Coordinates	41°52′55″N87°37′40″N
name	M.I.A.
background	solo_singer
birth name	Mathangi Arulpragasam
birth date	July 18, 1975
religion	Hindu
origin	Mitcham, South London, England, United Kingdom
ethnicity	Tamil
instrument	Vocals, drum machine, percussion
genre	Alternative dance, electronic, world, alternative, hip hop
occupation	Vocalist, singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer, visual artist, activist, photographer, fashion designer
years active	2000–present
label	N.E.E.T., XL, Interscope, Showbiz
website	miauk.com }}

Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam (; born 18 July 1975), better known by her stage name M.I.A., which stands for Missing In Action and is a play on her full name, is an English singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer, painter and music video director of Sri Lankan Tamil descent. Her compositions combine elements of hip-hop, electronica, dance, alternative and world music.

M.I.A. began her career in 2000 as a visual artist and designer in West London. Since rising to prominence in early 2004 for her singles "Galang" and "Sunshowers", she has been nominated for an Academy Award, two Grammy Awards and the Mercury Prize. She released her debut album ''Arular'' in 2005 and second album ''Kala'' in 2007. ''Kala'' went gold in Canada and the United States and silver in the United Kingdom, and the singles "Boyz" and "Paper Planes" became North American top ten chart favourites in 2008. M.I.A.'s third album ''Maya'' was released in 2010 soon after the song-film short "Born Free", and reached the top ten in numerous countries worldwide. She has embarked on four global headlining tours and is the founder of her own multimedia label, N.E.E.T.. In 2008, M.I.A. was listed in ''Esquire'' magazine's list of the 75 most influential people of the 21st century and in 2009, ''Time'' magazine included M.I.A. in its annual Time 100 list of the world's most influential people.

M.I.A. is credited as an influence in the rise in popularity of female musicians and electronic music, and also for revitalising British and world music. M.I.A.'s early compositions relied heavily on the Roland MC-505 sequencer/drum machine, while later styles have created layered textures of instruments, electronics and unusual sound samples. Her lyrics incorporate a range of political, social, philosophical and cultural references that have defied existing pop music conventions. A noted philanthropist and activist for many causes, her activism has been met with both appreciation and criticism. In 2002, she received an Alternative Turner Prize nomination for her art, and has been recognized for her work as a music video director, graphic and fashion designer.

Family and early life

M.I.A. was born in Hounslow, London to Arul Pragasam, an engineer, writer and activist, and his wife, Kala, a seamstress, who are of Hindu and Sri Lankan Tamil descent. Kala has been a practicing Christian since living in the United Kingdom, and is a commissioned seamstress for the British Royal Family. She works from her home in Tooting, South London. The couple had two daughters in England, Maya and Kali. When M.I.A. was six months old, her family moved to Jaffna, a town in northern Sri Lanka, where her brother Sugu was born. There, her father adopted the name Arular and became a political activist and founding member of the Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students (EROS), a political Tamil group that worked to establish an independent Tamil Eelam in North Eastern Sri Lanka.

The first nine years of M.I.A.'s life were marked by displacement caused by the Sri Lankan Civil War. Her family went into hiding from the Sri Lankan Army and contact between M.I.A. and her father was strictly limited. In Jaffna, M.I.A. attended Tamil Hindu and convent schools such as the Holy Family Convent, Jaffna where she developed her art skills—painting in particular—to work her way up her class. When the civil war broke out, she notes as "bullying exploitation" the way soldiers from Sri Lanka's military would put guns through holes in the windows and shoot at the school. Her classmates were trained to dive under the table or run next door to English schools that, according to her, "wouldn’t get shot". M.I.A.'s family relocated to Chennai in Tamil Nadu, India where they lived in a derelict house and received sporadic visits from M.I.A.'s father, who was introduced to the children as their "uncle". The family resettled in Jaffna temporarily, only to see the war escalate further in the north east and M.I.A.'s school was destroyed in a government raid. After experiencing violence at the hands of soldiers, M.I.A.'s mother moved with her children back to London in 1986 where they were housed as refugees.

M.I.A. grew up in the Phipps Bridge Estate in the Mitcham district of South London, where she learned to speak English. She attended Ricards Lodge High School in Wimbledon and graduated with a degree in fine art, film and video from London's Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design. Initially her application to the school was rejected, but she was eventually let in, being told that she "had chutzpah." For two years, M.I.A. lived in Bedford-Stuyvesant, a neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York, where she met her fiance, Benjamin Zachary Bronfman (aka Benjamin Brewer), an environmentalist, founder of Green Owl, musician and scion of the Bronfman dynasty. M.I.A. currently lives in Brentwood, Los Angeles in the U.S. She gave birth to her son Ikhyd Edgar Arular Bronfman in February 2009.

Career

Visual art and film

While attending Central St Martins College, M.I.A. wanted to make films and art depicting realism that would be accessible to everyday people, something that she felt was missing from her classmates' ethics and the course criteria. At college, she found the fashion courses "disposable" and more current than the film texts that she studied. M.I.A. told ''Arthur magazine'' "[Students there were] exploring apathy, dressing up in some pigeon outfit, or running around conceptualizing...It missed the whole point of art representing society. Social reality didn’t really exist there; it just stopped at theory." She cited "radical cinema" including Harmony Korine, Dogme 95 and Spike Jonze as some of her cinematic inspirations during film school. As a student, she was approached by director John Singleton to work on a film in Los Angeles after he had read a script she had written, though she decided not to take up the request.

M.I.A. befriended students in the college fashion, advertising and graphics departments. She met Justine Frischmann, frontwoman of the British band Elastica, through her friend Damon Albarn, and Frischmann commissioned M.I.A. to create the cover art for the band's 2000 album, ''The Menace'', and video document their American tour. M.I.A. returned to Jaffna in 2001 to film a documentary on Tamil youth, but was unable to complete the project because she encountered harassment. In 2001, M.I.A.'s first public exhibition of paintings after graduating took place at the Euphoria Shop on London's Portobello Road. It featured graffiti art and spray-paint canvasses mixing Tamil political street art with images of London life and consumerist culture. The show was nominated for the Alternative Turner Prize and a monograph book of the collection was published in 2002, titled ''M.I.A.''. Actor Jude Law was among early buyers of her art.

Early music career: 2000–2004

M.I.A. cites the radio broadcasts she heard emanating from her neighbours' flats in the late '80s as some of her first exposures to her earliest musical influences. From there, she developed an interest in hip-hop and dancehall, identifying with "the starkness of the sound" in records by Public Enemy, MC Shan and Ultramagnetic MCs; and the "weird, distinct style" of acts such as Silver Bullet and London Posse. In college she developed an affinity for punk and the emerging sounds of Britpop and electroclash. M.I.A. cites The Slits, Malcolm McLaren and The Clash as major influences.

By 2001, M.I.A. designed the cover for Elastica's last single "The Bitch Don't Work", and went on the road with the band to video document their tour. The tour's supporting act, electroclash artist Peaches, introduced M.I.A. to the Roland MC-505 and encouraged M.I.A. to make music, a medium in which M.I.A. lacked confidence. While vacationing together in Bequia in the Caribbean, M.I.A. began experimenting with Frischmann's MC-505. She adopted her stage name, "M.I.A.", standing for "Missing In Acton" during this time. "I started going out to this chicken shed with a sound system. You buy rum through a hatch and dance in the street. They convinced me to come to church where people sing so amazingly. But I couldn’t clap along to hallelujah. I was out of rhythm. Someone said, ‘What happened to Jesus? I saw you dancing last night and you were totally fine.’ They stopped the service and taught me to clap in time. It was embarrassing" she recalled of her time in Bequia. Returning to London, where she shared an apartment with Frischmann, she began working with a simple set-up (a second-hand 4-track tape machine, the MC-505, and a radio microphone), composing and recording a six song demo tape that included "Lady Killa", "M.I.A.", and "Galang".

In 2003, the independent label Showbiz Records pressed 500 vinyl singles of "Galang", a mix of dancehall, electro, jungle, and world music, with ''Seattle Weekly'' praising its a cappella coda as a "lift-up-and-over moment" evoking "clear skies beyond the council flats." File sharing, college radio airplay, and the rise in popularity of "Galang" and "Sunshowers" in dance clubs and fashion shows made M.I.A. an underground sensation. M.I.A. has been heralded as one of the first artists to build a large fanbase exclusively via these channels and as someone who could be studied to reexamine the internet's impact on how listeners are exposed to new music. Major record labels caught on to the popularity of "Galang", and M.I.A. was eventually signed to XL Recordings in mid 2004 by the head of the Showbiz label, Jonathan Dickins. Her debut album, to be titled ''Arular'', was finalized by borrowing studio time.

MIA's next single, "Sunshowers", released on 5 July 2004, and its B-side ("Fire Fire") described guerrilla warfare and asylum seeking, merging ambiguous references to violence and religious persecution with black and white forms of dissidence. For "Sunshowers", M.I.A. wrote her first music video, filmed in the jungles of South India, which she has described as her favourite. "Galang" was re-released in 2004. The music video for "Galang" made in November of that year featured art direction by M.I.A., showing multiple M.I.A.s against a backdrop of militaristic animated graffiti, and depicted scenes of urban Britain and war. Both singles appeared on international publications' "Best of the Year" lists and subsequently "Best of the Decade" lists. The songs "Pull Up the People", "Bucky Done Gun" and "10 Dollar" were released as 12-inch singles and CDs by XL Recordings, which along with the non-label mashup mixtape of ''Arular'' tracks, ''Piracy Funds Terrorism,'' were distributed in 2004.

''Arular'': 2004–2007

M.I.A. made her North American debut in February 2005 at the Drake Hotel in Toronto where concertgoers already knew many of her songs. In March 2005, M.I.A.'s debut album ''Arular'' was released worldwide to critical acclaim after several months delay. The album title is the ''nom de guerre'' that M.I.A.'s father took when he joined the Tamil independence movement, and many of the songs acknowledge her and her father's experiences in Jaffna. While making ''Arular'' in her bedroom in west London, she built tracks off her demos, using beats she programmed on the Roland MC-505. The album experiments with bold, jarring and ambient sounds, and its lyrics address the Iraq War and daily life in London as well as M.I.A.'s past.

M.I.A. received praise from artists such as the rapper Nas, who in early 2005 called her sound "the future". "Galang", "Sunshowers" and the funk carioca-inspired co-composition "Bucky Done Gun" were released as singles from ''Arular''. The release of the latter marked the first time that a funk carioca-inspired song was played on mainstream radio and music television in Brazil, its country of origin. M.I.A. worked with one of her musical influences Missy Elliott, contributing to the track "Bad Man" on her 2005 album ''The Cookbook''. Despite initial fears that her dyslexia might pose problems while touring, M.I.A. supported the album through a series of festival and club shows, including the Bue Festival, a free headlining show at Central Park Summerstage, the Summer Sonic Fest and the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, where she played an encore in response to crowd enthusiasm, a rare occurrence for the festival. She also toured with Roots Manuva and LCD Soundsystem, and ended 2005 briefly touring with Gwen Stefani and performing at the Big Day Out festival. On 19 July 2005, M.I.A. was shortlisted for the Mercury Music Prize for ''Arular''. According to the music review aggregation Metacritic, it garnered an average score of 88 out of 100, described as "universal acclaim". They reported in 2010 that ''Arular'' was the seventh best reviewed album of 2005 and the ninth Best-Reviewed Electronic/Dance Album on Metacritic of the 2000–09 decade. ''Arular'' became the second most featured album in music critics’ Year-End Top 10 lists for 2005 and was named best of the year by publications such as ''Blender,'' ''Stylus'' and ''Musikbyrån.''

''Kala'': 2007–2009

In 2006 M.I.A. recorded her second studio album ''Kala'', this time named after her mother. Due to censorship and visa complications in the United States, the album was recorded in a variety of locations—India, Trinidad, Liberia, Jamaica, Australia, Japan, and the UK. Eventually the album was completed in the U.S.

''Kala'' featured live instrumentation and layers of traditional dance and folk styles such as soca and the urumee drum of gaana, rave music and bootleg soundtracks of Tamil film music, incorporating new styles into her avante-garde electronic dance music. The songs, artwork and fashion of ''Kala'' have been characterized as simultaneously celebratory and infused with raw, "darker, outsider" themes, such as immigration politics, personal relationships and war. The first track from the album to be made available to the public was "Bird Flu", which was posted on M.I.A.'s MySpace page, with an accompanying music video, in February 2007. Later that year, M.I.A. featured in the song "Come Around", a bonus track on Timbaland's 2007 album ''Shock Value'' and a track on ''Kala''. The album's first official single "Boyz" was released in June 2007, accompanied by a music video co-directed by Jay Will and M.I.A., becoming M.I.A.'s first top ten charting song. The single "Jimmy", written about an invitation to tour genocide-affected regions in Rwanda that the singer received from a journalist while staying in Liberia, was released next. The single "Paper Planes" and the EP ''Paper Planes - Homeland Security Remixes EP'' were released digitally in February 2008, the single eventually selling three times platinum in the U.S. and Canada, becoming the 29th most downloaded song in the digital era in the U.S. and earning a Grammy nomination for Record of the Year. In the same year, M.I.A. released the ''How Many Votes Fix Mix EP'' which included a remix of "Boyz" featuring Jay-Z.

Like its predecessor, universal acclaim met ''Kala's'' release in August 2007 and the album earned a normalised rating of 87 out of 100 on the review aggregator MetaCritic. ''Kala'' was a greater commercial success than ''Arular''. To support ''Kala'', M.I.A.'s Kala Tour featuring performances in Europe, America and Asia began soon after its release. Festival appearances included Rock en Seine, Get Loaded in the Park, the Electric Picnic, Connect, the Virgin Festivals, the Osheaga Festival and Parklife Festival, and the singer performed three dates opening for Björk in the U.S. and France. M.I.A. provided guest vocals on tour supporting act Buraka Som Sistema's kuduro song "Sound of Kuduro", recorded in Angola with an accompanying video. In the same year, M.I.A. and director Spike Jonze filmed a documentary in the immigrant neighborhood of Woolwich, South London, where they visited Afrikan Boy, a Nigerian immigrant rapper who appears on ''Kala'' track "Hussel." In ''Spike Jonze Spends Saturday With M.I.A.'', she disclosed her plans to launch her own record label, Zig-Zag, with Afrikan Boy’s track "Lidl" being its first release. She ended the year with concerts in the United Kingdom. By year end, ''Kala'' was named the best album of 2007 by publications including ''Rolling Stone'' and ''Blender''.

