Winehouse was the daughter of Mitchell “Mitch” Winehouse, a taxi driver, and Janis Winehouse (née Seaton), a pharmacist. Her boyfriend at the time, soul singer Tyler James, sent her demo tape to an A&R person. While being developed by the management company, the artist was kept an industry secret. Through the publishers she formed a working relationship with the producer Salaam Remi. Beese told HitQuarters that he felt the reason behind the excitement over an artist who was an atypical pop star for the time was due to a backlash against reality TV music shows with audiences becoming starved for genuine young talent. Winehouse’s greatest love was 1960s girl groups. Later in 2004, she won the Ivor Novello (songwriting) Award for Best Contemporary Song, alongside Salaam Remi, with her contribution to the first single, “Stronger Than Me”. The album also made the short list for the 2004 Mercury Music Prize.
Amy Winehouse Gives Up [Gossip Roundup] Amy Winehouse pulls the plug on her entire concert tour. Chris Brown accidentally tweets a private message for Rihanna. Kanye West hides the fact that he has girly alcohol preferences. Tuesday gossip says no, no, no. More » [link]