Amy's damaged voice

Amy Winehouse Anything Amy
1

This is something I’ve been wondering for a while; Feel free to disagree, I don’t mind.

In 2011, when Amy performed in Brazil, I noticed that her voice broke several times and that she couldn’t reach high notes as well.. she seemed very shaky - yet STILL phenomenal and in my opinion, because of the aforementioned factors; it made her Brazil shows hauntingly beautiful, maybe staring deeper into her soul than ever before.

But, how when at the height of her drug problems in 2008, when her voice should have been on it’s last legs.. especially after being diagnosed with signs of emphysema, it was strong as ever? Yes, it obviously wasn’t of the same quality as it was in 2007 and 2006.. but it was still great.

Then again, even in 2009 her voice was still fantastic and unshaken - as evidenced by her performance of Puppy Love in St. Lucia and also when she sang at V festival with the Specials - you could hear strong high and low notes throughout.

Then in 2010, she performed at a few intimate venues and it was obvious that her voice was different, then with the release of It’s My Party, we saw for the first time how her voice had truly changed - very soulful and beautiful, but not as smooth as it had been only a few years prior.

At what point did her voice really lose some of it’s strength?

Also, Body and Soul is another example of her voice change; for example, several of the comments on the official music video of Body and Soul complain about her diction or how some of Winehouse’s lyrics are difficult to understand due to her slurring.. Now, Amy had always slurred to some extent - it made her songs even more amazing, but what was the cause of her voice’s such rapid change?

Emphysema? Heavy chain smoking? Effects of the drug use setting in? Alcohol?

note: I’m not attacking her, I actually preferred her 2009/10/11 voice.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4CPgcfO79Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEL1d3q98KE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IitpyYNPdjw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gceGGSSxDqo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OFMkCeP6ok
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VWVBsoQ_4w

2

Yeah, you are right - her voice did change a lot. Amy’s voice seemed to be broken. I am not attacking her either by saying this, but I think it’s because of the drugs, especially smoking crack seems to damage your voice a lot. It seemed as if she wasn’t able to hit the hight notes, and I think it was hurtful for her, as she was seen angry or even swearing after her voice ‘broke’ a few times. I didn’t like her performances any less though, but I have to confess that I did miss her old voice. I always thought it was frustrating to see her getting so annoyed over not being able to hit the high notes.

1 Like
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Pablo pointed out on Between The Cheats that the high parts she sings in the background are extremely bad. I thought maybe they should have tried something else. It’s painful to listen to.

Drugs are bad. Cigs and alcohol combined are really bad. I always thought that Amy was dehydrated most of the time which isn’t good for singing or anything else.

I quit smoking for a year one time. When I would sing in the car or yell at other drivers my voice was way stronger. So stopping the cigs I think would have made the most difference. Stopping cigs, alcohol, eating better and drinking water would have taken her a long ways and she would still be alive. Life’s never that simple.

Starts at :52. Such a great song though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bd9zGfGn1Ss

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Also, I think she probably had “reflux” or GERD possibly silent, from all of the drinking, bulimia, and bad diet. That will really screw up your throat and singing voice. But yes…def the crack.

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I’ve got to agree. I’m glad you brought this up because I’ve wondered about it often. It was obvious her voice changed but I think it still sounded great. She just needed to adjust her singing style and the songs she was singing, because how great did she sound on “Boulevard of Broken Dreams”? She might not have been able to perform all of the same vocal acrobatics she’d once performed but she still blew everyone else out of the water.

I also think she was very aware of the change in her voice. She often seemed frustrated by it, you could see her getting annoyed during some of the 2011 performances. And she often pulled away from the microphone in those performances and also in “Body and Soul”.

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She did seem angry when she couldn’t reach certain notes…it’s painful to watch her be so hard on herself, because even with her voice breaking, she still sounds waaaaay better than most singers! But I actually think her damaged voice sounded really good in Body and Soul, it really fit the song, and nobody else could sing like that

Post added at 09:23 PM · previous post was at 09:19 PM

I’m always amazed about some of her performances where she is clearly drunk/high, all jittery and unstable on her legs yet able to belt out amazing songs…she didn’t always pull it off, there are many concerts where she was apparently dreadful, but still ! For anyone else who’s tried to sing when drunk… we sound terrible, right?! :drunk:

Post added at 09:27 PM · previous post was at 09:23 PM

Alcohol is also terrible for your breathing. I quite drugs and cigarettes, but kept drinking…and surprisingly I would wake up hungover the next morning with a terrible croaky voice and a cough like I had smoked a whole pack of fags the night before. You mentioned dehydration, I think that might actually explain it indeed.

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i really love how her voice evolved…
yes, it got damaged and the Mandela concert was amazing even though her voice was pretty much gone
then, , after she stopped the whack, it returned, with even more beautiful textures and undertones and , i cant really explain it but i love her renditions of its my party, and body and soul, so haunting, very beautiful.
high notes? who cares, she was singing like theres no tomorrow, like she always did. i miss her so badly, it’s just not right, not fair that she is gone from us and cannot sing anymore :empty: — what can i say, it is what it is. X0

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She always sounded great, but it was obviously changed. As everybody else said, it was probably from the crack from before. It seemed like her voice got deeper, by the ‘It’s My Party,’ period. Still sounded amazing, though.

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As far as I remember, Amy was using cocaine and it’s well known cocaine/crack destroys your voice. Literally.

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You’re right. Even cocaine destroys the singing voice and also by speaking. It hurts a lot. I also noticed that Amy was coughing frequently.

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I often thought the same thing.