Best-Reviewed Electronic/Dance Album on Metacritic of the 2000–09 decade, one position below her debut album ''Arular.'' M.I.A. performed on the People vs. Money Tour during the first half of 2008. She cancelled the final leg of her tour in Europe through June and July after revealing her intentions to take a career break and work on other art projects, go back to college and make a film. Her last performance of the tour was at the Bonnaroo Music Festival.

In 2008, M.I.A. started her record label N.E.E.T. Recordings. The first artist signed to the label was Baltimore rapper Rye Rye, who performed with M.I.A. at the Diesel XXX party at Pier 3 in Brooklyn in October 2008 where it was revealed that M.I.A. was pregnant with her first child. M.I.A. contributed songs for A. R. Rahman's score of the film ''Slumdog Millionaire'', which included the collaboration "O…Saya"; she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song and a World Soundtrack Award for Best Original Song Written Directly for a Film for the song. M.I.A. was due to perform at the Oscars ceremony two weeks after her Grammy Award performance, but could not as she had just given birth to her son. M.I.A. is the first person of Asian descent to be nominated for an Oscar and Grammy award in the same year.

''Maya'': 2009–present

Seeking to promote new, underground music with N.E.E.T., M.I.A. signed more bands including Baltimore musician Blaqstarr, indie rock band Sleigh Bells and visual artist Jaime Martinez by late 2009. 3D photographic images of M.I.A. by Martinez were commissioned in April of that year. In August 2009, M.I.A. began composing and recording her third studio album in a home studio section in her Los Angeles house. In January 2010, M.I.A. posted her video for the song "Space" from her forthcoming third album. While composing it, M.I.A. co-wrote a song with Christina Aguilera called "Elastic Love" for Aguilera's album ''Bionic''.

By April 2010, the song and music video/short film "Born Free," a song from ''Maya,'' were leaked online and later released via M.I.A.'s official website and online music stores. The video-film short was directed by Romain Gavras and written by M.I.A., depicting genocide against red-haired adolescents being forced to run across a minefield and caused controversy due to its graphically violent content. Although not an official single, the song charted in Sweden and the United Kingdom. M.I.A.'s third album, ''Maya''—stylised as ''/\/\ /\ Y /\'', a typographic equivalent of M.I.A.'s legal name—was released on 23 June 2010 in Japan with bonus tracks before its release in other countries. ''Maya'' became M.I.A.'s highest charting album globally. Originally set to be released on 29 June 2010 in the U.S., her record label announced a new release date of 13 July 2010. The album garnered a generally favourable, although divided, reception from critics. ''Maya'' was a more internet-inspired album, illustrating how a multimedia artist such as herself worked within the music industry. Elements of industrial music were incorporated into M.I.A.'s sound for the first time. She described the album in an interview with ''Dazed and Confused'' as a mix of "babies, death, destruction and powerlessness".

The first official single from ''Maya'', "XXXO", was released on 11 May 2010 and reached the top 40 in Belgium, Spain and the UK "Steppin' Up", "Teqkilla", and "Tell Me Why" were also released as promotional singles exclusively on iTunes in the days leading to the release of ''Maya'', with "Teqkilla" reaching the top 100 in Canada on digital downloads alone. The video for "XXXO" was released online in August. M.I.A. hinted in an interview to ''Blitz'' that a music video is being made with director Spike Jonze for the single "Teqkilla."

M.I.A. performed at the 2010 Virgin Mobile Festival, Festival Sudoeste, Way Out West Festival, The Big Chill, Underage Festival, Øyafestivalen, the Flow Festival and Rencontres Trans Musicales. She finished 2010 completing the European leg of the Maya Tour.

From 2000–2010, she has directed the video for Elastica single "Mad Dog God Dam" and videos for her songs "Bird Flu", "Boyz", "S.U.S. (Save Ur Soul)", "Space" and "XXXO", and a video for Rye Rye's "Bang". She judged in the Music Video category at the inaugural Vimeo Festival & Awards in New York in October 2010.

M.I.A. released her second mixtape, ''Vicki Leekx'', on 31 December 2010.

On 11 January 2011, Interscope released ''Internet Connection: The Remixes'', an EP to a bonus track from ''Maya''.

It was reported M.I.A. was in the recording studio with Swizz Beatz, Polow Da Don, Cataracs, and Chris Brown, hinting at new material for a possible fourth album.

In May 2011, M.I.A. performed on the song ''C.T.F.O.'' on SebastiAn's album ''Total''.

Music style and image

M.I.A.'s music features styles such as electro, reggae, rhythm and blues, alternative rock, hip hop, grime, rap ballads and Asian folk and references to her musical influences such as Missy Elliott, Tamil film music, Lou Reed, The Pixies, Beastie Boys and London Posse. She was a childhood fan of Boney M and pop artist Michael Jackson and has been influenced by The Slits, Public Enemy, Malcolm McLaren and The Clash. M.I.A. describes her music as dance music or club music for the "other", and has stressed her preference of being an "anti-popstar". M.I.A.'s early compositions relied heavily on the Roland MC-505, while later M.I.A. experimented further with her established sound and drew from a range of genres, creating layered textures of instruments, electronics and sounds outside the traditional studio environment.

Jimmy Iovine, chairman of M.I.A.'s American distribution label Interscope, compares M.I.A. to Reed and punk rock songwriter Patti Smith, and recalled, "She's gonna do what she's gonna do, I can't tell her shit." "The really left-of-center artists, you really wonder about them. Can the world catch up? Can the culture meet them in the middle? That’s what the adventure is. It doesn’t always happen, but it should and it could." Richard Russell, head of XL Recordings, states, "You've got to bend culture around to suit you, and I think M.I.A has done that" adding that M.I.A.'s composition and production skills were a major attraction for him. As a vocalist, M.I.A. is recognisable by her distinctive whooping, chanting voice, which has been described as having an "indelible, nursery-rhyme swing." She has adopted different singing styles on her songs, from aggressive raps, to semi-spoken and melodic vocals. She has said of the sometimes "unaffected" vocals and delivery of her lyrics, "It is what it is. Most people would just put it down to me being lazy. But at the same time, I don’t want [that perfection]," saying some of the "raw and difficult" vocal styles she used reflected what was happening to her during recording. Sasha Frere-Jones, critic of ''The New Yorker'' praised the self made "unpretentious, stuck together with Scotch tape" style that M.I.A. achieves with her Roland MC-505 drum machine and keyboard unit, noting that many people had tried to copy the style since. ''The Guardian'' critic Hattie Collins commented of M.I.A.'s influence, "A new raver before it was old. A baile funk/pop pioneer before CSS and Bonde do Rolê emerged. A quirky female singer/rapper before the Mini Allens had worked out how to log on to MySpace. Missing In Action (or Acton, as she sometimes calls herself) has always been several miles ahead of the pack."

M.I.A.'s stage performances are described as "highly energetic", often with scenes of what ''Rolling Stone'' critic Rob Sheffield describes as "jovial chaos, with dancers and toasters and random characters roaming the stage." Camille Dodero, writing in ''The Village Voice'' opined that M.I.A. "works hard to manifest the chaos of her music in an actual environment, and, more than that, to actively create discomfort, energy, and anger through sensory overload." Her role as an artist in and voice lender to the subaltern is appreciated by theorists as having brought such ideas to first world view. ''USA Today'' included her on its list of the 100 Most Interesting People of 2007 and she was named one of ''Time Out'' 's 40th Birthday London Heroes in 2008. The same year, ''Esquire'' listed M.I.A. as one of the 75 Most Influential People of the 21st century, describing her as the first and only major artist in world music, and in 2009 she was cited in ''Time'' magazine's Time 100 as one of the world's most influential people for her global influence across many genres. In December 2010, ''USA Today'' listed M.I.A. at number 63 on its list of the "100 People of 2010".

Themes and artwork

M.I.A. has become known for integrating her imagery of political violence into her music videos and her cover art. Her politically inspired art became recognized while she exhibited and published several of her brightly coloured stencils and paintings portraying the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka and urban Britain in the early 2000s. Some of the lyrics on ''Arular'' are reflective of her experiences regarding identity politics, poverty, revolution, gender and sexual stereotypes, war, and the conditions of working class in London. The album references the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Tamil independence movements and features culture jamming, multi-lingual slang, strident and subtle imagery. Her social commentary and storytelling have incited debate on the "invigoratingly complex" politics of the issues she highlighted in the album. Government visits to her official website following her debut album's release in 2005, and a U.S. refusal to grant M.I.A. a travel visa coupled with her brief presence on the U.S. Homeland Security Risk List in 2006 due to her politically charged lyrics led to her second album ''Kala'' being recorded in a variety of locations around the world.

On ''Kala'', M.I.A.'s songs explored immigration politics and her personal relationships. Many related her experiences during recording sessions in Chennai, Angola, Trinidad shantytowns, Liberia and London, and were well acclaimed. The album's artwork was inspired by African art, "from dictator fashion to old stickers on the back of cars," which like her clothing range, she hoped would capture "a 3-D sense, the shapes, the prints, the sound, film, technology, politics, economics" of a certain time. ''I-D magazine'' described the "bleeding cacophany of graphics" on her website during this time as evoking the "noisy amateurism" of the early web, but also embodying a rejection of today's "glossy, professional site design" which was felt to "efface the medium rather than celebrate it." Jeff Chang, writing for ''The Nation'', described a "Kala for the Nation" and the album's music, lyrics and imagery as encompassing "everywhere—or, to be specific, everywhere but the First World's self-regarding 'here'," stating that against a media flow that suppresses the "ugliness" of reality and fixes beauty to consumption, M.I.A. forces a conversation about how the majority live, closing the distance "between 'here' and everywhere else". He felt that ''Kala'' explored poverty, violence and globalization through the eyes of "children left behind."

Her third album, ''Maya'', tackled information politics in the digital age, loaded with technological references and love songs, and deemed by Kitty Empire writing in ''The Observer'' to be her most melancholic and mainstream effort. Her genocide-depicting 2010 video for the single "Born Free" was deemed by Ann Powers writing in the ''Los Angeles Times'' to be "concentrating fully" on the physical horror of gun butts and bullets hitting flesh, with the scenes giving added poignancy to the lyrical themes of the song. Interpreted as a comment on the Arizona immigration law, America's military might and desensitised attitudes towards violence, some critics described the film as "sensationalist". Neda Ulaby of NPR described the video as intended for "shock value" in the service of nudging people into considering real issues that can be hard to talk about. M.I.A. revealed that she felt "disconnected" during the writing process, and spoke of the Internet inspiration and themes of information politics that could be found in the songs and the artwork.

Her work has generated widespread acclaim. PopMatters writer Rob Wheaton felt M.I.A. subverted the "abstract, organized, refined" distilling of violence in Western popular music and imagination and made her work represent much of the developing world's decades-long experiences of "arbitrary, unannounced, and spectacular" slaughter, deeming her work an "assault" with realism. Some detractors criticized M.I.A. early in her music career for "using radical chic" and for her attendance of an art school. Critic Simon Reynolds, writing in ''The Village Voice'' in 2005 saw this as a lack of authenticity and felt M.I.A. was "a veritable vortex of discourse, around most likely irresolvable questions concerning authenticity, postcolonialism, and dilettantism". Critic Robert Christgau described Reynolds' argument as "cheap tack" in another article written in the publication, stating M.I.A's experiences connected her to world poverty in a way "few Western whites can grasp". Reynolds later argued that M.I.A. was the "Artist of the Decade" in a 2009 issue of ''The Guardian''. Music culture writer Michael Meyer opined that M.I.A.'s record imagery, lyrical booklets, homepages and videos supported the "image of provocation yet also avoidance of, or inability to use consistent images and messages." Instead of catering to stereotypes, he felt that M.I.A. "played with them" creating an uncategorizable and hence unsettling result. M.I.A. has been hailed as demonstrating dislocation to be a "productive site of departure" and praised for her ability to transform such a "disadvantage" into a creative form of expression.

M.I.A. views her work as reflective, pieced together in one piece "so you can acquire it and hear it." She states, "All that information floats around where we are—the images, the opinions, the discussions, the feelings—they all exist, and I felt someone had to do something about it because I can't live in this world where we pretend nothing really matters." Censorship on MTV of "Sunshowers" proved controversial and was again criticized following ''Kala'' release "Paper Planes". YouTube's block and subsequent age gating/obscuring of the video for "Born Free" from ''Maya'' due to its graphic violence/political subtext was criticized by M.I.A. as hypocritical, citing the Internet channel's streaming of real-life killings. She went on to state, "It's just fake blood and ketchup and people are more offended by that than the execution videos", referring to clips of Sri Lankan troops extrajudicially shooting unarmed, blindfolded, naked men that she had previously tweeted. Despite the block, the video remained on her website and Vimeo, and has been viewed 30 million times on the internet.

Activism

M.I.A.'s consistent addressing of several conflicts and oppressed peoples around the world, including the Tamils, Palestinians and African Americans has been both heralded and criticized. M.I.A. notes that the voicelessness she felt as a child dictated her role as a refugee advocate and voice lender to civilians in war during her career, saying in an interview with music magazine ''Clash'' in June 2010: }}

M.I.A. attributes much of her success to the "homeless, rootlessness" of her early life, and is considered to be a refugee icon. The 2008 Experience Music Project's Pop Conference held in Seattle featured paper submissions and discussions on M.I.A. presented on the theme of "Shake, Rattle: Music, Conflict, and Change." Throughout her career, M.I.A. has used networking sites such as Twitter and MySpace to discuss and highlight the human rights abuses and war crimes Sri Lanka is accused of perpetrating against Tamils. M.I.A. has joined other activists in condemning the actions of the Sri Lankan government against the Tamils during the civil war as "systematic genocide". Sri Lanka's Foreign Secretary denied that his country perpetrated genocide, responding that he felt M.I.A. was "misinformed" and that she should "stay with what she's good at, which is music, not politics." Consequently, she has been accused of being a "terrorist sympathiser" and "LTTE supporter" by the Sri Lankan government, whose agents have threatened listeners with prosecution if they post her music videos on the internet. Miranda Sawyer of ''The Observer'' felt that M.I.A. was emotional and that this could be limiting her, stating that while she was well informed, "you're not meant to get involved when giving information out about war", and that the difficulty for M.I.A. was that the world "doesn't really care." M.I.A. endorsed candidate Jan Jananayagam at the 2009 European Parliament election, a last minute candidate standing on a platform of anti-genocide, civil liberties, financial transparency, the environment and women's rights, who became one of the most successful independent election candidates ever despite her loss in the general election. Death threats directed at M.I.A. and her son have followed her activism, which she also cited as an influence on the songs on her album ''Maya''. In 2010, she condemned China's role in supporting and supplying arms to the Sri Lankan government during the conflict in an interview with music magazine ''Mondomix'', stating that China's influence within the UN was preventing prosecutions of war crimes committed during the conflict. The same year, M.I.A. voiced her fears of the influence of video game violence on her son and his generation, saying, "I don't know which is worse. The fact that I saw it in my life has maybe given me lots of issues, but there's a whole generation of American kids seeing violence on their computer screens and then getting shipped off to Afghanistan. They feel like they know the violence when they don't. Not having a proper understanding of violence, especially what it's like on the receiving end of it, just makes you interpret it wrong and makes inflicting violence easier."

