys in 2008 but wasn’t able to attend the ceremony. (Getty Images for NARAS)
That year, the president of Island Records considered releasing her from her contract so she could seek help.

After failing a drug test, she was stopped from travelling to the US for that year’s Grammy Awards, where she won five of the six awards she was nominated for.

Her health was also suffering, and it was revealed she had a serious lung condition caused by smoking.

Winehouse did eventually kick drugs, but continued to drink, and was often photographed drunk and dishevelled, including on stage.

Sometimes performances were cancelled just before or during shows.

Along with her addition issues, Winehouse endured health struggles including a lung condition. (Getty Images for NARAS)
In 2011, Winehouse embarked on a 12-stop European tour that kicked off in Belgrade, Serbia, on June 18.

It was meant to be a new start for Winehouse, but according to newspaper reports, she stumbled across the stage for 45 minutes, forgetting the words of songs, the names of her bandmates and even the city she was in.

A YouTube video of the chaotic performance showed she stopped singing, leaving her backing singer Zalon Thompson to carry on.

At one point, he appeared to hold her up on stage. An emotional Winehouse also appeared to break down.

Eventually, the crowd erupted into ‘boos’ and Winehouse left the stage.

Winehouse visibly struggled during her final performance. (WireImage)
The rest of the tour was cancelled and Winehouse returned to London.

Once home, she reportedly tried again to stop drinking. It was a pattern she had adopted before – stop drinking cold turkey before relapsing weeks later.

She had even tried medication, which she was on at the time of her death, along with anxiety medication.

Three days before she died, she was photographed backstage at her goddaughter Dione Bromfield’s performance at the Roundhouse in Camden, just around the corner from Winehouse’s home.

Winehouse reportedly looked happy and healthy, and even got on stage to sing the classic R&B song Mama Said.

Winehouse, pictured with her goddaughter Dionne Bromfield three days before her tragic death. (Instagram)
The star’s GP later revealed Winehouse called her to her home just hours before she was found dead.

The GP said that during her visit on the evening of July 22, Winehouse told her she had not drank alcohol from July 3 until July 20, when she started drinking again.

She reportedly told the doctor, “I don’t want to die.”

After the doctor left, her bodyguard reportedly continued to check on her throughout the evening and the next day.

At about 3pm on July 23, 2011, Winehouse’s bodyguard found her body on her bed in her London home. She was just 27.

Fans left flowers at a memorial which popped up opposite the Camden home of Amy Winehouse. (Corbis via Getty Images)
Two inquests found her death was the result of an accidental alcohol overdose. Her blood-alcohol reading was 0.416.

There were two large empty vodka bottles beside her when she was found.

Winehouse’s funeral was held on July 26, 2011, with mourners singing her favourite Carole King song, So Far Away.

The singer’s parents later set up the Amy Winehouse Foundation to prevent harm from drug misuse among young people.

In 2021, her mother Janis told OK! Magazine she visited her daughter at her home just one day before her death, and they had looked at old photos.

A large crowd gathered during Winehouse’s funeral. (Getty)
“The whole time we were looking through the photos we were wrapped around each other. Amy had her arms around me and she kept kissing me on the cheek and saying, ‘I love you, Mummy’,” Janis said.

“I couldn’t have known it would be the last time I’d see her alive but I’m always grateful we had that day and that the last thing she said to me was ‘I love you, Mummy’.”

In a 2023 interview with People, Mitch Winehouse said, “We always wanted the world to know the real Amy, where she came from and what made her tick.

“She was a loyal, generous friend. She’d help anybody… Just a wonderful human being who saw the best in everybody.”