(REX USA)
She should never have said “No, no, no!” to rehab.
Troubled Grammy winner Amy Winehouse, with a trademark beehive hairdo, crazy cat-eye makeup and soulful voice, came out of nowhere to set the music world on fire in 2006 with her hit album, “Back to Black.”
The talented British singer seemed destined for superstardom, backed by catchy tunes such as “Rehab,” but her meteoric rise was just as quickly cut short by her crippling addiction to drugs and alcohol.
Despite repeated attempts at a comeback over the past few years, she was never able to regain the magic, and ultimately her talent went to waste.
Winehouse was found dead by her bodyguard in her London apartment yesterday at 4 p.m. London time of an apparent drug overdose.
She was 27.
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Winehouse was almost as famous for her drug woes as she was for her singular jazz-influenced singing and wacky fashion sense. Her first worldwide hit, “Rehab,” was a jab at record execs who had tried to clean up her act.
Its catchy lyrics — “They tried to make me go to rehab but I said, ‘No, no, no’ ” — launched Winehouse into a white-hot spotlight that proved too much for her to handle.
She was the highlight of the 2008 Grammy Awards, where she won five top awards, including Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best New Artist.
Just a few years earlier, in 2003, she released her debut album, “Frank,” at age 20. The songs showed off her haunting vocals and proudly displayed her influences. It went platinum the next year, but it was her next record, “Back to Black,” that catapulted her into global stardom.
Just before “Back to Black” was released, Winehouse’s struggles with alcohol and drugs became public and she developed a reputation for showing up for gigs too intoxicated to perform.
She developed an early interest in jazz from her father, who often sang around the house.
“Frankly she’s had her ups and downs,” her dad, Mitch Winehouse, told The Post last week.
He told the Sunday Times of London last night her death left him “devastated.”
The elder Winehouse had been scheduled to appear at the Blue Note jazz club in the Village tomorrow. But last night, he was headed back to London for his daughter’s funeral.
“I’m very proud of my dad,” Winehouse e-mailed The Post on Friday in what may have been her last public comment.
She was last seen publicly Wednesday at the iTunes festival in North London.
While she didn’t sing, concertgoers reported Winehouse staggered onto the stage at the Roundhouse Theatre and begged the crowds to buy a new album by protégé Dionne Bromfield, 15.
Despite what she vowed in “Rehab,” Winehouse did go to rehab — several times over the years — for alcohol, cocaine and heroin abuse. She most recently entered treatment a month ago in London before beginning a European tour.
But within weeks, Winehouse canceled the 12-stop tour after a disastrous performance in Belgrade, Serbia, where she appeared disorientated on stage and struggled to remember lyrics.
Winehouse married Blake Fielder-Civil, a former video-production assistant and grammar-school dropout, in May 2007. He later admitted introducing to Winehouse to crack cocaine and heroin. They divorced in August 2009.
Amy’s substance abuse worsened in 2007, and she canceled shows in the Britain and Europe, citing exhaustion or ill health. She was hospitalized in 2007, reportedly for an overdose of a cocktail of heroin, ecstasy, cocaine, ketamine, whiskey and vodka.