‘I started drinking whiskey at 12 and didn’t stop’: Amy Winehouse’s haunting words found on unearthed tape a decade on from her death
Amy Winehouse admitted she stared drinking whisky from the age of 12 and didn’t stopped in an unearthed recording.
In the tape, Amy, who died on July 23, 2011 from alcohol poisoning aged 27, discussed her love for alcohol in haunting excerpts.
The newly discovered tape of Amy, which was shared with The Sun, was recorded in 2003 when she was just 20 years old, ahead of the release of her debut album Frank.
Sad: Amy Winehouse admitted she stared drinking from the age of 12 and never stopped in an unearthed recording (pictured in 2007) – she died in 2011
She said: ‘I love Jack Daniel’s. I just love Jack Daniel’s. I just love it. It’s great. I drink every day but not usually Jack Daniel’s. I’ve been drinking Jack Daniel’s for eight years or something.
‘It’s like when you’re younger and you want to get that little bit drunker than everyone else, you drink whisky. You know what it’s like as a kid.’
Her words come as people around the world remember and celebrate Amy’s achievements, ten years after her tragic death.
Earlier this week Amy’s father Mitch revealed he wants his late daughter to be remembered for her successes, including the charity set up in her honour and the royalties which have helped out her family members.
Unearthed: In the tape, Amy, who died on July 23, 2011, from alcohol poisoning aged 27, discussed her love of alcohol (pictured in 2003)
Discussing his daughter’s legacy in an interview with The Sun, Mitch said his mission was to make sure people remember Amy for ‘her talent, her generosity and the love she showed us all’ and ‘not just her troubles with addiction.’
Since her untimely death, her parents, Mitch and mother Janis, set up the Amy Winehouse Foundation 2011 in their daughter’s memory.
The organisation, one element Mitch is keen for the singer to be remembered for, helps to educate young people about substance abuse and was founded off the back of Amy’s ‘love for children and challenges she faced’
It also set up Amy’s Place, a refuge which can house up to 16 young women at a time while they learn how to adapt to real life and maintain recovery after being in a rehabilitation facility.
In addition, Amy’s songs are still regularly played and admired, pouring in royalties to this day.
Legacy: Amy Winehouse’s father Mitch (pictured together in 2008) wants his late daughter to be remembered for her successes, including the charity set up in her honour and the royalties which have helped out her family members.
Discussing the money Amy’s music still brings to her family, Mitch said: ‘Amy’s mum Janis and I manage her estate, and yes of course her music still makes a lot of money, what she did has set her whole family up.
‘The thing is, though, and I can’t say this clearly enough, I would give back every penny just to have my daughter back
‘Ten years after her death, she is still looking after her loved ones — her family and many of her friends have been supported by her — and that’s typical of her. She was generous in life and in many ways she still is now.’
Mitch’s words come as Amy’s family prepare to air their BBC Two documentary, Reclaiming Amy, for the 10 year anniversary of her death on Friday.
In her memory: Since her untimely death, her parents, Mitch and mother Janis (pictured 2008 with the singer), set up the Amy Winehouse Foundation 2011 in their daughter’s memory
In it, her loved ones described her as ‘the governor’ and ‘a feral cat’ as they revealed they were powerless to stop her drugs and alcohol addiction.
In scenes from the programme, Mitch explained, despite them all staging several interventions to help her, ‘you couldn’t tell her what to do’.
During the special programme, Mitch, reported by The Mirror, said: ‘You couldn’t tell her to do or not do something. If she was going to do it, she’d do it. Nobody controlled Amy. She was the governor.’
Amy’s friend and stylist Naomi Parry echoed Mitch’s sentiments: ‘She looked like you could put her over your shoulder and take her somewhere but it would be like picking up a feral cat. It’s going to scratch your eyes out.’
Helpless: Amy’s loved ones have described her as ‘the governor’ and ‘a feral cat’ as they revealed they were powerless to stop her drugs and alcohol addiction
Powerless: In the programme, Amy’s father Mitch explained, despite them all staging several interventions to help her, ‘you couldn’t tell her what to do’. Pictured: Amy at Glastonbury in 2007
In the documentary tribute to the late singer, Amy’s mother also explained she was not able to physically deal with her daughter’s addictions because she was suffering with multiple sclerosis.
It comes after Janis shared the heartbreaking final words to her daughter while her step-dad choked back tears over her passing as they discussed the late singer on Thursday’s Lorraine.
Janis and her husband Richard Collins spoke with Lorraine Kelly in the studio about the upcoming documentary.
Speaking with Lorraine in an exclusive interview, the grieving pair recalled their memories of Amy and told how they had tried to help her through her addictions, but insisted that ‘Amy did what Amy wanted to do’.
Sad: Amy’s mother shared the heartbreaking final words to her daughter while her step-dad choked back tears over her passing as they discussed the late singer on Thursday’s Lorraine
During the chat, Janis, 66, sadly remembered the last words she said to her daughter before her tragic death.
She said: ‘I remember exactly. I said to her, ‘Amy I love you’and she said, ‘I love you too mummy.’
‘But that’s how we were and I could express my love to her, always. She was very protective of me.’
Meanwhile, things took a very emotional turn as Richard recounted the agonising moment he was forced to tell his wife that her daughter had died.
He explained: ‘It was the worst day of my life. I got the phone call to say that Amy had gone. It was actually her cousin, Martin that phoned.
Grief: Janis Winehouse-Collins and her husband Richard Collins spoke with Lorraine Kelly in the studio about the upcoming BBC2 documentary Reclaiming Amy ahead of the 10th anniversary of her death
‘I said, ‘Don’t be silly, we were with her yesterday.’ And he said, ‘No, I’m being absolutely serious.’