M.I.A.'s attempts to provoke are both lauded and questioned, with her complete control of her output noted by ''Harpers & Queen'' in 2005 as the primary reason for her success. Prior to her 2008 Coachella festival appearance, M.I.A. filmed from her Bed Stuy apartment window and posted on YouTube an incident involving a black man being apprehended by white police officers, which in light of the Sean Bell shooting incident, elicited commentary debating the force used for the arrest. During the recording of the album ''Maya'', she spoke of the combined effects that news corporations and search engine Google have on news and data collection, while stressing the need for alternative news sources that she felt her son's generation would need in order to ascertain truth. She told ''Nylon'' magazine that social networking site Facebook and Google's development "by the CIA" was harmful to internet freedom. Some criticized the claim as lacking detail.

Media portrayals of M.I.A. throughout her career have been called "problematic" by some commentators. M.I.A. confronted Pitchforkmedia over some of their writings in 2007. In 2010, criticism was directed at the ''New York Times'', which included a tweet by M.I.A. saying "Fuck the New York Times," after the paper published controversial articles about M.I.A. and Sri Lanka. Following this, ''The New York Times Magazine'' published a controversial piece about M.I.A. and her activism, employing a "sneering" tone and making many points through implication. M.I.A. and others raised concerns of misrepresentation by the magazine who cited dichotomies between articles printed by the paper on the conflict as evidence of ignorance. Her response attracted considerable interest, due to her Twitter posting of a telephone number asking followers to ring and give feedback on the piece, the revelatory content of conversations she secretly taped, and the novelty of M.I.A. herself "turning the tables" on a yellow journalist. In 2010, she expressed disappointment that Wikileaks distributed their documents to other news publications—including the ''New York Times''—to gain wider coverage, as she stated their "way of reporting" did not work.

Fashion and style

M.I.A. cites guerrilla art and fashion as major influences. Her mother works as a seamstress in London. An early interest in fashion and textiles—designing confections of "bright fluorescent fishnet fabrics"—was a hallmark of her time at Central Saint Martins College. M.I.A. was a roommate of fashion designer Luella Bartley and is a long-time friend of designer Carri Mundane. Clothes from her limited-edition "Okley Run" line—Mexican and Afrika line jackets and leggings, Islamic-inspired and water melon-print hoodies, and tour-inspired designs—were sold in 2008 during New York fashion week. She commented, "I wanted to tie all my work together. When I make an album, I make a number of artworks that go with it, and now I make some clothes that go with it too. So this Okley run was an extension of my Kala album and artwork."

Contrary to her present style, M.I.A.'s ''Arular'' era style has been described as "tattered hand me downs and patched T-shirts of indigents", embodying the "uniform of the refugee" but modified with cuts, alterations and colours to fashion a distinctly new style and apparel line. M.I.A. built on this during the ''Kala'' era with a "playful" combination of baggy t-shirts, leggings and short-shorts. She incorporated eccentric accessories in bold patterns, sparkle and "over-saturated" neon colour to fashion her signature style which inspired flocks of "garishly-clothed all-too-sassy" new-rave girls with bright red tights, cheetah-skin smock and faded 80's T- shirts. Her commodifying and performance of this refugee image has been noted to "reposition" perceptions of it in the wider public. Hailed as presenting a challenge to the mainstream with her ironic style, M.I.A. has been praised for dictating such a subcultural trend worldwide, combining "adolescent" frustrations of race and class with a strong desire to dance.

M.I.A. was once denied entry into a Marc Jacobs party, but subsequently DJed at the designer's 2008 fashion show afterparty, and modelled for "Marc by Marc Jacobs" in Spring/Summer 2008. M.I.A.'s fashion and style landed her on ''Vogue's'' 10 Best Dressed of 2008. She turned down her inclusion on ''People'' magazine's list of the "50 Most Beautiful People in the World" the same year. M.I.A.'s status as a style icon, trendsetter and trailblazer is globally affirmed, with her distinct identity, style, and music illuminating social issues of gender, the third world, and popular music. Critics point out that such facets of her public persona underline the importance of authenticity, challenging the globalized popular music market, and demonstrating music's strive to be political. Her albums have been met with acclaim, often heralded as "eclectic" for possessing a genre all their own, "packaging inherent politics in the form of pleasurable dance music." M.I.A.'s artistic efforts to connect this "extreme eclecticism" with issues of exile, war, violence and terrorism are both commended and criticized. Commentators laud M.I.A.'s use and subversion of her refugee and migrant experiences, through the weaving of musical creativity, artwork and fashion with her personal life as having dispelled stereotypical notions of the immigrant experience. This gives her a unique place in popular music, while demanding new responses within popular music, media and fashion culture. M.I.A. has been the muse of designers Donatella Versace and Alexander Wang and photographers David Bailey and Rankin.

Philanthropy

M.I.A. has funded Youth Action International and set up school-building projects in Liberia in 2006. She supports the Unstoppable Foundation, cofunding the establishment of the Becky Primary School in Liberia. During her visit to Liberia she met the then President of Liberia, rehabilitated ex-child soldiers and appeared as part of a humanitarian mission there, hosting a "4Real" TV-Series documentary on the post war situation in the country with activist Kimmie Weeks. Following her performance at the 2008 MTV Movie Awards afterparty, she donated her $100,000 performance fee to building more schools in the country, telling the crowd, "It costs $52,000 to build a school for 1,000." Winning the 2008 Official Soundclash Championships (iPod Battle) with her "M.I.A. and Friends" team, 20% of the following year's championship ticket sales were donated to her Liberian school building projects. In 2009, she supported the "Mercy Mission to Vanni" aid ship, destined to send civilian aid from Britain to Vanni and controversially blocked from reaching its destination. The country's navy announced that it would fire on any ship that entered its waters, and M.I.A. was singled out on the Sri Lankan army's official website after the singer announced her support for the campaign.

Discography

''Arular'' (2005)

''Kala'' (2007)

''Maya'' (2010)

Tours

Arular Tour (2005)

Kala Tour (2007)

People vs. Money Tour (2008)

Maya Tour (2010)

Awards

Some awards and nominations M.I.A. has received are listed below. Academy Award

*2008: Nominated – Best Original Song – "O…Saya"

Alternative Turner Prize

*2002: Shortlisted – M.I.A. – Maya Arulpragasam

World Soundtrack Awards

*2009: Nominated – "O... Saya"

ASCAP PRS Awards

*2009: Won – "Paper Planes"

*2009: Won – "Swagga Like Us"

BRIT Awards

* 2009: Nominated – British Female Solo Artist

BET Awards

2009: Won – Best Female Hip Hop Artist

2009: Nominated – Best New Artist

Grammy Awards

* 2009: Nominated – Record of the Year – "Paper Planes"

* 2009: Nominated – Best Rap Song – "Swagga Like Us"

Groovevolt Music & Fashion Awards

2005: Won – Best Alternative Album – ''Arular''

Mercury Music Prize

* 2005: Shortlisted – Album of the Year – ''Arular''

South Bank Show Awards

* 2005: Nominated – Breakthrough Award – M.I.A.

Shortlist Music Prize

* 2005: Shortlisted – Album of the Year – ''Arular''

* 2007: Shortlisted – Album of the Year – ''Kala''

Q Awards

* 2005: Nominated – Best New Act – M.I.A.

Independent Music Awards (Canada)

* 2008: Nominated – International Album of the Year – ''Kala''

* 2008: Nominated – International Artist/Group/Duo of the Year – M.I.A.

UK Asian Music Awards

2009: Won – Best Female Act

''Spin'' and ''URB'' magazines' "Artist of the Year" in 2005

''Rolling Stone'' and ''Blender'''s "Album of the Year" 2007 – ''Kala''

''USA Today'''s "100 Most Interesting People of 2007"

''The Village Voice'''s 2008 Pazz+Jop Poll: Singles Winner

''TIME'''s 2009 Top 100 World's Most Influential People

References

Books and further reading

Arulpragasam, Maya (2002). ''M.I.A. No. 10'' (Paperback ed.). Pocko Editions. ISBN 1-903977-10-X

How M.I.A. (and America) Got Her Swagger Back The Village Voice 20 January 2009

External links

Official site

N.E.E.T. Recordings

Category:1975 births Category:Alumni of the Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design Category:English composers Category:English documentary filmmakers Category:English expatriates in the United States Category:English fashion designers Category:English graffiti artists Category:English Hindus Category:English music video directors Category:English painters Category:English people of Tamil descent Category:English photographers Category:English record producers Category:English singer-songwriters Category:English female singers M.I.A. Category:English rappers Category:English screenwriters Category:Female rappers Category:Living people Category:Sri Lankan Tamil musicians Category:Tamil musicians Category:Women screenwriters Category:XL Recordings artists

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Coordinates	41°52′55″N87°37′40″N
name	Amy Winehouse
alt	Amy Winehouse at the Eurockéennes festival in France (2007)
background	solo_singer
birth name	Amy Jade Winehouse
birth date	September 14, 1983
birth place	Southgate, London, UK
death date	July 23, 2011
death place	Camden, London, UK
genre	Soul, R&B;, jazz, blues
instrument	Vocals, guitar, drums
occupation	Singer, songwriter, composer, arranger
years active	1993–2011
label	Island, Lioness, Universal Republic (U.S.)
associated acts	Dionne Bromfield, Mark Ronson, Tony Bennett, Nas, Zalon, Heshima, Paul Weller, The Rolling Stones, Lily Allen
website	}}

Amy Jade Winehouse (14 September 1983 – 23 July 2011) was an English singer and songwriter known for her powerful deep contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres including R&B;, soul and jazz. Winehouse's 2003 debut album, ''Frank'', was critically successful in the UK and was nominated for the Mercury Prize. Her 2006 follow-up album, ''Back to Black'', led to six Grammy Award nominations and five wins, tying the then record for the most wins by a female artist in a single night, and made Winehouse the first British female to win five Grammys, including three of the "Big Four": Best New Artist, Record of the Year and Song of the Year.

In 2007 she won a BRIT Award for Best British Female Artist; she had also been nominated for Best British Album. She won the Ivor Novello Award three times: once in 2004 for Best Contemporary Song (musically and lyrically) for "Stronger Than Me", once in 2007 for Best Contemporary Song for "Rehab", and once in 2008 for Best Song Musically and Lyrically for "Love Is a Losing Game".

Winehouse died of alcohol poisoning on 23 July 2011. Her album ''Back to Black'' subsequently became the UK's best selling album of the 21st century thus far.

Early life

Amy Winehouse was born in the Southgate area of North London to a Jewish family, with some Russian ancestry on her mother's side who also influenced her interest in jazz. Her father Mitchell "Mitch" Winehouse, a taxi driver, her mother Janis Winehouse, a pharmacist, and her grandmother, Cynthia, are who we credit for raising her and her older brother, Alex, who was four years old upon her birth.

Mitch often sang Frank Sinatra songs to young Amy, who also took to a constant habit of singing to the point that teachers found it difficult keeping her quiet in class. Winehouse's parents separated when she was nine.

When Winehouse was nine years old, Cynthia, her grandmother and once engaged to Ronnie Scott, suggested she attend the Susi Earnshaw Theatre School for furthering her vocal education. She attended the Earnshaw school for four years and founded a short-lived rap group called Sweet 'n' Sour with Juliette Ashby, her childhood friend before seeking full-time training at Sylvia Young Theatre School; however, Winehouse was allegedly expelled at 14 for "not applying herself" and also for piercing her nose. (Sylvia Young herself has denied this – "She changed schools at 15 – I've heard it said she was expelled; she wasn't. I'd never have expelled Amy.") She also appeared in an episode of ''The Fast Show'', 1997, with other children from the Sylvia Young School and later attended The Mount School, Mill Hill, the BRIT School in Selhurst, Croydon, Southgate School and then Ashmole School.

Music career

Early career

After toying around with her brother Alex's guitar, Winehouse received her first guitar when she was 13 and began writing music a year later. Soon after, she began working for a living, including, at one time, as an entertainment journalist for the World Entertainment News Network, in addition to singing with local group the Bolsha Band. In July 2000 she became the featured female vocalist with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra; her influences were to include Sarah Vaughan and Dinah Washington. Her boyfriend at the time, soul singer Tyler James, sent her demo tape to an A&R; person. Her future A&R; representative at Island/Universal, Darcus Beese, heard of her by accident when the manager of The Lewinson Brothers showed him some productions of his clients, which featured Winehouse as key vocalist. When he asked who the singer was, the manager told him he was not allowed to say. Having decided that he wanted to sign her, it took several months of asking around for Beese to eventually discover who the singer was. However, Winehouse had already recorded a number of songs and signed a publishing deal with EMI by this time. Incidentally, she formed a working relationship with producer Salaam Remi through these record publishers.

Beese introduced Winehouse to his boss, Nick Gatfield, and the Island head shared his enthusiasm in signing the young artist. Winehouse was signed to Island/Universal, as rival interest in Winehouse had started to build to include representatives of EMI and Virgin starting to make moves. Beese told ''HitQuarters'' that he felt the reason behind the excitement, over an artist who was an atypical pop star for the time, was due to a backlash against reality TV music shows, which included audiences starved for fresh, genuine young talent.

