Entertainment
Amy Winehouse’s stage school principal pays tribute 10 years on from ‘sensational’ star’s death: ‘She had a God-given talent which set her apart’
Amy Winehouse is being remembered on the 10th anniversary of her death (Picture: Getty)
Amy Winehouse’s former theatre school headteacher has paid tribute to the ‘extraordinary’ talent a decade on from her death.
Sylvia Young told Metro.co.uk how the vocalist was ‘sensational from the moment she auditioned’ for her eponymous performing arts school.
She described the star-in-the-making as ‘quirky, maddening, irritating but with a good heart’ and a ‘God-given’ talent which shone through, even in her early teens at the school in Marble Arch, London.
The principal spoke as tributes were paid to the singer-songwriter, who died of alcohol poisoning on July 23, 2011.
Amy is shown in Metro.co.uk’s picture at the school in a photograph also featuring Billie Piper and Holby City actress Laura Sadler.
Tragedy would also strike Sadler, who died aged 22 after falling from a balcony of a West London flat in 2003.
Amy Winehouse in the class of 1997 at the Sylvia Young Theatre School where she showed her musical prowess (Picture: Josh Layton/Metro.co.uk)
Mrs Young, who was immediately blown away by her 13-year-old prodigy’s jazzy, old-school voice, is shown sitting in the front row among the class of 1997.
Amy had won a half-scholarship the year before and was also a precocious writer. In the following years, she would attend the Brit School for performing arts and land her first record deal on her way to global stardom.
‘I was very fond indeed of Amy,’ Mrs Young said.
Amy is being remembered on the 10th anniversary of her death (Picture: Getty)
‘She was brilliant academically, we put her up a year. Her English teacher, Mr Mac, thought she would be a novelist. She was quirky, maddening, irritating but with a good heart.
‘Of course as a vocalist she was sensational. From the moment she auditioned and won a half-scholarship singing “On the Sunny Side of the Street” it was clear that a singing future was ahead.
‘Amy was extraordinary, she had a God-given talent which set her apart.
‘She was a brilliant vocalist and songwriter and we lost her too early. She was destined to be up there with the greatest.
‘A sad loss to the world of music and to all of us.’
Amy is said to have loved the school and was considered a bright student but she grew rebellious and after three years, was asked to leave, moving to a private school in north London where she struggled to fit in.
He association with Sylvia Young has remained, including through a full scholarship awarded by the Amy Winehouse Foundation in 2012.
At the time, the Foundation said ‘it was her connection with the school that started off her on the road to success’.
Amy had a decorated career but was afflicted by addiction issues away from the stage (Picture Redferns)
Amy would go on to critical acclaim, including for the hit album Back to Black, and would win five Grammy awards – with another being awarded posthumously – during a garlanded career.
Away from music, she suffered from drug addiction and led a lifestyle of self-destruction. She died at her home in Camden, North London, at the age of 27.
The Foundation, which continues her legacy through its work with young people, was among the thousands of groups and individuals paying tribute today.
The group said on social media: ‘Today marks 10 years since you left us Amy, but your legacy grows every day.
‘Our love for you remains. Your spirit remains. And it inspires everything we do in your name.’
A BBC Two documentary, Reclaiming Amy, is due to air at 9pm tonight, taking an intimate look at the superstar’s life.
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