UPDATE August 23, 2011: Toxicology reports indicate no illegal drugs in Winehouse’s system, but did find alcohol. It’s currently unknown if the alcohol in her system directly attributed to her death.
When the tragic death of 27-year-old singer Amy Winehouse hit the news wire folks across the globe, including many celebrities, reacted with despair and sadness. Her very public struggle with addiction reflected a downward spiraling artist seemingly hell-bent on self-destruction.
There’s been many reports on what happened in the hours before her passing with several sources in Britain claiming that the singer scored various drugs including ecstasy, cocaine, heroin and ketamine on the street. The singer’s autopsy is underway and we’ll all get an exact answer as to what caused the “Rehab” performer’s death.
Russell Brand, who was a friend of Amy and a fellow celebrity who suffered with addiction issues wrote a very moving piece called “For Amy” that he posted to his website. In part he stated that:
“The awe that envelops when witnessing a genius. From her oddly dainty presence that voice, a voice that seemed not to come from her but from somewhere beyond even Billie and Ella, from the font of all greatness. A voice that was filled with such power and pain that it was at once entirely human yet laced with the divine. My ears, my mouth, my heart and mind all instantly opened. Winehouse. Winehouse? Winehouse! … She wasn’t just some hapless wannabe, yet another pissed up nit who was never gonna make it, nor was she even a ten-a-penny-chanteuse enjoying her fifteen minutes. She was a f***ing genius.”
The photos that accompany this post are of Amy’s family, her father Mitch, her mother Janis, her brother Alex and her ex-boyfriend Regg Travis visiting the shrine that has been erected outside the late performer’s apartment. These are heartbreaking images as the family openly reveals the pain of losing Amy. One photo in particular affected me, in the following image you see Amy’s father Mitch consoling a young girl who was visiting the shrine.
As soon as more details are available in regards to the official autopsy we’ll update this post.
Update: The autopsy is now complete and we’re just awaiting the public announcement of the results as the tests are still pending. Toxicology tests can take a while to come back and news agencies are guessing somewhere in the neighborhood of 2 to 4 weeks.
Photos: WENN.com