Winehouse's greatest love was 1960s girl groups. Her stylist, Alex Foden, borrowed her "instantly recognisable" beehive hairdo (a weave) and she borrowed her Cleopatra makeup from The Ronettes. Her imitation was so successful, as the ''Village Voice'' reports: "Ronnie Spector—who, it could be argued, all but invented Winehouse's style in the first place when she took the stage at the Brooklyn Fox Theater with her fellow Ronettes more than 40 years ago—was so taken aback at a picture of Winehouse in the ''New York Post'' that she exclaimed, "I don't know her, I never met her, and when I saw that pic, I thought, 'That's me!' But then I found out, no, it's Amy! I didn't have on my glasses."

New York Times reporter, Guy Trebay, discussed the multiplicity of influences on Winehouse's style. Trebay noted: "her stylish husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, may have influenced her look." Additionally, Trebay observes: :She was a 5-foot-3 almanac of visual reference, most famously to Ronnie Spector of the Ronettes, but also to the white British soul singer Mari Wilson, less famous for her sound than her beehive; to the punk god Johnny Thunders...; to the fierce council-house chicks... (see: Dior and Chanel runways, 2007 and 2008); to the rat-combed biker molls photographed by the Swiss photographer Karlheinz Weinberger in the 1960s; to a lineage of bad girls, extending from Cleopatra to Louise Brooks’s Lulu and including Salt-n-Pepa, to irresistible man traps that always seemed to come to the same unfortunate end.

Major label success and ''Frank''

Winehouse's debut album, ''Frank'', was released on 20 October 2003. Produced mainly by Salaam Remi, many songs were influenced by jazz and, apart from two covers, every song was co-written by Winehouse. The album received positive reviews with compliments over the "cool, critical gaze" in its lyrics and brought comparisons of her voice to Sarah Vaughan, Macy Gray and others.

The album entered the upper levels of the UK album chart in 2004 when it was nominated for BRIT Awards in the categories of "British Female Solo Artist" and "British Urban Act". It went on to achieve platinum sales. Later in 2004 she won the Ivor Novello (songwriting) Award for Best Contemporary Song, alongside Salaam Remi, with her contribution to the first single, "Stronger Than Me". The album also made the short list for the 2004 Mercury Music Prize. In the same year she performed at the Glastonbury Festival, the V Festival, the Montreal International Jazz Festival (7 July 2004, at the Club Soda), and on the Jazzworld stage. After the release of the album, Winehouse commented that she was "only 80 percent behind [the] album" because of the inclusion by her record label of certain songs and mixes she disliked. Additional singles from the album were "Take the Box", "In My Bed"/"You Sent Me Flying" and "Pumps"/"Help Yourself".

International success and ''Back to Black''

In contrast to her jazz-influenced former album, Winehouse's focus shifted to the girl groups of the 1950s and 1960s. Winehouse hired New York singer Sharon Jones's longtime band, the Dap-Kings to back her up in the studio and on tour. In May 2006 Winehouse's demonstration tracks such as "You Know I'm No Good" and "Rehab" appeared on Mark Ronson's New York radio show on East Village Radio. These were some of the first new songs played on the radio after the release of "Pumps" and both were slated to appear on her second album. The 11-track album was produced entirely by Salaam Remi and Ronson, with the production credits being split between them. Ronson said in a 2010 interview that he liked working with Winehouse because she was blunt when she did not like his work. Promotion of ''Back to Black'' soon began and, in early October 2006 Winehouse's official website was relaunched with a new layout and clips of previously unreleased songs. ''Back to Black'' was released in the UK on 30 October 2006. It went to number one on the UK Albums Chart numerous times, and entered at number seven on the ''Billboard'' 200 in the US. It was the best-selling album in the UK of 2007, selling 1.85 million copies over the course of the year.

The album spawned a number of singles. The first single released from the album was the Ronson-produced "Rehab". The song reached the top ten in the UK and the US. ''Time'' magazine named "Rehab" the Best Song of 2007. Writer Josh Tyrangiel praised Winehouse for her confidence, saying, "What she is is mouthy, funny, sultry, and quite possibly crazy" and "It's impossible not to be seduced by her originality. Combine it with production by Mark Ronson that references four decades worth of soul music without once ripping it off, and you've got the best song of 2007." The album's second single and lead single in the US, "You Know I'm No Good", was released in January 2007 with a remix featuring rap vocals by Ghostface Killah. It ultimately reached number 18 on the UK singles chart. The title track, "Back to Black", was released in the UK in April 2007 and peaked at number 25, but was more successful across mainland Europe. "Tears Dry on Their Own", "Love Is a Losing Game" and "Just Friends" were also released as singles, but failed to achieve the same level of success.

A deluxe edition of ''Back to Black'' was also released on 5 November 2007 in the UK. The bonus disc features B-sides, rare, and live tracks, as well as "Valerie". Winehouse's debut DVD ''I Told You I Was Trouble: Live in London'' was released the same day in the UK and 13 November in the US. It includes a live set recorded at London's Shepherds Bush Empire and a 50-minute documentary charting the singer's career over the previous four years. ''Frank'' was released in the United States on 20 November 2007 to positive reviews. The album debuted at number 61 on the Billboard 200 chart.

In addition to her own album she collaborated with other artists on singles. Winehouse was a vocalist on the song "Valerie" on Ronson's solo album ''Version''. The song peaked at number two in the UK, upon its October single release. The song was nominated for a 2008 Brit Award for "Best British Single". Her work with ex-Sugababe Mutya Buena, "B Boy Baby", was released on 17 December 2007. It served as the fourth single from Buena's solo debut album, ''Real Girl''.

Continued success and acclaim

By year's end Winehouse had garnered numerous accolades and awards. The singer won 2008 Grammy Awards in the categories of Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for the single "Rehab", while her album ''Back to Black'' was nominated for Album of the Year and won the Best Pop Vocal Album award. Producer Mark Ronson's work with her won the award in the Grammy Award for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical category. The singer also earned a Grammy in the Best New Artist category. This earned Winehouse an entry in the 2009 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records for Most Grammy Awards won by a British Female Act. She performed "You Know I’m No Good" and "Rehab" at the awards ceremony via satellite, as her visa approval came through too late for her to travel to the US. She said "This is for London because Camden town ain't burning down", in reference to the Camden Market fire. After the Grammy Awards, the album's sales increased catapulting ''Back to Black'' to number two on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200 after initially peaking at number seven. On 13 January 2008, ''Back to Black'' held the number one position on the ''Billboard'' Pan European charts for the third straight week. In January 2008 Universal Music International said it believed that there was a correlation between number of albums sold and the extensive media coverage the singer had received.

thumb|left|Performing at Eurockéennes in Belfort, Territoire de Belfort, France on 29 June 2007 A special deluxe edition of ''Back to Black'' topped the UK album charts on 2 March 2008. The original edition of the album resided at the number 30 position, in its 68th week on the charts, while "Frank" charted at number 35. By 12 March the album had sold a total of 2,467,575 copies, 318,350 of those in the previous 10 weeks, putting the album on the UK's top 10 best-selling albums of the 21st century for the first time. On 7 April, ''Back to Black'' was residing at the top position on the pan-European charts for the sixth consecutive and thirteenth aggregate week. ''Back to Black'' was the world's seventh biggest selling album for 2008. These sales helped keep Universal Music's recorded music division from dropping to levels experienced by the overall music market.

At the 2008 Ivor Novello Awards, Winehouse became the first artist to receive two nominations for the top award, best song, musically and lyrically. She won the award for "Love Is a Losing Game" and was nominated for "You Know I'm No Good". "Rehab", a Novello winner for best contemporary song in 2006, also received a 2008 nomination for best-selling British song. Winehouse was nominated for a MTV Europe Award in the ''Act of The Year'' category. ''Amy Winehouse – The Girl Done Good: A Documentary Review'', a 78-minute DVD, was released on 14 April 2008. The documentary features interviews with those who knew her at a young age, helped her gain success, jazz music experts, as well as music and pop culture specialists. A clip of Winehouse's music was included in the "Roots and Influences" area that looked at connections between different artists at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Annex NYC, which opened in December 2008. One thread started with Billie Holiday continued with Aretha Franklin, Mary J. Blige and finished with Winehouse. In a poll of United States residents conducted for VisitBritain by Harris Interactive that was released in March 2009, one fifth of those polled indicated they had listened to Winehouse's music during the previous year. Winehouse performed with Rhythms del Mundo on their cover of the Sam Cooke song "Cupid" for an ''Artists Project Earth'' benefit album that was released on 13 July 2009.

On the week of July 26, after Winehouse's death, ''Frank'', ''Back To Black'', and the ''Back To Black'' EP re-entered the ''Billboard'' 200 at number 57, number 9, and number 152 respectively with the album climbing to number 4 the following week. ''Back To Black'' also topped the ''Billboard'' Digital Albums chart on the same week and was the second best seller at iTunes. "Rehab" re-entered and topped the ''Billboard'' Digital Songs chart as well, selling up to 38,000 more digital downloads. As of August 2011 "Back to Black" was the best selling album in the United Kingdom in the 21st Century.

Final projects

Winehouse and Mark Ronson contributed a cover of Lesley Gore's "It's My Party" to the Quincy Jones tribute album ''Q Soul Bossa Nostra'' released 9 November 2010. Winehouse and drummer ?uestlove of the Roots had agreed to form a group. Winehouse's problems obtaining a visa delayed the still unnamed group from working together. Producer Salaam Remi had already created some material with Winehouse as part of the project. According to a newspaper report, Universal Music pressed her regarding new material in 2008. According to that same report Winehouse as of 2 September had not been near a recording studio. It was noted that she had touring obligations during the summer and also that if an album was quickly recorded, it would be at least a year before an album could be released. In late October Winehouse's spokesman was quoted as saying that Winehouse had not been given a deadline to complete her third album, for which she was learning to play drums.

During her 2009 stay in Saint Lucia, Winehouse worked on new music with producer Salaam Remi. Island claimed that a new album would be due in 2010; Island co-president Darcus Beese said, "I've heard a couple of song demos that have absolutely floored me". In July 2010 Winehouse was quoted as saying her next album would be released no later than January 2011, saying "It’s going to be very much the same as my second album, where there's a lot of jukebox stuff and songs that are... just jukebox, really." Mark Ronson said in July 2010 that he had not started to record the album.

Winehouse's last recording was a duet with American singer Tony Bennett for his latest album, ''Duets II'', which was released on September 20, 2011. Their single from the album, "Body and Soul," was released on 14 September 2011 on MTV and VH1 to commemorate what would have been her 28th birthday. Her father, Mitch Winehouse, launched The Amy Winehouse Foundation with the goal of raising awareness and support for organizations that help vulnerable, young adults with problems such as addiction. Proceeds from "Body and Soul" will benefit The Amy Winehouse Foundation. The song received the Grammy for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the 54th Grammy Awards on February 12th, 2012. Winehouse's father, Mitch Winehouse, picked up the award at the awards ceremony with his wife Janis, saying, "We shouldn't be here. Our darling daughter should be here. These are the cards that we're dealt."

When interviewed by Jon Stewart on ''The Daily Show'' on 29 September 2011, Bennett stated that in hindsight, he believed Amy: ::was in trouble at that time because she had a couple of engagements that she didn't keep up. But what people didn't realize at that time, that she really knew, and in fact I didn't even know it when we were making the record, and now looking at the whole thing; she knew that she was in a lot of trouble; that she wasn't going to live. And it wasn't drugs. It was alcohol toward the end. . . . It was such a sad thing because . . . she was the only singer that really sang what I call the 'right way' because she was a great jazz-pop singer. . . . She was really a great jazz singer. A true jazz singer. And I regret that because that's the 'right way' to sing.

An album of previously unreleased material, entitled ''Lioness: Hidden Treasures'', was released on December 6, 2011.

Artistry

Influence

British singer Adele has credited Winehouse's success in the United States for making her and fellow British singer Duffy's journey to the United States "a bit smoother". American singer Lady Gaga credited Winehouse with paving the way for her rise to the top of the charts. She appeared to be using a metaphorical analogy to explain that Winehouse made it easier for unconventional women to have mainstream pop success. Raphael Saadiq, Anthony Hamilton, and John Legend said "Amy Winehouse was produced by people who wanted to create a marketing coup. The positive side is that it reacquainted an audience with this music and played an introductory role for others. This reinvigorated the genre by overcoming the vintage aspect".

After the release of Back to Black, record companies sought out female artists with a similar sound and fearless and experimental female musicians in general. Adele and Duffy were the second wave of artists with a sound similar to Winehouse's. A third wave of female musicians that has emerged since the album was released are led by VV Brown, Florence and the Machine, La Roux and Little Boots. In February 2010 rapper Jay-Z credited Winehouse with revitalising British music, saying, "There's a strong push coming out of London right now, which is great. It's been coming ever since I guess Amy (Winehouse). I mean always, but I think Amy, this resurgence was ushered in by Amy." In March 2011 the ''New York Daily News'' ran an article attributing the continuing wave of British female artists that have been successful in the United States to Winehouse and her absence. ''Spin'' magazine music editor Charles Aaron was quoted as saying "Amy Winehouse was the Nirvana moment for all these women," "They can all be traced back to her in terms of attitude, musical styles or fashion". According to Keith Caulfield, chart manager for ''Billboard'', "Because of Amy, or the lack thereof, the marketplace was able to get singers like Adele and Duffy," "Now those ladies have brought on the new ones, like Eliza Doolittle, Rumer and Ellie."

Live performances

Winehouse toured in conjunction with the ''Back to Black'' album's release. She performed headlining gigs in September and November 2006, including one of the ''Little Noise Sessions'' charity concerts at the Union Chapel, Islington. On 31 December 2006, Winehouse appeared on Jools Holland's Annual Hootenanny and performed a cover of Marvin Gaye's "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" along with Paul Weller and Holland's Rhythm and Blues Orchestra. She also performed Toots & the Maytals' "Monkey Man". She began a run of another 14 gigs beginning in February 2007. At his request, Bruce Willis introduced Winehouse before her performance of "Rehab" at the 2007 MTV Movie Awards. Winehouse made awards organizers nervous when she went on a Las Vegas jaunt in the hours before the show. During the summer of 2007, Winehouse performed at various festivals, including UK's Glastonbury Festival, Chicago's Lollapalooza festival, Rock Werchter and Baltimore's Virgin Music Festival.

