Amy Winehouse

Amy Winehouse is an English pop-soul singer whose hit songs include "You Know I'm No Good" and "Rehab." A hot demo tape got Winehouse a recording contract with Island Records when she was still a teen. Her debut album, Frank (2003), earned heaps of praise and plenty of awards in the U.K., but it was her second release, Back to Black (2006), that made her a star in both the U.K. and the United States. With the vocal swagger of Nina Simone and the bad behavior of Janis Joplin, Winehouse gets attention from music critics and gossip journalists alike. While on tour in 2007 she made headlines for cancelling shows and public displays of drunkenness, reinforcing her image as a bruised soul and giving life to the songs she was selling ("They tried to make me go to rehab / I said no, no, no").

Extra credit: Winehouse married Blake Fielder-Civil, a video production assistant, in 2007; he was jailed after an unrelated assault six months later. They were divorced in 2009... Winehouse won five Grammy Awards in 2008, including awards for best new artist, best pop vocal album (for Back to Black), and three awards for "Rehab": record of the year, song of the year, and best pop vocal performance. Winehouse was herself in rehab at the time, and appeared on the awards show via satellite hookup. Back to Black was released in 2006; the 2008 Grammys covered recordings released from 1 October 2006 to 30 September 2007.