Users Criticize Microsoft for Insensitive Winehouse Tweet
Jul, 26 2011
With the shock of Amy Winehouse’s tragic and untimely death still fresh, Microsoft’s official UK @tweetbox360 account sent out a tweet encouraging users to “Remember Amy Winehouse by downloading the ground-breaking Back to Black over at Zune.”
Shortly after followers re-tweeted the message alleging that Microsoft was trying to cash in on the singer’s death, the @tweetbox360 alias quickly backtracked. “Apologies to everyone if our earlier Amy Winehouse ‘download’ tweet seemed purely commercially motivated. Far from the case, we assure you.”
But followers were not so easily placated, calling the company “vile vermin” and asking if the apology meant that Microsoft would be donating all Back to Black proceeds to drug rehab charities.
Later that day, @tweetbox360 again posted, “With Amy W’s passing, the world has lost a huge talent. Our thoughts are with Amy’s family and friends at this very sad time.” And again, followers called them out, asserting that for a company based in profits is quite obviously “commercially motivated.”
Winehouse was mourned by friends and family in London on Tuesday.
-Court
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Amy Winehouse 1983 - 2011
Jul, 25 2011
By now you’ve probably read that Amy Winehouse, modern-day soul pop diva, was found dead in her London flat over the weekend. A cause of death has not been announced, pending an autopsy. The singer was 27.
Ms. Winehouse ascended to fame with her 2007 Mark Ronson-produced release, Back To Black, and over the weekend sales of the album surged to the top of both the US and UK iTunes stores. Her debut was 2003’s Frank, named after her dog.
There is speculation that a third album will be released posthumously, but it is unclear of any of the tracks made it past their demo stages. Any release will be at the discretion of her parents, by whom she is survived.
While Ms. Winehouse was heralded as an artist of her time and indeed, Back to Black was one of the finest pop albums in recent history, regretfully her ongoing struggles with addiction – certainly, her best known single was the self-aware single “Rehab” – kept her in the spotlight.
The Grammy-winning artist was most recently in the news for a botched performance in Belgrade where she stumbled about the stage and flubbed lyrics. After that performance last month, the remainder of her European dates was canceled.
-Court
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Fitness, Fragrances, Fashion... Music?
Oct, 28 2010
If you love Amy Winehouse's retro-preppy style, are envious of Madonna's physique, long for Katy Perry's detailed manicure, or want to appeal to the Justin Bieber crowd, you’re in luck. Following in the footsteps of stars from Kiss to Britney Spears, each of these performers has recently unveiled merchandise to reinvigorate their brands.
The first Hard Candy Fitness, a 30,000 square-foot gym in Mexico City branded after Madonna's most recent album, will open sometime next month. Madonna's company say they will open gyms in all the major cities around the world.
Pop starlet Katy Perry announced she’s teamed with nail polish magnates at OPI to release her own set of nail polish in January 2011. The line is set to include four colors named after her songs including a pink glitter “Teenage Dream.”
Teen sensation Justin Bieber, who already has a nail polish line, will launch a line of fragrance-infused accessories sold exclusively at Walmart. The new unisex line will be named after Bieber’s album, My World, and will be released November 26.
But it is Amy Winehouse, as famous for her beehive and bizarre behavior as for her music, who in teaming with clothier Fred Perry to rebrand herself. A healthy, purposeful Winehouse has debuted a line of clothing reflecting her penchant for couture of the 1950s and a new polished look in advance of a rumored new album.
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Hopes Rise For a New Winehouse Release
Apr, 22 2010
Most of the Amy Winehouse-related stories over the last couple of years have had little to do with her music, and much to do with her troubled personal life. However, reports are suggesting that the singer is finally in a position to follow up the remarkable success of her multi-platinum 2005 release, Back To Black.
Equally exciting is the news that she is working with Mark Ronson, the producer of that breakthrough album. The pair have been spotted working late into the night at a studio in North London, and hopes are high that it Amy’s return to the headlines as a singer is near.
However, a certain amount of caution is advisable because it’s not the first time there have been reports of a new Winehouse album. Last year’s efforts to pull it together failed, with Ronson pulling out of the project in frustration at Amy’s continuing bad behavior. This time, he says: “There'll be something to hear quite soon. That's all I can say. There's something good coming.”
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Amy Winehouse
Jul, 20 2009
Amy Winehouse's marriage to Blake Fielder-Civil -- a relationship that was characterized by some as a 21st century Sid and Nancy -- has finally ended with divorce. A brief court hearing this week in England confirmed the end of the marriage, filed for by Fielder-Civil on grounds of "intolerable" living arrangements. The pair met in a bar in 2005 and got married two years later, but their relationship was always a troubled one. Winehouse often spoke in breathless terms of her love for her husband, but they also seemed to frequently emerge from fierce arguments with bruises and cuts. According to Winehouse's dad, her drug problems of recent years were due to Fielder-Civil, who introduced her to crack cocaine and heroin. Just months after their wedding, Fielder-Civil was arrested and jailed for assault, meaning he spent most of their married life in prison. Winehouse recently spent several months in St. Lucia, apparently recording songs for her highly anticipated third album.
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Amy Winehouse
Jan, 21 2009
Amy Winehouse is launching her own record label to promote the considerable musical merits of her 13 year old goddaughter. Young Dionne Bromfield attracted a lot of record company attention after she posted a YouTube video of herself singing Alicia Keys' "If I Ain't Got You" last May, but luckily her godmother has stepped in to protect her from the dangers of the music biz with an offer of her own. According to reports, she's already pledged £1m ($1.4m) to the production of a debut album, to be released on Lioness Records, including £15,000 ($21,000) on singing lessons. Last year Wino told the Independent newspaper "Dionne is young but she has more potential than any girl I've ever seen. I know she's got an advantage by knowing me but I'd put her in a room against anyone and she'd do the business." The traditional role of a godparent is to guide a child's spiritual and personal development, but we've never heard of a six-figure record deal being part of the equation.
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Amy Winehouse
Nov, 23 2008
Amy Winehouse has been maintaining a lower profile these days, keeping her nose clean and out of trouble. It all increases the likelihood that one day soon she may once again be more notable for the quality of her output as a music artist and less for her disheveled appearances in snarky magazine articles. Unfortunately her renaissance as an upstanding member of the music community is in jeopardy with news that she has become the subject of a new, alarming artwork in New York City. The artwork created by Marco Perego is entitled “The Only Good Rock Star is a Dead Rock Star”, and shows a life-sized sculpture of the beehived singer, prone, bloody and very dead on the gallery floor. It sometimes seems that it is the role of modern artists to provoke discussion and challenge tastes, and using shock tactics to convey meaning is a time honored method of engaging interest – and potential buyers. It’s a method Amy has inadvertently used herself, so perhaps there’s a kind of symmetry to this work.
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Amy Winehouse
Jun, 24 2008
As sure as the sun will rise, another day brings another Amy Winehouse update. Last week we found out that the English soul diva had collapsed whilst 'doing admin', and this week we found out that wasn't a euphemism. Her father reported on Monday that she's been diagnosed with emphysema, and though he's since backtracked to clarify that she only has the 'early signs' of the disease, it's still a worry that a 24-year old can develop an illness usually reserved for elderly long-term smokers. Then again, Amy herself isn't too concerned: she was spotted drawing on a cigarette on the way to a rehearsal for her performance at Glastonbury this weekend.
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