‘And then I had to tell Janis. I said, ‘Janis, I don’t know what to say, she’s gone.’ She looked at me and she thought I was talking about my mum, because my mum died a month after Amy – my mum was seriously ill.’
Choking back tears at the memory, he went on: ‘She [Janis] said, ‘It’s just your mum’ and I said, ‘No, no. Your baby, she’s really gone.’ And Jan just stood there.’
Janis then went on to tell of her shock at the heart-breaking news, telling Lorraine: ‘It took time for me, disbelief.’
Meanwhile, Janis and Richard opened up about trying to help Amy battle her demons, but there was only so much they could do as Janis suffers with Multiple sclerosis (MS).
Memories: Speaking with Lorraine in an exclusive interview, the grieving pair recalled their memories of Amy and told how they had tried to help her through her addictions, but insisted that ‘Amy did what Amy wanted to do’
The last moment: Recalling the last words she said to Amy, Janis said: ‘I remember exactly. I said to her, ‘Amy I love you’and she said, ‘I love you too mummy’
So close: ‘That’s how we were and I could express my love to her, always. She was very protective of me’ (Amy and Janis pictured at her Grammy performance in 2008)
‘It was the worst day of my life’: Meanwhile, things took a very emotional turn as Richard recounted the agonising moment he was forced to tell his wife that her daughter had died
Janis explained: ‘I was limited by what I could do. I live with it. I’m very good, I’ve got it… and? I’m very nonplussed about it.’
Richard then shared: ‘She [Amy] did try, it’s a misrepresentation. The family bent over backwards, but what people seem to forget is that she was a married woman, she was 27, she was living independently, she was wealthy.
‘People tried to help her, from her management to Mitch to Janis, the family.’
He added: ‘Amy did what Amy wanted to do and that was the bottom line of it. People think she was a very weak character, but she wasn’t. Far from it. She was very, very strong.’
Going on to discussed the foundation set up in the Rehab singer’s memory, Richard said: ‘That’s very, very important to the family. Mitch, his wife Jane – who’s our CEO – work so hard. Unfortunately, because of Janis’ condition we can’t be as involved in it as we’d like…
Help: Meanwhile, Janis and Richard opened up about trying to help Amy battle her demons, but there was only so much they could do as Janis suffers with Multiple sclerosis (MS)
We tried: Richard then shared: ‘She [Amy] did try, it’s a misrepresentation. The family bent over backwards, but what people seem to forget is that she was a married woman, she was 27, she was living independently, she was wealthy’
‘I think we’ve reached out on our drug resilience programme to over 200,000 children around the country with reformed addicts going into schools rather than the policeman or the local teacher. [They say] ‘This is what happened to me.’ The intervention, it’s wonderful.’
While Janis added: ‘It’s done so much good for people. And that’s what it’s about.’
Elsewhere, unseen snaps of Amy as a child and with her mother Janis have been revealed ahead of the upcoming documentary Reclaiming Amy about her life.
The late singer looked sweet in the family picture as she sat in a garden chair with huge sunglasses on while in another polaroid image a fresh-face Amy cuddled up to her mum as they both posed for the camera.
Throwback: Unseen snaps of Amy as a child and with her mother Janis have been revealed ahead of the upcoming documentary Reclaiming Amy about her life
Family: In another polaroid image a fresh-face Amy cuddled up to her mum, now 66, as they both posed for the camera.
The new intimate snaps also feature several when she was just a teenager, as she poses at parties and on family holidays.
In the film, the star’s mother Janis will tell the story of one of the UK’s greatest musical icons through new parts of her life that the public have never heard about.
Janis said: ‘I don’t feel the world knew the true Amy, the one that I brought up, and I’m looking forward to the opportunity to offer an understanding of her roots and a deeper insight into the real Amy.’
She says in the documentary: ‘You think you know my daughter. The drugs, the drink, the addiction, the destructive relationships. But there was so much more.’
Beauty: The new intimate snaps also feature several when she was just a teenager, as she poses at parties and on family holidays
The past: In the film, the star’s mother Janis will tell the story of one of the UK’s greatest musical icons through new parts of her life that the public have never heard about (pictured together on holiday)
Amy’s parents Janis and Mitch set up the Amy Winehouse Foundation following her death.
They created the charity in honour of the late singer on what would have been her 28th birthday on the 14 September 2011.
Amy soared to fame upon the release of Frank in 2003, as she gained both critical and commercial success with the debut as her jazz-inspired vocals won fans all over before her second album Back To Black’s introduction three years later.
In a heartbreaking turn of fate, the London-born icon’s dazzling career was plighted by her demons after she fell into the clutches of drink and drug addiction.
Tragic: In a heartbreaking turn of fate, the London-born icon’s dazzling career was plighted by her demons after she fell into the clutches of drink and drug addiction (pictured in 2007)
As she ascended higher on the fame ladder she discovered her demons – in drink, drugs and also eating disorders, which her brother Alex insists contributed to her death.
In 2011, an inquest gave a verdict of misadventure after finding that she had 416mg of alcohol per decilitre in her blood. A second inquest in 2013 confirmed that she died of accidental alcohol poisoning.
Reclaiming Amy airs on BBC Two at 9pm on Friday 23rd July.
For confidential help and support call Samaritans for free on 116 123 or visit www.samaritans.org
Radiant: In July 2011, Amy passed away following a vodka binge alone in her bedroom, where she was found by her security guard (pictured as a teenager)
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