The New Side of Soul
By Ashleigh, age 13, Lousiana
Look out, Joss Stone. Here comes some major competition. She's here, she's sober, and she's ready to play. Her name: Amy Winehouse. Her specialty: Showing you a new way to feel the melody in the heart of her songs. She's what's hot in the music world now.
Amy Winehouse, born in 1983, grew up in North London. She was born into an English-Jewish family with a history of jazz musicians. About age 10, Amy founded a short-lived amateur rap group called Sweet 'n' Sour. She was "Sour". She described the group as "the little white Jewish Salt 'n' Pepa".
Amy attended the Sylvia Young Theatre School at age 12, but was expelled at 13 for not applying herself and for piercing her own nose! She was 16 when she was discovered and signed with her current label, Island/Universal.
Her second album "Back to Black" was released on October 30, 2006, a little more than three years after the release of her first album "Frank". "Back to Black" is currently #22 on the Billboard 200 charts.