IT was 15 years ago today that the shocking news broke that Amy Winehouse had died, aged just 27.
She had released just two albums during her eight-year career, but her massive success and larger-than-life character meant her death sent shockwaves around the world — and today her impact on culture is more apparent than ever.
In music, fashion and art, she has inspired an entire generation of artists. British music is being dominated by women whose sound, style and brand is packed with references to the late superstar.
In recent weeks rapper Cardi B and actress Zendaya have been spotted dressed like Amy, with her trademark beehive hairdo.
And one artist who is frequently compared with Amy is Raye, who, much like the late singer, has become a celebrated industry darling, thanks to her brassy Motown influences and brutally truthful lyrics.
But Raye feels the weight of comparison more than most, and said: “I’m aware that what she did is irreplaceable and inimitable.
“Amy did it so well that no one can ever do what she did. And, God rest her soul, she gave her whole life for us to enjoy the music that she left behind.”
Like Amy, Raye went to South London creative arts academy The Brit School, whose starry former pupils also include Adele and Olivia Dean.
Raye recalled her years at the school, and how she would walk down the corridors and see photos on the wall of alumni such as Amy and say: “That’s gonna be me one day.”
Amy’s star certainly burned brightly, but all too briefly. Her body was discovered at her home in Camden, North London on July 23, 2011, by her security guard Andrew Morris.
Toxicology reports later revealed her blood alcohol content was five times the legal drink-drive limit, and the coroner’s report stated her “sudden and unexpected” death was caused by misadventure due to alcohol poisoning.
Amy had battled drug addiction for years, inspiring her 2006 single Rehab, but she had got clean from illegal substances before she died.
As a fiercely unapologetic woman in the music world, she blazed a trail for a new way to be an artist — and for future star Lola Young, who was just ten years old when Amy died, she was an inspiration.
The One Thing singer carries a gritty London identity similar to Amy’s and produces familiarly confessional lyrics.
She is even managed by Nick Shymansky, the same industry executive who guided Amy’s career during her breakout success.
After Amy, he swore he would never manage another artist, but was so won over by Lola’s talent — and subtle similarities to Amy — that he decided to take her on, and she has since sold millions of records.
When Amy found fame in the Noughties the music landscape was dominated by indie and processed pop, but she forged a new path with her neo-soul, Sixties pop and jazz sound — and now that sound is everywhere.
Olivia Dean’s easy-listening collection The Art Of Loving is on course to be the biggest-selling album in the UK this year, despite the fact it was released last September.
And even more recently, British newcomer Sienna Spiro has followed Amy with her vintage aesthetic and her breakout single Back To Blonde — mirroring Amy’s 2006 album and single Back To Black.
It is paying off, as last week Sienna shot to No2 in the charts with her debut album Visitor.
The impact of Back To Black, Amy’s second album, was felt worldwide. With classic songs such as Rehab and Tears Dry On Their Own, it became the fifth best-selling album of the 21st century so far, shifting 20million copies.
Amy sang about toxic co-dependency, addiction, dating disasters and her flaws, all in graphic detail, then wrapped them up in palatable and catchy songs.
It was all the more interesting for listeners, as her tumultuous personal life, including a rollercoaster relationship with her boyfriend and then husband Blake Fielder-Civil, and her drug use, became front-page news.
The saga taught lessons to youngsters such as future superstar Billie Eilish, who saw the tragedy unfold as she was growing up in California.
She said: “The things that inspire me about Amy are also the kind of things that are sad about it.
“You knew she wasn’t doing anything that she did for attention or in a weird, fake way because from what I gather, she didn’t really want that s**t, you know.
“It showed me that she was kind of raw for what she was creating, and she wasn’t trying to be anything she wasn’t, because she didn’t even want to be that.
“She changed a whole generation of music. Everyone, when listing off the people that inspired them, Amy Winehouse is always in that list.
“Everything about her, she just mixed a whole bunch of stuff together, and created the most beautiful things.”
And it’s not just female fellow stars who are Amy’s admirers.
Mark Ronson, who produced her Back To Black album and co-wrote the song of the same name, has credited Amy with his entire career.
Accepting the Outstanding Contribution to Music prize at February’s Brit Awards, he said his multiple chart-topping collaborations with other artists would never have happened if it wasn’t for her.
He said: “I realised on the way here that on Thursday, March 6, it’ll be 20 years to the day that Amy Winehouse came up to my studio in New York City. We went upstairs and talked for four hours and that night we wrote Back To Black, and that day changed my life for ever.”
Mark has since gone on to sell millions of records by working with superstars such as Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars and Miley Cyrus.
But he added: “I know the music I made with Amy is the reason any of them know who I am anyway. That’s why I’ll always treasure her voice, her talent, our bond, all of it.” And this month The Rolling Stones have celebrated Amy’s legacy by covering her song You Know I’m No Good on new album Foreign Tongues.
Guitarist Keith Richards said: “Loved the song. Always thought that Amy was a sad story in many ways, but she was one of the best to come out of England, and probably had so much more potential.”
Such was her star power, she shared the stage with the Stones at the 2007 Isle of Wight Festival, covering the Temptations’ Ain’t Too Proud To Beg, just four years after releasing her debut album Frank.
Street artist Pegasus was a close friend of Amy’s and launched his career on the day she died.
He has since become famous for his stencilled portraits of the singer, such as his “Fallen Angel” mural near Camden Lock, close to where they used to hang out.
Pegasus, whose real name is Chris Turner, told The Sun: “Amy was one of those people who come along every so often, makes a massive impact, unfortunately isn’t around for long but leaves a lasting legacy.
Her light will always shine bright. Her unique style, her love for the greats, like Etta James, Billie Holiday and Nina Simone, introduced and inspired a generation of artists that came after her.
“I am always seeing bits of Amy everywhere and it makes me so proud.”