The Amy Winehouse No One Knew: Family Shares Rare Photos and Handwritten Notes in New Book (Exclusive)
From childhood pics to personal lists to poetry written for loved ones, Amy Winehouse's family is sharing never-before-seen photos of the singer in a new book
Amy Winehouse was a rare gem. Ahead of what would have been the singer's 40th birthday, her family — father Mitch, mother Janis and brother, Alex — are willing to share pieces of their beloved Amy with the fans who love and miss her, in a new book coming out on Aug. 29.
Amy Winehouse: In Her Words will showcase the beloved singer's personal to-do lists, poems she wrote to loved ones, as well as pictures from her childhood.
Ahead of the book's release, her family shared some of the featured images exclusively with PEOPLE. See the rare photos below.
Amy Winehouse's Early Years
Courtesy of HarperCollins
Amy Winehouse with her mother, Janis WinehouseBorn on Sept. 14, 1983, a baby Amy Winehouse looks serene and squishable while cozying up with her mama, Janis Winehouse.
Amy Winehouse As a Happy Baby
Courtesy of HarperCollins
Amy Winehouse baby picLong before she was making the world smile with her rousing hits, Amy was bringing joy and cheer to her family. “We always wanted the world to know the real Amy, where she came from and what made her tick,” her father, Mitch Winehouse, told PEOPLE.
Winehouse Family Beach Day
Courtesy of HarperCollins
Amy Winehouse with her father Mitch and older brother, Alex“In all aspects she was just a normal Jewish kid from North London, who did normal kid things, went to drama class, loved her grandma, her mum and dad, loved her brother," Mitch said.
Amy Winehouse's Journals
Courtesy of HarperCollins
Amy Winehouse Journal EntryThe collection of never-before-seen photos, journal entries and handwritten letters and poems, will be published on Aug. 29, days before what would have been her 40th birthday.
Amy Winehouse Playing Around
Courtesy of HarperCollins
Amy WinehouseIt looks like Amy cultivated her playful attitude at a young age, as she's pictured here seemingly playing hide and seek in a clothing hamper.
Amy Winehouse's Grade School Days
Courtesy of HarperCollins
Amy WinehouseThe cheerful tot is captured smiling while on a playground slide in her early grade school era.
Amy Enjoys the Pool
Courtesy of HarperCollins
Amy WinehouseThe rosy-cheek tot is photographed relaxing in a pool on what seems to be a hot summer day.
Say Cheese!
Courtesy of HarperCollins
Amy WinehouseThe future hitmaker shows off her full-bodied curls and wide smile in this sunny pic.
Amy and Alex Winehouse Go Back to School
Courtesy of HarperCollins
Picture of Amy and her older brother Alex WinehouseAmy Winehouse and her brother, Alex, look photoshoot-ready while posing for the camera in their school uniforms.
Hugs from Big Bro
Courtesy of HarperCollins
Amy and Alex WinehouseNever one to follow the rules, Amy looks off-camera as her brother poses for the lens.
Amy Winehouse in High School
Courtesy of HarperCollins
Amy Winehouse"From the outset, we realized that school was probably never going to fulfill Amy. ‘I’m bored,’ was a phrase she often repeated," her parents said in an excerpt of the foreword given exclusively to PEOPLE. "Teachers told us she was bright and capable, yet there was always a ‘but’. But ... she couldn’t sit still, or she couldn’t concentrate, or she misbehaved in class."
Amy and Friends
Courtesy of HarperCollins
Amy Winehouse"She was a loyal, generous friend. She’d help anybody… Just a wonderful human being who saw the best in everybody,” her parents describe their daughter.
The Teenage Years
Courtesy of HarperCollins
Amy Winehouse"Amy devoured films, musicals, novels and poetry, or took inspiration from our family life in North London or the twists and turns of her many friendships," her parents said of their late daughter in the foreword.
"Music also seeped effortlessly into Amy’s consciousness and she could recite lyrics and sing tunes after hearing a song maybe just once or twice. At her nan Cynthia’s house, she was surrounded by jazz music: anyone from Frank Sinatra to Ella Fitzgerald to Sarah Vaughan. And at home, she performed songs from the musical Mary Poppins or Jewish hymns that we’d taught her."
Amy Winehouse's List of Ambitions
Courtesy of HarperCollins
Amy Winehouse's list of ambitions.A meticulous planner, Amy's family knew her to make lists for everything, "what she wanted to buy for her room or, perhaps more accurately, what we or her grandparents were going to buy for her," her parents wrote. "She listed every item, the shop where it could be bought from and its cost, all neatly totaled up at the end."
Above, is one of her famous lists, carefully plotting all the things she wanted to do once she found fame.
Amy Goofing Around with Her Dad
Courtesy of HarperCollins
Amy Winehouse and with her dadIn this silly flick, the father-daughter duo joke about Mitch managing Amy.
'To My Darling Mother Janis'
Courtesy of HarperCollins
Amy Winehouse poem for her momIn the book, Janis shares this sweet poem Amy wrote her. "Mum, you are the best/ A mechanical genius too/ You fix people's bikes/ And I love u,'" the sweet poem begins.
She goes on to write, " You saved my life/Oh, thanks so much/You'll always have/That special touch" and concludes, "I bet that dad/Is lucky to/Have someone/As special as you."
Amy Winehouse Self-Reflects
Courtesy of HarperCollins
Amy Winehouse journal entryIn a journal entry titled, "Good Words to Describe Me," Amy jots down all the adjectives she believed captured her best. "Imaginative," " "melodramatic," and loud are some words that made the list.
Amy Winehouse in Happier Times
John Alex Maguire/Shutterstock
Amy Winehouse at Jazz CafeThe bright star is photographed while on stage at the Jazz Cafe in London on Jan. 27, 2004.
Amy Winehouse, Star Performer
Bryan Adams/Camera Press London
Amy applying her makeupWith her signature beehive hair pouf in place, Amy applies her iconic, thick cat eye.
Amy Winehouse's 'Frankie' poem
Courtesy Estate of Amy Winehouse
Amy WinehouseDated Sept. 7, 2001, this seems to be an ode to a person named Frankie. Amy famously titled her debuted album Frank after Frank Sinatra, who was a lifelong inspiration.
"Whenever she got chastised at school, she would always sing ‘Fly Me to the Moon’ — before she went up to the headmistress to be told off, she’d be singing the song because it cheered her up. It was a very special song for her,” he father told Digital Spy, per Far Out Magazine.
It's unclear whether the Frankie in this poem is Frank Sinatra, however.
Amy Winehouse's Goals for 1996
Courtesy Estate of Amy Winehouse
Amy Winehouse ListWhile some merely recite their new year's resolutions, Amy would jot hers down and check them off as the year rolled by. According to this journal entry, she achieved all of her 1996 goals, except, she couldn't stop biting her nails.
'Amy Winehouse: In Her Words' Book Cover
Courtesy of HarperCollins
"Amy Winehouse: In Her Words" Book CoverRoyalties from the book will go to the Amy Winehouse Foundation, the charity her family created 12 years ago on her birthday, Sept. 14, weeks after she died of accidental alcohol poisoning. With projects in the U.S., U.K. and the Caribbean, it aims to educate young people about the dangers of drugs and alcohol and to support the recovery of those who struggle with substance abuse.
From the forthcoming book Amy Winehouse: In Her Words by Amy Winehouse.
Copyright © 2023 by Amy Winehouse Estate. Excerpted by permission of Dey Street
Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
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