Winehouse's tour, however, did not go as well. In November 2007 the opening night of a 17-date tour was marred by booing and walkouts at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham. A music critic for the ''Birmingham Mail'' said it was "one of the saddest nights of my life...I saw a supremely talented artist reduced to tears, stumbling around the stage and, unforgivably, swearing at the audience." Other concerts ended similarly, with, for example, fans at her Hammersmith Apollo performance saying that she "looked highly intoxicated throughout", until she announced on 27 November 2007, that her performances and public appearances were cancelled for the remainder of 2007, citing doctor advice to take a complete rest. A statement issued by concert promoter Live Nation blamed "the rigours involved in touring and the intense emotional strain that Amy has been under in recent weeks" for the decision.

On 20 February 2008, Winehouse performed at the 2008 BRIT Awards, performing "Valerie" with Mark Ronson, followed by "Love Is a Losing Game". She urged the crowd to "make some noise for my Blake." In Paris she performed what was described as a "well-executed 40 minute" set at the opening of a Fendi boutique. Although her father, manager and various members of her touring team reportedly tried to dissuade her, Winehouse performed at the Rock in Rio Lisboa festival in Portugal in May 2008. Although the set was plagued by a late arrival and problems with her voice, the crowd warmed to her. In addition to her own material she performed two Specials covers. Winehouse performed at Nelson Mandela's 90th Birthday Party concert at London's Hyde Park on the 27 June, and the next day at the Glastonbury Festival. On 12 July at the Oxegen Festival she performed a well-received 50 minute set which was followed the next day by a 14 song set at T in the Park. On 16 August she played at the Staffordshire leg of the V Festival, and the following day played the Chelmsford leg of the festival. Organizers said that Winehouse attracted the biggest crowds of the festival. Audience reaction was reported as mixed. On 6 September she was the headliner at Bestival. She performed what was described as a polished set which ended with her storming off the stage. Her hour late arrival caused her set to be cut off at the halfway point due to a curfew.

In May 2009 Winehouse returned to performing at a jazz festival in Saint Lucia amid torrential downpours and technical difficulties. During her hour long set it was reported she was unsteady on her feet and had trouble remembering lyrics. She apologised to the crowd for being "bored" and ended her set by walking off the stage in the middle of a song. To a cheering crowd on 23 August at the V festival, Winehouse sang with The Specials on their songs "You're Wondering Now" and "Ghost Town".

In July 2010 she performed "Valerie" with Mark Ronson at a movie premiere. She sang lead but forgot some of the song's lyrics. In October Winehouse performed a four song set to promote her fashion line. In December 2010 Winehouse played a 40 minute concert at a Russian oligarch's party in Moscow. Guests included other Russian tycoons and Russian show business stars. The tycoon hand picked the songs she played.

During January 2011, she played five dates in Brazil, with opening acts of Janelle Monáe and Mayer Hawthorne. On 11 February 2011, Winehouse cut short a performance in Dubai following booing from the audience. Winehouse was reported to be tired, distracted and "tipsy" during the performance.

On 18 June 2011, Winehouse started her 12-leg 2011 European tour in Belgrade. Local media described her performance as a scandal and disaster, and she was booed off the stage due to her apparently being too drunk to perform. It was reported that she was unable to remember the city she was in, the lyrics of her songs or – when trying to introduce them – the names of the members of her band. The local press also claimed that Winehouse was forced to perform by her bodyguards, who didn't allow her to leave the stage when she tried to do so. She then pulled out of performances in Istanbul and Athens which had been scheduled for the following week. On 21 June it was announced that she had cancelled all shows of her European tour and would be given "as long as it takes" to sort herself out.

Winehouse's last public appearance took place at Camden's Roundhouse, London on 20 July 2011, when she made a surprise guest appearance on stage to support her goddaughter, Dionne Bromfield, who was singing "Mama Said" with The Wanted.

Club nights

On 10 July 2008, Winehouse launched her own club night, ''Snakehips at the Monarch'', in the Camden Monarch venue in London. Although billed as a DJ battle between her and another DJ, she stayed behind the decks swaying as another person actually played 1960s music. She appeared at another ''Snakehips'' event at the Monarch on the night of 11 September. After reportedly arriving two hours late, she spun music and played a short acoustic set.

Other ventures

Winehouse joined a campaign to stop a block of flats being built beside the George Tavern, a famous London East End music venue. Campaign supporters feared the residential development would end the spot's lucrative sideline as a film and photo location, on which it relies to survive. As part of a breast cancer awareness campaign, Winehouse appeared in a revealing photograph for the April 2008 issue of ''Easy Living'' magazine. Winehouse had an estimated £10m fortune, tying her for tenth place in the 2008 ''Sunday Times'' listing of the wealth of musicians under age 30. The following year her fortune had dropped to an estimated £5m. Her finances are run by Mitch and Janis Winehouse. It was reported she earned about £1m singing at two private parties during Paris Fashion Week. as well as another £1m to perform at a Moscow Art Gallery for Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich. Winehouse loaned a vintage dress used in her video for "Tears Dry on Their Own" as well as a DVD to the British Music Experience, a new museum dedicated to the history of British pop music. The museum, located in The O2, opened on 9 March 2009.

In January 2009, Winehouse announced that she was launching her own record label. The first act on her Lioness Records is Winehouse's 13-year-old goddaughter, Dionne Bromfield. Her first album, featuring covers of classic soul records, was released on 12 October 2009. Winehouse is the backing singer on several tracks on the album and she performed backing vocals for Bromfield on the television programme ''Strictly Come Dancing'' on 10 October.

Winehouse and her family are the subject of a 2009 documentary shot by Daphne Barak titled ''Saving Amy''.

Winehouse entered into a joint venture in 2009 with EMI to launch a range of wrapping paper and gift cards containing song lyrics from her album ''Back to Black''.

On 8 January 2010, a television documentary, ''My Daughter Amy'', aired on Channel 4.

''Saving Amy'' was released as a paperback book in January 2010.

Winehouse collaborated on a 17 piece fashion collection with the Fred Perry label. It was released for sale in October 2010. According to Fred Perry's marketing director "We had three major design meetings where she was closely involved in product style selection and the application of fabric, colour and styling details,” and gave "crucial input on proportion, colour and fit”. The collection consists of "vintage-inspired looks including Capri pants, a bowling dress, a trench coat, pencil skirts, a longline argyle sweater and a pink-and-black checkerboard-printed collared shirt". At the behest her family three forthcoming collections up to and including autumn/winter 2012 that she had designed prior to her death will be released.

Personal life

With the paparazzi taking photographs of her wherever they could, Winehouse obtained an injunction against a leading paparazzi agency (Big Pictures) under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, the resultant court order banning them from following her. Photographers were also banned from following her within 100 metres of her home and photographing Winehouse in her home or the home of her friends and family. According to a newspaper report, sources close to the singer said legal action was taken out of concern for the safety of Winehouse and those close to her.

Relationships

Winehouse dated chef-musician Alex Clare (sometimes referred to as Alex Claire) in 2006, while on the outs with her on-off boyfriend and future husband, Blake Fielder-Civil. Clare famously sold his story to the ''News of the World'', which published it under the headline “Bondage Crazed Amy Just Can’t Beehive in Bed”.

She married Fielder-Civil (born August 1978), a former video production assistant, on 18 May 2007, in Miami Beach, Florida. Fielder-Civil was a "dropout" of Bourne Grammar School, who moved to London at aged 16 from his native Lincolnshire. In a June 2007 interview, Winehouse admitted she could sometimes be violent toward him after she had been drinking, saying "if he says one thing I don't like then I'll chin him". In August 2007, they were photographed, bloodied and bruised, in the streets of London after an alleged fight, although she contended her injuries were self-inflicted. American men's campaigner Glenn Sacks condemned Winehouse for what he called her "bragging" about abusing her husband, saying that "a male abuser would have been locked up, stigmatised, and vilified".

Winehouse's parents and in-laws publicly reported their numerous concerns, citing fears that the two might commit suicide, with Fielder-Civil's father encouraging fans to boycott her music. Fielder-Civil was quoted in a British tabloid as saying he introduced her to crack cocaine and heroin. During a visit with Mitch Winehouse at the prison in July 2008, Fielder-Civil reportedly said that they would cut themselves to ease the pain of withdrawal.

From 21 July 2008 to 25 February 2009, Fielder-Civil was imprisoned following his guilty plea on charges of trying to pervert the course of justice as well as a charge of grievous bodily harm with intent. The incident, in July 2007, involved an assault on a pub landlord that resulted in a broken cheek. According to the prosecution the landlord accepted £200,000 as part of a deal to "effectively throw the [court] case and not turn up". The prosecution testified that the money used to pay off the landlord belonged to Winehouse, but that Winehouse pulled out of a meeting with the men involved in the plot, because she had to attend an awards ceremony.

Winehouse was spotted with aspiring actor Josh Bowman on holiday in Saint Lucia in early January 2009, saying she was "in love again, and I don't need drugs." She commented that the "whole marriage was based on doing drugs" and that "for the time being I've just forgotten I'm even married." On 12 January, Winehouse's spokesman confirmed that "papers have been received" for what Fielder-Civil's solicitor has said are divorce proceedings based on a claim of adultery. On 25 February, Blake Fielder-Civil was quoted as saying that he planned to continue divorce proceedings to give himself a drug-free fresh start. In March, Winehouse was quoted in a magazine as saying, "I still love Blake and I want him to move into my new house with me – that was my plan all along ... I won't let him divorce me. He's the male version of me and we're perfect for each other." Uncontested, the divorce was granted on 16 July 2009 and became final on 28 August 2009. Upon his request Fielder-Civil received no money in the settlement. She dated director Reg Traviss for approximately two years before her death.

Substance abuse and mental health issues

Winehouse's battles with substance abuse were the subject of much media attention. In 2005, she went through a period of drinking, heavy drug use, violent mood swings and weight loss.; people who saw her during the end of that year and early 2006 reported a rebound that coincided with the writing of ''Back to Black''. Her family believes that the mid-2006 death of her grandmother, who was a stabilising influence, set her off into addiction. In August 2007, Winehouse cancelled a number of shows in the UK and Europe, citing exhaustion and ill health. She was hospitalised during this period for what was reported as an overdose of heroin, ecstasy, cocaine, ketamine and alcohol. In various interviews, she admitted to having such problems with self-harm, depression and eating disorders.

Winehouse told a magazine that the drugs were to blame for her hospitalisation and that "I really thought that it was over for me then." Soon after, Winehouse's father commented that when he had made public statements regarding her problems, he was using the media because it seemed the only way to get through to her. In an interview with ''The Album Chart Show'' on British television, Winehouse said she was manic depressive and not alcoholic, adding that that sounded like "an alcoholic in denial". A U.S. reporter writes that Winehouse was a "victim of mental illness in a society that doesn't understand or respond to mental illness with great effectiveness".

On 2 December 2007, images of the singer outside her home in the early morning hours, barefoot and wearing only a bra and jeans, appeared on the internet and in tabloid newspapers. In a statement, her spokesman blamed paparazzi harassment for the incident. The spokesman reported that the singer was in a physician-supervised programme and was channelling her difficulties by writing a lot of music. The British tabloid ''The Sun'' posted a video of a woman, alleged to be Winehouse, apparently smoking crack cocaine and speaking of having taken ecstasy and valium. Winehouse's father moved in with her, and Island Records, her record label, announced the abandonment of plans for an American promotion campaign on her behalf. In late January 2008, Winehouse reportedly entered a rehabilitation facility for a two-week treatment program.

On 23 January 2008, the video was passed on to the Metropolitan Police, who questioned her on 5 February. No charges were brought. On 26 March 2008, Winehouse's spokesman said she was "doing well" and denied a published report in a British tabloid that consideration was being given to having her return to rehab. Her record company reportedly believed that her recovery remained fragile. By late April 2008, her erratic behaviour, including an allegation of assault, caused fear that her drug rehabilitation efforts have been unsuccessful, leading to efforts by Winehouse's father and manager to seek assistance in having her sectioned. Her dishevelled appearance during and after a scheduled club night in September sparked new rumours of a relapse. Photographers were quoted as saying she appeared to have cuts on her legs and arms.

According to Winehouse's physician Winehouse quit illegal substances in 2008. In an October 2010 interview, Winehouse speaking of her decision to quit drugs said "I literally woke up one day and was like, 'I don’t want to do this any more”. Drinking alcohol emerged as a problem with Winehouse abstaining for a few weeks then lapsing. The physician said that Winehouse was treated with Librium for alcohol withdrawal and anxiety, and underwent psychologist and a psychiatrist reviews in 2010, but refused psychological therapy.

Violence and legal difficulties

In 2006, Winehouse admitted punching a fan in the face for criticising her having taken Blake Fielder-Civil as a husband. She then attacked her spouse as he attempted to calm her down, kneeing him in the crotch.

In October 2007, Winehouse and her then-husband were arrested in Bergen, Norway for possession of seven grams of marijuana. The couple were later released and fined 3850 kroner (around £350). Winehouse first appealed the fines, claiming she was "duped" into confessing, but later dropped the appeal.

On 26 April 2008, Winehouse was cautioned after she admitted to police she slapped a 38 year-old man in the face, a "common assault" offence. She voluntarily turned herself in and was held overnight. Police said, at her arrival she was "in no fit state" to be interviewed. Winehouse was arrested on 7 May 2008 on suspicion of possessing drugs after a video of her apparently smoking crack cocaine was passed to the police in January, but was released on bail a few hours later because they could not confirm, from the video, what she was smoking. The Crown Prosecution Service considered charging her with possessing a controlled drug and allowing her premises to be used for the supply by others of a controlled drug, but she was cleared when the service could not establish that the substance in the video was a controlled drug. In reaction to the decision, former police commander John O’Connor said it is an "absolute scandal that nothing could be done" about Winehouse "cocking a snook at the law". Some members of Parliament also reacted negatively. Two London residents were subsequently charged with conspiracy to supply cocaine and ecstasy to Winehouse. One of the pair was sentenced to two years in prison on 13 December 2008, while the other received a two-year community order.

