- published: 23 Dec 2009
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Back to Black is the second studio album by English recording artist Amy Winehouse, released on 27 October 2006 by Island Records. It is the last album released in her lifetime. The album incorporates 1960s soul music styles and modern R&B production, with subjective lyrics that concern relationships and reflect on Winehouse's experiences with drinking, sex, and drugs. The album produced several singles, including "Rehab", "You Know I'm No Good", "Back to Black", "Tears Dry on Their Own", and "Love Is a Losing Game". Back to Black received generally positive reviews from music critics, earning praise for its classicist soul influences, Salaam Remi and Mark Ronson's production, and Winehouse's songwriting and emotive singing style.
At the 50th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony, Back to Black won five awards, tying the record (with Lauryn Hill, Alicia Keys, Beyoncé Knowles, Norah Jones, and Alison Krauss) for the second-most awards won by a female artist in a single ceremony. The album won Best Pop Vocal Album, while "Rehab" won Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, Song of the Year and Record of the Year with Winehouse winning Best New Artist. The album was also nominated for Album of the Year. In late 2011, Back to Black was announced as the UK's second best-selling album of the 21st century by the Official Charts Company, having sold 3.5 million copies in the UK alone. As of 2011, the album has sold approximately ten million copies worldwide.
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".