Amy Winehouse's Real Name: Amy Jade Winehouse

Quick answer: Amy Winehouse's full name was Amy Jade Winehouse. She was born on September 14, 1983, in Southgate, north London, and died in London on July 23, 2011, at age 27. Her second album, Back to Black (2006), won five Grammy Awards. She always recorded under her birth name (Library of Congress; Britannica).

Real name and early life

The Library of Congress name authority files her as "Winehouse, Amy, 1983-2011." It quotes an obituary that gives her birth name as Amy Jade Winehouse, born September 14, 1983, in Southgate, London. Jade was her middle name.

Britannica says she was born in north London to a Jewish family. She and her older brother, Alex, were raised mainly by their mother, a pharmacist, after her parents divorced when Amy was nine. Her father was a taxi driver. A story that she was expelled from the Sylvia Young Theatre School for wearing a nose ring circulated widely, but Sylvia Young repeatedly denied it. Britannica treats the expulsion as part of the singer's mythology, not established fact. At the BRIT School she showed talent as an actor and singer, and by 16 she was performing with jazz groups.

Career highlights

Her debut album, Frank (2003), drew comparisons to Sarah Vaughan, Dinah Washington, and Billie Holiday, and "Stronger Than Me" won an Ivor Novello Award. Back to Black moved toward Motown and 1960s soul. It included "Rehab," "You Know I'm No Good," and the title track, many written about her relationship with Blake Fielder-Civil, whom she married in 2007. In the United States it entered the chart at No. 7, the highest debut for a British woman at the time. Her beehive hair and dramatic eyeliner became her signature look.

At the 2008 Grammys, which she joined by satellite from London after visa problems, Back to Black won five awards, including two for "Rehab." Her struggles with substance use followed her through her career. She and Fielder-Civil divorced in 2009. A 2011 comeback tour was canceled after the first show, and Britannica reports that she died of alcohol poisoning the next month.

Her duet with Tony Bennett, "Body and Soul," won a posthumous Grammy. Lioness: Hidden Treasures (2011) reached No. 5 on the Billboard 200. The documentary Amy (2015) won the Academy Award for best documentary, and the biopic Back to Black (2024) starred Marisa Abela.

Name notes for searchers

Winehouse was her family surname, so there was no stage name. Do not confuse her with similarly named musicians. The LOC heading "Winehouse, Amy, 1983-2011" is the standard catalog form.