On 5 March 2009, Winehouse was arrested and charged with common assault following a claim by a woman that Winehouse hit her in the eye at a September 2008 Prince's Trust charity ball. At the same time, she was reported to have spat at the English socialite Pippa Middleton and to have headbutted a photographer. Winehouse's spokesperson announced the singer cancelled a scheduled United States Coachella Festival appearance in "light of current legal issues". Swearing in under her legal name of Amy Jade Civil, Winehouse appeared in court on 17 March to enter her plea of not guilty. On 23 July her assault trial began with prosecutor Lyall Thompson charging that Winehouse acted with "deliberate and unjustifiable violence" while appearing to be under the influence of alcohol or another substance. The woman, Sharene Flash, testified that Winehouse "punched me forcefully in my right eye. She used a fist, her right one.” Winehouse testified that she did not punch Flash, but tried to push Flash away from her because she was scared of Flash. Winehouse cited her worry that Flash would sell her story to a tabloid, Flash's height advantage, and Flash's "rude" behaviour as reasons for her fear of Flash. On the 24 July, District Judge Timothy Workman ruled that Winehouse was not guilty of the charge. Workman cited the facts that all but two of the witnesses were intoxicated at the time of the incident and that medical evidence did not show "the sort of injury that often occurs when there is a forceful punch to the eye".

On 19 December 2009, Winehouse was arrested again on charges of common assault, plus another charge of public order offence. Winehouse assaulted the front-of-house manager of the Milton Keynes Theatre after he asked her to move from her seat. On 20 January 2010, she admitted common assault and disorderly behaviour. She was given a two-year conditional discharge and ordered to pay £85 court costs and £100 compensation to the man she attacked.

Respiratory problems

On 23 June 2008, Winehouse's publicist corrected earlier misstatements by Mitch Winehouse that his daughter had early stage emphysema, instead claiming she had signs of what could lead to early-stage emphysema. Mitch Winehouse had also stated that his daughter's lungs were operating at 70 percent capacity and that she had an irregular heartbeat. Mitch Winehouse said that these problems had been caused by her chain smoking crack cocaine. The singer’s father also reported that doctors had warned Winehouse that, if she continued smoking crack cocaine, she would have to wear an oxygen mask and would eventually die. In a radio interview, Mitch Winehouse said the singer was responding "fabulously" to treatment, which included being covered with nicotine patches. British Lung Foundation spokesman Keith Prowse noted this type of condition could be managed with treatment. Prowse also said the condition was not normal for a person her age but "heavy smoking and inhaling other substances like drugs can age the lungs prematurely". Norman H. Edelman of the American Lung Association explained that if she stopped smoking, her lung functions would decline at the rate of a normal person, but continued smoking would lead to a more rapid decline in lung function. Photographs of the singer with a cigarette in her mouth, taken 23 June 2008, were widely published.

Winehouse was released from The London Clinic 24 hours after returning from a temporary leave to perform at Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday and at a concert in Glastonbury, and continued receiving treatment as an outpatient. In July, 2008 Winehouse stated that she had been diagnosed with "some areas of emphysema" and said she is getting herself together by "eating loads of healthy food, sleeping loads, playing my guitar, making music and writing letters to my husband every day". She also kept a vertical tanning bed in her apartment. Winehouse began precautionary testing on her lungs and chest on 25 October 2008 at the London Clinic for what was reported as a chest infection. Winehouse was in and out of the facility and was granted permission to set her own schedule regarding home leave. She returned to the hospital on 23 November 2008 for a reported reaction to her medication.

Death

Winehouse's bodyguard said that he arrived at her residence three days before her death and felt she was somewhat intoxicated. He observed moderate drinking over the next few days. He observed her "laughing, listening to music and watching TV at 2am the day of her death". According to the bodyguard at 10AM he observed her lying on her bed and tried unsuccessfully to rouse her. This did not raise much suspicion because she usually slept late after a night out. According to the bodyguard shortly after 3pm he checked on her again and observed her lying in the same position as before leading to a further check in which he concluded she was not breathing and had no pulse. He claimed he subsequently called emergency services. At 3:54pm BST on 23 July 2011, two ambulances were called to Winehouse's home in Camden, London. Winehouse was pronounced dead at the scene. Shortly afterwards, the Metropolitan Police confirmed that she had died. After her death was announced, media and camera crews appeared, as crowds gathered near Winehouse’s residence to pay their respects. Forensic investigators entered the flat as police cordoned off the street outside.

Police recovered one small and two large bottles of vodka from her room.

A coroner's inquest reached a verdict of misadventure. The report released on 26 October 2011 explained that Winehouse's blood alcohol content was 416 mg per decilitre at the time of her death, more than five times the legal drink-drive limit. According to the coroner, "The unintended consequences of such potentially fatal levels was her sudden death." Winehouse's record label, Universal Republic, released a statement that read in part: "We are deeply saddened at the sudden loss of such a gifted musician, artist and performer." Many musical artists have since paid tribute to Winehouse including U2, M.I.A., Lady Gaga, Mutya Buena, Bruno Mars, Nicki Minaj, Keisha Buchanan, Rihanna, George Michael, Adele, Kelly Clarkson, Courtney Love, and the American punk rock band Green Day, who wrote a song in her tribute titled "Amy." Family and friends attended Winehouse's funeral on 26 July 2011 at Edgwarebury Lane cemetery in north London. Her mother and father, Janis and Mitch Winehouse, close friend Kelly Osbourne, producer Mark Ronson and her boyfriend Reg Traviss were among those in attendance at the private service led by Rabbi Frank Hellner. Her father delivered the eulogy, saying "Goodnight, my angel, sleep tight. Mummy and Daddy love you ever so much." Carole King's "So Far Away" closed the service with mourners singing along. She was later cremated at Golders Green Crematorium. The family planned to sit a two-day shiva. Winehouse's parents set up a foundation in her name, to help those affected by drug addiction.

Controversy

Winehouse's dichotomous public image of critical and commercial success versus personal turmoil proved to be controversial. ''The New Statesman'' called Winehouse "a filthy-mouthed, down-to-earth diva," while ''Newsweek'' called her "a perfect storm of sex kitten, raw talent and poor impulse control." Karen Heller with ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' summarised the maelstrom this way:

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By 2008, her continued drug problems threatened her career. Even as Nick Gatfield, the president of Island Records, toyed with the idea of releasing Winehouse "to deal with her problems", he remarked on her talent, saying, "It’s a reflection of her status [in the U.S.] that when you flick through the TV coverage [of the Grammys] it’s her image they use." Post-Grammys, some questioned whether Winehouse should have been honoured with the awards given her recent personal and drug problems, including Natalie Cole, who introduced Winehouse at the ceremony. Cole (who battled her own substance-abuse problems while winning a Grammy for Best New Artist in 1975) remarked, "I think the girl is talented, gifted, but it's not right for her to be able to have her cake and eat it too. She needs to get herself together." In an opinion newspaper commentary, Antonio Maria Costa, executive director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, said that the alleged drug habits of Winehouse and other celebrities send a bad message "to others who are vulnerable to addiction" and undermine the efforts of other celebrities trying to raise awareness of problems in Africa, now that more cocaine used in Europe passes through Africa. Winehouse's spokesperson called Costa a "ludicrous man" and noted that "Amy has never given a quote about drugs or flaunted it in any way. She's had some problems and is trying to get better. The U.N. should get its own house in order." Following Winehouse's death William Bennett a former director of the United States Office of National Drug Control Policy criticised the Grammy Awards nominating committee along similar lines. Graeme Pearson, the former head of Scotland's drug enforcement agency, criticised Winehouse and Kate Moss for making going to rehab a badge of honour, thus giving the false impression that quitting drugs is easy, because many cannot afford to go to clinics.

Winehouse became a staple in popularity polls due not to her musical contributions, but her lifestyle. The 2008 NME Awards nominated Winehouse in the categories of "Villain of the Year", "Best Solo Artist", and "Best Music DVD"; Winehouse won for "Worst Dressed Performer". In its third annual list, ''Glamour'' magazine named Winehouse the third worst dressed British Woman. Winehouse was ranked number two on Richard Blackwell's 48th annual "Ten Worst Dressed Women" list, behind Victoria Beckham. In an April 2008 poll conducted by Sky News, Winehouse was named the second greatest "ultimate heroine" by the UK population at large, topping the voting for that category of those polled under 25 years old. Psychologist Donna Dawson commented that the results demonstrate women like Winehouse who have "a certain sense of vulnerability or have had to fight against some adversity in their lives” receive recognition. Winehouse was voted the second most hated personality in the United Kingdom in a poll conducted one month later by ''Marketing'' magazine.

Speaking at a discussion entitled ''Winehouse or White House?: Do we go too big on showbiz news?'' Jeff Zycinski, head of BBC Radio Scotland, said the BBC and media in general were complicit in the destruction of celebrities like Winehouse. He said that public interest in the singer's lifestyle does not make her lifestyle newsworthy. Rod McKenzie editor of the BBC Radio One program ''Newsbeat'' replied that "If you play [Amy Winehouse's] music to a certain demographic, those same people want to know what's happening in her private life. If you don't cover it, you're insulting young license fee payers." The British artist M.I.A. was quoted in ''The Guardian'' in 2007 as saying she found Winehouse "really interesting", saying "I once saw her in the street and she was really out of it, so I guess she is really living it out. I think Amy's thing is feeling really weird about what she does and dealing with that." British singer and songwriter Lily Allen was quoted in a Scottish newspaper as saying

Artistic impressions

London's Mall Galleries opened an exhibition in May 2008 that included a sculpture of Winehouse, entitled ''Excess''. The piece, created by Guy Portelli, had a miniature of the singer lying on top of a cracked champagne bottle, with a pool of spilled liquid underneath. The body was covered with what appeared to be tiny pills, while one outstretched hand held a glass. Another piece, a print entitled "Celebrity 1" by artist Charlotte Suckling, was exhibited in the same exhibition. A wax sculpture of Winehouse went on display at the London Madame Tussauds on 23 July 2008. The singer did not attend the unveiling, although her parents did. A sculpture by Marco Perego, entitled "The Only Good Rock Star Is a Dead Rock Star", that depicts Winehouse lying in a pool of blood with an apple and a bullet hole in her head after being shot by American novelist and beat poet William S. Burroughs (in a recreation of the accidental killing of his wife Joan Vollmer), was scheduled to go on display in New York’s Half Gallery on 14 November 2008. The sale price for the sculpture is listed at US $100,000. Perego said of the sculpture "Rock stars are the sacrificial animals of society." Winehouse’s spokesperson said "It’s a funny kind of tribute. The artist seems in thrall to a tabloid persona that is not the real Amy. People often use her image to sell their work."

Discography

;Studio albums:

''Frank'' (2003)

''Back to Black'' (2006)

; Posthumous albums:

''Lioness: Hidden Treasures'' (2011)

Awards and nominations

Among the awards and recognitions for ''Frank'', Winehouse earned an Ivor Novello Award for Best Contemporary Song ("Stronger Than Me"), a BRIT Award nomination for Best Female Solo Artist, and an inclusion in Robert Dimery's 2006 book, ''1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die''. ''Back to Black'' produced numerous nominations, including two BRIT Awards (Best Female Solo Artist and Best British Album), six Grammy Awards (including five wins), four Ivor Novello Awards, four MTV Europe Music Awards, three MTV Video Music Awards, three World Music Awards, and was nominated for the Mercury Prize (Album of the Year) and a MOBO Awards (Best UK Female). During her career, Winehouse received 23 awards from 60 nominations.

Further recordings

Other than the rare songs on her third album, there are a few extra possible songs that could be released that weren't on her apparent final album. These are the cover versions of 4 songs, 3 of which were performed live on Jools Holland's xmas hootenanny show prior to 2010. The BBC also broadcast another cover song called "Monkey Man". There is also a guitar solo version of "No Greater Love" available via P2P sharing. There was also a song that Bryan Adams wrote for her after they met in a hotel several years before her 3rd album was released, which then may or may not have been recorded - with the interesting connecting point being that Bryan Adams apparently took the photo of his friend Amy that became the cover picture for her 3rd album, as going by the related comment in a section further above. This information comes from a Channel 4 documentary which it covered her rise to fame, leading to her drug abuse an relationship problems - and was first shown on UK tv possibly 1 or 2 years ago before she died, [circa 2010].

See also

27 Club

References

Further reading

;General

Lewis, Pete. "A Blues & Soul Classic Interview With Amy Winehouse Before 'Rehab'" ''Blues & Soul''. April 2004 (reprinted February 2008).

Anderman, Joan. "Of course she should go to rehab." ''Boston Globe''. 15 December 2007.

Gould, Lara; Bull, Sarah; & Satherly, Jessica. "Sordid final hours of a troubled star: Amy Winehouse had 'bought ecstasy, cocaine and ketamine' on the night before tragic death". ''Daily Mail''. 24 July 2011.

Grimwood, Ben. CollegeNews.com. 29 November 2007.

Gundersen, Edna. "Amy Winehouse's sobering transformation could hurt her musical credibility." ''USA TODAY''. 28 January 2008.

Hill, Emily. "Amy Winehouse: her own woman." ''The Guardian''. 31 July 2008

Pareles, Jon. "In Real Time, Amy Winehouse’s Deeper Descent." ''New York Times'' 24 January 2008.

Rosen, Jody. "Dark Star." ''Slate''. 12 February 2008.

Smith, Joan. "There's nothing poetic about Amy's self-destruction" ''The Independent''. 26 June 2008.

The Smoking Gun. BACKSTAGE RIDER: Divas: Amy Winehouse 12 May 2006.

Tyrangiel, Josh. "Trouble Woman." ''TIME''. 24 January 2008.

Vernon, Polly Amy Winehouse: Unplugged ''Harper's Bazaar'' October 2010

July 2009 Mitch Winehouse interview with ''Daily Mirror'' covering a variety of her personal issues

;Books

Barak, Daphne. ''Saving Amy''. New Holland Publishers, 25 January 2010. ISBN 9781847736703

Johnstone, Nick. ''Amy Amy Amy: The Amy Winehouse Story''. Omnibus Press, 1 April 2008. ISBN 9780825636028.

Newkey-Burden, Chas. ''Amy Winehouse: The Biography''. John Blake Publishing, 7 April 2008. ISBN 1844545636.

