Amy Winehouse Turns 25 Today: A Year In Review

Amy Winehouse celebrates her 25th birthday today (September 14th), capping a year of on and off stage drama.

The singer, who was born in Enfield, London in 1983, has continued to grow into one of Britain’s biggest commercial exports over the last 12-months thanks to the her critically acclaimed second album ‘Back To Black’.

But much of the triumph of Winehouse’s Grammy award winning effort has been overshadowed by her ongoing battle with drug addiction.

The singer is also currently without her husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, who was jailed for 27-months in July for assault and perverting the course of justice.

Musical Drama

Although Winehouse was due to finish touring her second album at the end of last year, a number of cancelled dates – including the majority of her 2007 autumn tour - forced the singer to return to the stage in 2008.

As well as intimate club shows, she has spent the year trying to fulfil previously postponed festival appearances.

But even those have not been without drama.

In June, Winehouse threw a punch at a fan as she performed on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury, and two months later at the V Festival she was heckled by sections of a frustrated audience.

Most recently, at the Bestival festival on the Isle of Wight, Winehouse was booed again after arriving 45 minutes late for what was her last scheduled appearance of the year.

Off Stage Drama

It would seem that much of her on stage drama is linked to her private life – which has increasingly come under the spotlight.

Tales of Winehouse’s tribulations around the streets of London, and particularly what goes on inside her home in Camden, have continue to dominate the front pages – from stories an alleged video of her smoking crack cocaine in January to another wild night out two days ago.

But more worryingly for the singer, and her growing fan base, was confirmation in June that Winehouse was suffering from traces of the lung disease emphysema.

The incurable disease will accelerate if Winehouse doesn’t give up smoking, doctors said at the time.

And then, less than a month later, the singer’s husband, Fielder-Civil, was jailed over charges that related to a 2006 attack on a pub landlord.

What’s Next?

As Winehouse prepares for her husband’s release - possibly as early as December - the singer’s father says she has no plans to perform again this year.

Instead, she will spend the foreseeable future recording the follow-up to ‘Back To Black’. It’s release date, however, remains an unknown.

CLICK HERE to see WInehouse's more long term transformation.