The CEO and chairman of Universal Music UK, David Joseph, has destroyed all of Amy Winehouse’ unreleased material.
Winehouse only had two albums released during her lifetime, but she had recorded demos for a third album in New York with Salaam Remi and Mark Ronson, the co-producers of her last album. Sadly, these songs will never be heard after having been destroyed. Joseph claims that he felt the need to destroy the demos for moral reasons. “Taking a stem or a vocal is not something that would ever happen on my watch. It now can’t happen on anyone else’s,” Joseph told Billboard. Even though there are labels that release albums of deceased artists, he does not want her latest material to be open to the public.
Amy Winehouse was an extremely talented individual from London, England. She began her career in music at a young age, and her first album, Frank (2003), debuted when she was twenty years old. Unfortunately, Winehouse’ was beginning to acquire a negative reputation around this time. Winehouse consistently attended her own shows unable to perform complete sets due to severe intoxication. In 2006, Winehouse’ management company attempted to pressure her into entering rehabilitation and put a stop to alcohol abuse. Instead of complying, she got rid of the company. This is when her second album, Back to Black, debuted. Her widely-known song about her refusal to enter rehabilitation, Rehab, was an instant success. Although the hit was about a negatively rebellious experience, she received praise. This did not help the issue. In 2007, Winehouse abused a variety of illegal substances, slipped into a coma, and was forced to take a break and focus on her health. The following years consisted of short-lived rehab visits and arrests for her substance abuse and detrimental behavior. In 2011, Winehouse’ life ended due to unintentional alcohol poisoning.
Since the artist’s death, only one of her albums has been released. The album is titled Lioness: Hidden Treasures and was from 2011, the same year that she died. This was her last album to be released. Winehouse’ reputation overshadowed her true talent, causing many to forget that there was a gifted artist who wrote her own lyrics behind the unstable woman that the public thought they knew. It is a shame that she is no longer here to share her talent, but her music will continue to inspire other artists.
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