External links

[ Amy Winehouse] at the All Music Guide

Amy Winehouse collected news and commentary at ''The New York Times''

New York Times fashion retrospective

Slide Show at ''Rolling Stone''

Videos at Island Records on YouTube

Official Video Of Amy Winehouse performing 'Back To Black' Live and Acoustic at SXSW

Category:Amy Winehouse Category:1983 births Category:2011 deaths Category:Alcohol-related deaths in England Category:Alumni of the Sylvia Young Theatre School Category:Blue-eyed soul singers Category:Brit Award winners Category:English people of Jewish descent Category:Deaths by alcohol poisoning Category:English contraltos Category:English female guitarists Category:English-language singers Category:English jazz guitarists Category:English jazz singers Category:English Jews Category:English people convicted of assault Category:English people of Russian descent Category:English rhythm and blues singers Category:English soul singers Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Ivor Novello Award winners Category:Jazz-blues musicians Category:Jewish singers Category:Neo soul singers Category:People educated at the BRIT School Category:People from Camden (district) Category:People from Southgate, London Category:People self-identifying as alcoholics Category:People self-identifying as substance abusers Category:People with bipolar disorder Category:Republic Records artists Category:Singers from London Category:Torch singers Category:Vocal jazz musicians Category:Female jazz musicians Category:World Music Awards winners

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Coordinates	41°52′55″N87°37′40″N
Name	Nicki Minaj
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Onika Tanya Maraj
Birth date	December 08, 1982
Birth place	Saint James, Trinidad and Tobago
Origin	South Jamaica, Queens, New York, USA
Genre	Hip hop, R&B;, pop
Occupation	Rapper, singer-songwriter
Years active	2002 – present
Label	Cash Money Records, Young Money Entertainment, Universal Republic Records, Universal Motown
Associated acts	Young Money
website	}}

Onika Tanya Maraj (born December 8, 1982), known by her stage name Nicki Minaj (), is a Trinidadian-born American musician. She was born in Saint James, Trinidad and Tobago, and moved to the New York borough of Queens when she was five.

After releasing three mixtapes between 2007 and 2009 and being signed to Young Money Entertainment in August 2009, Minaj released her debut album, ''Pink Friday'', in November 2010. It quickly became a commercial success, peaking at number one on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200 and being certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) a month after its release. She became the first female solo artist to have seven singles on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 at the same time. Her second single, "Your Love", reached #1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Rap Songs chart, making Minaj the first female artist to top the chart unaccompanied since 2002. She also became the first female artist to be included on MTV's Annual Hottest MC List. Minaj was named the 2011 ''Rising Star'' by ''Billboard''. Her second studio album, ''Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded'' will be released on April 3, 2012.

Early life

Maraj was born in 1982 in Saint James, a suburb of Trinidad and Tobago's capital city Port of Spain. Her parents are of mixed Indian and Afro-Trinidadian ancestry and she lived in Saint James with her grandmother until age five, because her parents were looking for a place to live in the Queens borough of New York City at the time. Her mother would occasionally visit, and one day, when Minaj was five, her mother picked her up to move to Queens. According to Minaj, her father drank heavily, took drugs, and once tried to kill her mother by setting the house on fire.

She attended Elizabeth Blackwell Middle School 210, where she played the clarinet. She graduated from LaGuardia High School. At LaGuardia, a school specializing in music and the visual and performing arts, Minaj participated in the drama program. She had initially planned to sing at LaGuardia, but lost her voice on the day of the audition.

Career

2007–09: Mixtapes and Young Money

Minaj released her first mixtape in 2007 after releasing ''Playtime Is Over'' with ''Dirty Money Records''. She released another mixtape on July 7, 2008, titled ''Sucka Free'', under the label ''Be''. On April 18, 2009, Minaj released a third mixtape and appeared in ''XXL'' magazine. She won the Female Artist of the Year award at the 2008 Underground Music Awards. Minaj released ''Beam Me Up Scotty'', another mixtape, in April 2009 under the label of ''Trapaholics Records''; it received positive coverage on both BET and MTV.

In August 2009, Minaj signed a record deal with Young Money Entertainment, with distribution from Universal Motown Records, after fellow American rapper Lil Wayne discovered her and secured the record deal. She then had a solo rap verse in their single "BedRock," which became a commercial success, reaching #2 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Minaj also appeared on "Roger That", which charted at #56. The song, and in particular Minaj, received positive reviews from critics. Both songs were included in Young Money Entertainment's debut collaborative studio album ''We Are Young Money'', which was released in December 2009. The album charted in the top ten on the ''Billboard'' 200, reaching #9 and later receiving a Gold Certification by the RIAA. She was then chosen by Mariah Carey to be featured on her single and music video for "Up Out My Face". Critics praised her collaboration for helping to maintain Carey's feminine image and providing a polite track for the female R&B; singer.

2010–present: ''Pink Friday'' and ''Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded''

After a major record label bidding war, Young Money Entertainment announced on August 31, 2009 that Minaj had been released a 360 deal with the label in which she retains and owns all of her 360 rights – including merchandising, sponsorships, endorsements, touring and publishing. In an interview with 95.8 Capital FM, Rihanna stated that after the two collaborated on "Raining Men" from her album ''Loud'' that the duo would be teaming up together for a possible second collaboration on Minaj's ''Pink Friday''. Hip-hop rap artist and producer Kanye West was also confirmed for the album. On August 3, 2010 Minaj revealed on a Ustream.tv channel that the album's name would be ''Pink Friday'', in reference to Black Friday.

''Pink Friday'' was released on November 19, 2010 in both standard and deluxe versions. A buzz single, "Massive Attack", was released in April. In August, Minaj released "Your Love" as the first official single from her debut album. The single peaked at 14 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, 7 on the Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs chart and topped the Rap Songs chart. Minaj became the first female artist to be included on MTV's Annual Hottest MC List and the first female artist to top the chart unaccompanied since 2002. In October 2010, Minaj became the first artist to have seven songs on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart simultaneously. Minaj released a joint single with The Black Eyed Peas front man, will.i.am titled, "Check It Out", which is Minaj's most successful single to date in Europe. "Right thru Me" was released September 24, 2010; the music video was released in late October. "Moment 4 Life" was released as the fourth single. The track featured Canadian rapper Drake and was released on December 7, 2010, becoming a success on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The single peaked at number 5 on the Hot Rap Songs. The album gained a Platinum certification in the United States a month after the release. It was hinted by Simon Cowell that Minaj would join the judging panel of the American version of the ''The X Factor.'' Starting in June 2011, Minaj will be supporting ''Pink Friday'' by serving as an opening act along with Jessie and the Toy Boys and Nervo on Britney Spears' sixth concert tour, the Femme Fatale Tour, in support of her seventh studio album, ''Femme Fatale''. She also was featured on the official remix of Spears' track "Till the World Ends" along with Spears and singer Kesha, which charted at number 3 in the US in April 2011. "Super Bass" was released from ''Pink Friday'' in May 2011, the single charted within the top 10 in many countries including; United Kingdom, United States, Australia, Canada and more. The song gained positive reviews from critics. Minaj will voice a character in the 3D animated film, ''Ice Age: Continental Drift'', as an unknown character. Minaj is also featured on French DJ David Guetta's 2011 album, ''Nothing but the Beat'' on "Where Them Girls At" and "Turn Me On". She will be featured alongside Madonna and M.I.A. on an upcoming single from Madonna's twelfth studio album, for which a music video has been directed by Megaforce. The trio performed "Give Me All Your Luvin'" from Madonna's new album for the Super Bowl XLVI halftime show.

Minaj's second studio album, ''Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded'', was announced through Twitter in November 2011 and is set to be released on April 3, 2012. The album's first single, "Starships", was released on February 14. On February 12, 2012, Minaj debuted her song "Roman Holiday" at the 54th Grammy Awards. The exorcism-themed perfomance drew a mixed response online.

Musical style and image

Image

In an interview with ''Vibe'' Minaj discussed her sexual image stating, "[w]hen I grew up I saw females doing certain things, and I thought I had to do that exactly. The female rappers of my day spoke about sex a lot... and I thought that to have the success they got, I would have to represent the same thing. When in fact I didn’t have to represent the same thing." In an interview with ''Interview'', Minaj commented on her sexual image again stating, "I made a conscious decision to try to tone down the sexiness, I want people—especially young girls—to know that in life, nothing is going to be based on sex appeal. You’ve got to have something else to go with that.” Minaj has a tattoo in Chinese characters that reads "" (''shangdi yu ni chang zai'') on her left arm, meaning, "God is always with you."

Alter egos

While growing up, Minaj's home life was often chaotic, with her parents constantly fighting. As a means of escape, she would create characters and live her life through them. In an interview with ''New York'' she stated, "To get away from all their fighting, I would imagine being a new person. 'Cookie' was my first identity – that stayed with me for a while. I went on to 'Harajuku Barbie,' then 'Nicki Minaj'. Fantasy was my reality."

For her debut album, Minaj created another alter-ego named "Roman Zolanski". She stated that in songs like "Bottoms Up" with Trey Songz it is not Minaj rapping, but instead Roman Zolanski, and claims that Roman is her "twin sister". She claims that he was born inside her, out of rage, and becomes him when she is angry. She has also said 'He is a demon inside her'. Roman has been compared to Eminem's alter ego Slim Shady, and on the song "Roman's Revenge" from ''Pink Friday'', Minaj and Eminem collaborate, using these alter egos. On the collaboration, she said "The new album is going to have a lot of Roman on it ... And if you're not familiar with Roman, then you will be familiar with him very soon. He’s the boy that lives inside of me. He's a lunatic and he's gay and he'll be on there a lot." Roman also has a "mother" called "Martha Zolanski", who also appeared on the song Roman's Revenge, with a British accent. Martha appears in the video for "Moment 4 Life" where she appears to be Minaj's magical Godmother. In songs such as "All I Do Is Win (Remix)" it is Minaj rapping. Minaj stated that on her debut album, fans will get to "meet" Nicki, Roman and Onika.

On November 18, 2010, Minaj assumed a different alter-ego named "Nicki Teresa". Wearing a colorful scarf around her head, she went around as the "healer to her fans" as she visited them at The Garden of Dreams Foundation at Fuse studios in New York City. Minaj made an appearance on ''Lopez Tonight'' on December 6, 2010 and presented a different alter-ego for the Spanish-inspired occasion, named "Rosa" (pronounced Rrrrrosa).

Influences

Minaj has stated that artists who have influenced her musical style include Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, Lil Wayne, Lauryn Hill, Jadakiss, Natasha Bedingfield, Foxy Brown, Lil' Kim and Missy Elliott. She was also inspired by Janet Jackson, Madonna, Britney Spears, Marilyn Monroe, Grace Jones, M.I.A., and Cyndi Lauper.

Personal life

While some songs and interviews have implied that Minaj is bisexual, she has said that she does not date nor have sex with women, but added in an interview with ''Out'' magazine, "I don’t date men either." In an interview with ''Vibe'' she commented, "I just embrace all people of all lifestyles and I don’t tell them they are bad people. And I say girls are beautiful and girls are sexy and they need to be told that, and if they don’t have anyone to tell them that and mean it, I’m gonna tell them that. But I feel like people always wanna define me and I don’t wanna be defined." She reiterated her dislike of being labeled in an interview with ''Out'', saying: "The point is, everyone is not black and white. There are so many shades in the middle, and you’ve got to let people feel comfortable with saying what they want to say when they want to say it."

During an interview in the May 2010 issue of ''Details'', Minaj was asked if she felt hip-hop was becoming more gay-friendly. She responded, "I think the world is getting more gay-friendly, so hip-hop is too. But it's harder to imagine an openly gay male rapper being embraced, people view gay men as having no street credibility. But I think we'll see one in my lifetime."

In July 2011, Minaj's cousin Nicholas Telemaque was murdered near his home in Brooklyn, New York City.

Discography

''Pink Friday'' (2010)

''Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded'' (2012)

See also

List of awards and nominations received by Nicki Minaj

Notes

References

External links

Category:Nicki Minaj Category:1982 births Category:Living people Category:African American female singers Category:African American rappers Category:American musicians of Indian descent Category:American people of Trinidad and Tobago descent Category:Female rappers Category:Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School alumni Category:Hip hop singers Category:Naturalized citizens of the United States Category:People from Queens Category:People from Port of Spain Category:Rappers from New York City Category:Singers from New York City Category:Trinidad and Tobago emigrants to the United States Category:Trinidad and Tobago musicians Category:Trinidad and Tobago people of Dougla descent Category:Young Money Entertainment artists

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Coordinates	41°52′55″N87°37′40″N
birth name	Zooey Claire Deschanel
birth date	January 17, 1980
birth place	Los Angeles, California
occupation	Actress, model, singer-songwriter, musician
years active	1998–present
spouse	Ben Gibbard (2009–present)
relatives	Caleb Deschanel (father)Mary Jo Deschanel (mother)Emily Deschanel (sister) }}

Zooey Claire Deschanel (born January 17, 1980) is an American actress, musician, and singer-songwriter. In 1999, Deschanel made her film debut in ''Mumford'', followed by her breakout role as young protagonist William Miller's troubled older sister Anita in Cameron Crowe's 2000 semi-autobiographical film ''Almost Famous''. Deschanel soon became known for her deadpan or "Manic Pixie Dream Girl" supporting roles in films such as ''Elf'' (2003), ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' (2005) ''Failure to Launch'' (2006), and ''Bridge to Terabithia'' (2007). She then began playing lead roles in films, including ''Yes Man'' (2008) and ''(500) Days of Summer'' (2009). She will next headline the new Fox series ''New Girl'' in fall 2011.

For a few years starting in 2001, Deschanel performed in the jazz cabaret act ''If All the Stars Were Pretty Babies'' with fellow actress Samantha Shelton. She plays keyboards, percussion, banjo and ukulele, and has sung in several of her films. Deschanel teamed up with M. Ward to release their debut album ''Volume One'' (recorded with M. Ward under the moniker She & Him) which was released in March 2008. The follow-up album ''Volume Two'' was released in the U.S. in March 2010. She is married to Death Cab for Cutie frontman Ben Gibbard.

Early life

Born in Los Angeles in 1980, Zooey Deschanel is the daughter of cinematographer/director Caleb Deschanel and actress Mary Jo Deschanel (née Weir). She is of French (from her paternal grandfather) and Irish descent. She was named after Zooey Glass, the male protagonist of J. D. Salinger's 1961 novella ''Franny and Zooey''. Her older sister, Emily Deschanel, is also an actress and stars in the TV series ''Bones''.

Deschanel lived in Los Angeles, but spent much of her childhood traveling because her father shot films on location; she later said that she "hated all the traveling ... I'm really happy now that I had the experience, but at the time I was just so miserable to have to leave my friends in Los Angeles and go to places where they didn't have any food I liked or things I was used to." She attended Crossroads, a private preparatory school in Santa Monica, California, where she befriended future co-stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Kate Hudson. She sang throughout high school, planning to pursue a career in musical theatre. She attended Northwestern University for seven months before dropping out to work as an actress.

Career

Acting

Deschanel appeared in a guest role on the television series ''Veronica's Closet'' before making her film debut in Lawrence Kasdan's 1999 comedy ''Mumford'', and later in the year she appeared (non-singing) in the music video for The Offspring's single "She's Got Issues". In her second film, director Cameron Crowe's semi-autobiographical ''Almost Famous'' (2000), Deschanel played Anita Miller, the protagonist's rebellious older sister. The film received critical praise, but was not a box office success. She also appeared in Jimmy Fallon's "Idiot Boyfriend" music video as his lead girl.

Deschanel played supporting roles in a series of films that include ''Manic'' (2001), with Don Cheadle and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, ''Big Trouble'' (2002), with Tim Allen and Rene Russo, ''Abandon'' (2002) alongside Katie Holmes, Benjamin Bratt and Melanie Lynskey, and ''The Good Girl'' (2002) alongside Jennifer Aniston and Jake Gyllenhaal. In late 2002, ''The New York Times'' reported that Deschanel was "one of Hollywood's most sought-after young stars," and the ''Los Angeles Times'' wrote in early 2003 that Deschanel had become a recognizable type, due to "her deadpan, sardonic and scene-stealing [film] performances" as the protagonist's best friend. Deschanel objected to her typecasting, arguing, "A lot of these roles are just a formula idea of somebody's best friend, and it's like, I don't even have that many friends. In high school, I stayed home all the time, so I don't know how I'm everybody's best friend now."

Deschanel appeared in ''Frasier'', starring as Roz's out-of-control cousin, Jen, in the season 10 episode 'Kissing Cousin' in 2002. That year, she also appeared in the film ''The New Guy'' as Nora, the guitar player in the lead character's band, Suburban Funk.

After turning down several supporting roles, Deschanel played her first lead role in ''All the Real Girls'' (2003). Her performance as Noel, a sexually curious 18-year-old virgin who has a life-changing romance with an aimless 22-year-old, received critical praise, and she received an Independent Spirit nomination for Best Actress. Later in 2003, Deschanel played a deadpan department store worker opposite Will Ferrell in the comedy ''Elf'', which became a box office hit.

In 2004, Deschanel starred in ''Eulogy'', and in 2005 as Trillian in the film adaptation of Douglas Adams' science fiction novel ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy''. Also in 2005, she played the main character, Reese Holden in the film ''Winter Passing'' with supporting role from Will Ferrell. Deschanel then played Sarah Jessica Parker's neurotic roommate in ''Failure to Launch'' (2006), and appeared on four episodes of the Showtime television series ''Weeds'' from 2006 to 2007, playing Andy Botwin's quirky ex-girlfriend, Kat. In September 2006, ''Variety'' announced that Deschanel would play 1960s singer Janis Joplin in the film ''The Gospel According to Janis'', to be co-written and directed by Penelope Spheeris. Deschanel planned to sing all of Joplin's songs, and took four months of singing lessons "to approximate Joplin's gritty vocals." The film, scheduled to begin shooting on November 13, 2006, was postponed indefinitely. However, the project is now back on track and will be released in 2012.

In 2007, Deschanel appeared in two children's films: ''Bridge to Terabithia'', in which she played Jesse's quirky music teacher, and the animated film ''Surf's Up'', in which she voiced a penguin named Lani Aliikai. She played DG, the lead in the Sci Fi Channel miniseries ''Tin Man'', a re-imagined science fiction version of L. Frank Baum's children's book ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz''. ''Tin Man'' aired on Sci Fi in December 2007. Deschanel also narrated the children's book ''Players in Pigtails''.

On April 27, 2008, she performed on ''The Simpsons'', playing the role of Mary, Cletus's daughter, and in June that year, she starred opposite Mark Wahlberg in M. Night Shyamalan's poorly received environmental thriller ''The Happening.''

In 2008, Deschanel starred in ''Gigantic'', and later that year in the comedy film ''Yes Man'', opposite Jim Carrey.

Deschanel was next seen as the title character in the 2009 award winning romantic-drama-comedy ''(500) Days of Summer'', opposite Joseph Gordon-Levitt (for a second time after ''Manic''). The film, about the development and demise of a relationship, received widespread praise and was directed by long-time commercial and music video director Marc Webb. The film received a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Motion Picture (Comedy or Musical), but was ultimately defeated by ''The Hangover''.

Deschanel guest starred in a Christmas 2009 episode of ''Bones'' as Brennan's never-before-seen cousin. In the first-ever on-screen pairing of the Deschanel sisters, Zooey portrayed Margaret Whitesell, a distant relative of Emily's Dr. Temperance Brennan. Brennan's father, Max Keenan (guest star Ryan O'Neal), invites Margaret to spend Christmas with him and his daughter.

In 2010, Deschanel secured the role of Belladonna in the fantasy comedy film ''Your Highness'' alongside Natalie Portman and James Franco. Deschanel will star in the pilot for the HBO series ''I'm with the Band: Confessions of a Groupie'', in which she plays the role of Pamela Des Barres, who wrote a memoir based on her own experience as a former groupie. She is also set to appear in the new Fox series ''New Girl'', created by Elizabeth Meriwether.

Film-related music

''The New Guy'' (2002) was the first of Deschanel's films in which she sang onscreen. In ''Elf'', she sings with Will Ferrell in the bathroom shower scene on "Baby, It's Cold Outside", and was also heard singing it on the soundtrack with Leon Redbone. Her piano composition "Bittersuite" was used thematically in the dark, off-beat 2004 dramedy ''Winter Passing'', in which she starred alongside Will Ferrell and Ed Harris. Subsequently, Deschanel also sings in ''Winter Passing'' ("My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean").

Others include: the television musical ''Once Upon a Mattress'' ("An Opening For a Princess", "In a Little While", "Normandy", and "Yesterday I Loved You"); an old cabaret song in ''The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford''; and the 2007 short film ''Raving'' ("Hello, Dolly!").

Deschanel and the cast of school children sing the Steve Earle song "Someday" and War's "Why Can't We Be Friends?" in the 2007 film ''Bridge to Terabithia''.

In the film ''Yes Man'', Deschanel sings several songs featured in the film and on the film soundtrack, and is shown singing "Uh-Huh" and "Sweet Ballad" alongside San Franciscan all-girl electro soul-punk group Von Iva in a fictional band called "Munchausen by Proxy."

In ''(500) Days of Summer'' Deschanel sings a cover of Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want by The Smiths—it also appears on the soundtrack of the film, as performed by She and Him. She also sing a cover of Sugar Town by Nancy Sinatra. ''(500) Days of Summer'' director Marc Webb also directed Deschanel and Gordon-Levitt in a music video, ''Bank Dance'', with the She & Him song Why Do You Let Me Stay Here.

Deschanel sings "The Greatest Most Beautiful Love Song in All the Land" with James Franco in the film ''Your Highness''. She also appears in a number of songs (with M. Ward) on the soundtrack album for the 2011 release of Disney's ''Winnie the Pooh''. Deschanel will also write and sing the theme song to her upcoming TV series New Girl.

Non-film music

In 2001 Deschanel formed If All the Stars Were Pretty Babies, a jazz cabaret act with fellow actress Samantha Shelton. The pair performed around Los Angeles.

In March 2007, Deschanel contributed vocals to two songs "Slowly" and "Ask Her to Dance" on the album ''Nighttiming'' by Jason Schwartzman's band Coconut Records. In May 2007, singer/songwriter M. Ward, who had previously performed with Deschanel onstage, said that he was "just finishing work" on her debut album, which will feature songs written by Deschanel and produced by Ward. ''Fox'' reported that Deschanel and Ward were recording under the moniker She & Him, and that the album, titled ''Volume One'', would be released by Merge Records on March 18, 2008.

An article on Pitchfork Media in December 2009 confirmed a March 23, 2010, release date for the second She & Him album, ''Volume Two''. In spring of 2010, She & Him went on tour in the USA and Europe in support of ''Volume Two'', .

Deschanel and M. Ward both featured on ''The Place We Ran From'', the 2010 album by Snow Patrol member Gary Lightbody's side project, Tired Pony. Deschanel contributed vocals to the tracks "Get On the Road" and "Point Me at Lost Islands", while M. Ward contributed vocals and guitar to the track "Held in the Arms of Your Words" and guitar to the track "That Silver Necklace".

Deschanel also recorded "The Fabric of My Life" for a 2009 advertising campaign for Cotton Incorporated.

Deschanel also performed "God Bless America" during the seventh inning stretch during game three of the National League Championship Series between the Philadelphia Phillies and San Francisco Giants on October 19, 2010 at AT&T; Park in San Francisco, California.

Deschanel contributed a cover of Buddy Holly's "It's So Easy" for the upcoming tribute album, ''Listen to Me: Buddy Holly'' to be released on September 6, 2011.

Other work

Deschanel was a judge for the ninth Independent Music Awards.

She has signed on to represent Rimmel.

In May 2011, she launched HelloGiggles an entertainment website geared towards women with producer Sophia Rossi and writer Molly McAleer.

Personal life

Deschanel—who is allergic to eggs, dairy, and wheat gluten—formerly adhered to a vegan diet and was featured on episode eight of the first season of Bravo's ''Top Chef Masters'' in which the chefs participating in the competition were challenged to cater a vegan lunch party for her family and friends using no eggs, dairy, soy, or gluten. However, according to a recent interview with ''Health'' magazine, she had to come off the diet because her food sensitivities made it too difficult for her to stay healthy as a vegan. She also stated that she has attention deficit disorder. In September 2009, Deschanel married fellow musician Ben Gibbard, lead vocalist for The Postal Service and Death Cab for Cutie.

Filmography

! Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
1998	''Veronica's Closet''	Elena	Episode: "Veronica's Fun and Pirates Are Crazy"
1999		Nessa Watkins
2000	''Almost Famous''	Anita Miller
2001		Tracy
2002	''''	Cheryl
2002		Samantha Harper
2002		Jenny Herk
2002	''''	Nora
2002	''Sweet Friggin' Daisies''	Zelda	Short film
2002	''Frasier''	Jen
2003	''Whatever We Do''	Nikki	Short film
2003	''All the Real Girls''	Noel
2003	''It's Better to Be Wanted for Murder Than Not to Be Wanted at All''	Gas Station Girl
2003	''House Hunting''	Christy	Short film
2003		Jovie
2004	''Cracking Up''	Heidi	Episode: "Birds Do It"
2004		Kate Collins
2005	''''
2005	''American Dad!''	Candy Striper Stripper / French Maid (voice)	Episode: "Stan Knows Best"
2005	''Winter Passing''	Reese Holden
2005	''Once Upon a Mattress''	Lady Larken	TV movie
2006	''Failure to Launch''	Kit
2006		Cheryl
2006–2007		Kat	4 episodes
2007	''''	Frances
2007	''''	Kate
2007		Ms. Edmunds
2007		Miss Pussy Katz
2007		Katie	Short film
2007		Lani Aliikai (voice)
2007	''''	Dorothy Evans
2007		DG	TV miniseries
2008		Happy Lolly
2008	''''	Mary (voice)	Episode: "Apocalypse Cow"
2008	''''	Alma Moore
2008		Allison
2009	''(500) Days of Summer''	Summer Finn	Nominated – Satellite Award
2009		Margaret Whitesell
2010	''Funny or Die Presents''	Mary Todd Lincoln	''Drunk History'' sketch; "Drunk History Vol. 5 w/ Will Ferrell, Don Cheadle & Zooey Deschanel"
2010	''Havin' a Summah''		Video short
2011	''Our Idiot Brother''	Natalie	Completed
2011	''Your Highness''	Belladonna
2011	''New Girl''	Jessica Day	Fall TV series

Discography

Solo & duets

"Baby, It's Cold Outside" with Leon Redbone – ''Elf'' soundtrack

"Sugar Town" – ''(500) Days of Summer'' soundtrack

five tracks on the soundtrack album to the 2011 release of Disney's ''Winnie the Pooh''

"The Greatest Most Beautiful Love Song in All the Land" with James Franco – ''Your Highness'' soundtrack

Munchausen By Proxy

:''Munchausen By Proxy is a fictional band that appears in the film'' Yes Man.

"Sweet Ballad" featuring Zooey Deschanel & Von Iva – ''Yes Man'' soundtrack

"Uh-Huh" featuring Zooey Deschanel & Von Iva – ''Yes Man'' soundtrack

"Keystar" featuring Zooey Deschanel & Von Iva – ''Yes Man'' soundtrack

"Yes Man" featuring Zooey Deschanel & Von Iva – ''Yes Man'' soundtrack

She & Him

Studio albums ''Volume One'' (March 18, 2008) No.71 US

''Volume Two'' (March 23, 2010) No.6 US

Singles

"Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?" (January, 2008)

"Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" (December, 2009)

"In the Sun" (February, 2010)

"Thieves" (June, 2010)

Soundtrack

"I Put A Spell On You" (January 30, 2009) Starbucks' ''Sweetheart'' CD

"When I Get To The Border" (2007) on ''The Go-Getter'' soundtrack

"Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want" (2009) on ''(500) Days of Summer'' soundtrack

Tired Pony

"Get on the Road" ''The Place We Ran From''

"Point Me at Lost Islands" ''The Place We Ran From''

References

External links

Category:1980 births Category:Living people Category:Actors from Los Angeles, California Category:American people of French descent Category:American female singers Category:American film actors Category:American keyboardists Category:American musicians of French descent Category:American musicians of Irish descent Category:American singer-songwriters Category:American television actors Category:Models from California Category:Musicians from Los Angeles, California Category:People from the Greater Los Angeles Area Category:Singers from California Category:American pop singer-songwriters

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