Amy Winehouse found dead

Troubled British singer was found dead at her North London home, officials term the death as "unexplained".

LONDON: Troubled British singer Amy Winehouse was found dead at her flat in north London, police said. She was 27 years old.

The Grammy award-winning soul singer struggled with well-documented drink and drug addictions. Her death is being treated as unexplained.

"Police were called by London Ambulance Service to an address in Camden Square shortly before 4:05 pm (local time) today, Saturday 23 July, following reports of a woman found deceased," a police statement said.

"On arrival officers found the body of a 27-year-old female who was pronounced dead at the scene.

"Enquiries continue into the circumstances of the death. At this early stage it is being treated as unexplained."

London Ambulance Service had been called to the flat at 3:54 pm (1454 GMT) and sent two ambulances.

Winehouse rocketed to fame after winning five Grammy awards off the back of her 2006 second album "Back to Black" and the hit single "Rehab".

In the run-up to her live return, Winehouse spent a week at an addiction treatment clinic in London, reportedly at the suggestion of her father, Mitch, over concerns that she was drinking too much before her shows.

But Winehouse pulled out of her European comeback tour following a disastrous opening performance in Serbia on June 18.

She was booed at the performance in Belgrade, as she appeared to be too drunk to sing.

Some 20,000 people gathered for the highly-promoted concert at the sixth-century Kalemegdan fortress, but many soon left.

During the concert, which lasted about 90 minutes, Winehouse could only mumble some of the lyrics, failing to follow her band.

Winehouse left the stage twice, with many fans showing their displeasure despite her band's attempts to calm the crowd.

She had also been scheduled to perform in Istanbul, Athens, Bilbao in Spain, Locarno in Switzerland, Italy's Lucca festival, Switzerland's Paleo Festival in Nyon, Nova Jazz and Blues Night in Wiesen, Austria, and Poland's Bydgoszcz Artpop Festival.

Facts from Amy's troubled life

Early life:

- Amy Winehouse was born on Sept. 14 1983 to a Jewish family with a history of jazz musicians.

- She was discovered by soul singer Tyler James at the age of 16 and in 2003 her debut album "Frank" was released, to general acclaim.

- Her second album "Back to Black" was released in October 2006 and reached the No.1 spot.

Mixed Fortunes:

- The album's hit single "Rehab," with the prescient line: "They tried to make me go to rehab. I said 'no, no, no'" has been called the anthem of celebrity trash culture.

- In October 2007, she and her husband, Blake Fielder-Civil were arrested at a Norwegian hotel for marijuana possession, and soon afterward fans booed her on stage as she slurred her way through her gigs. They divorced in 2009.

- Two months later she was photographed wandering barefoot on a London street, wearing only jeans and a bra and looking confused.

- Despite being refused entrance to the United States, Winehouse won five Grammy awards in February 2008.

- April 2008 saw her with mixed fortunes. She was nominated three times for the Ivor Novello awards in May and joined the elite ranks of music millionaires in the Sunday Times rich list with an estimated fortune of $16.3 million.

- In 2010, she pleaded guilty to common assault and public order charges at Milton Keynes Magistrates' Court. Winehouse had assaulted theatre manager Richard Pound after disrupting a performance of "Cinderella" at the Milton Keynes Theatre in central England on Dec. 19. She was arrested four days later.

- In 2011, it was announced the on-again, off-again follow-up to Winehouse's seminal "Back to Black" album of 2006 could be on again. Recent sightings of her looking healthier after a trip to Brazil in January 2011 did raise hopes of a new release in 2011.

- Also in 2011 she had been slated to sing with Tony Bennett and a laundry list of pop stars on "Tony Bennett: Duets II," the follow-up to his 2006 release "Duets: An American Classic."

- For Winehouse, who had released scant material since her 2006 breakout "Back to Black," the duet would have been her first recorded appearance since her cover of Lesley Gore's "It's My Party" for Quincy Jones' compilation "Q: Soul Bossa Nostra" in 2010.

- The British singer performed "Boulevard of Broken Dreams," a song from the 1934 film "Moulin Rouge" that has been covered most famously by Bennett, at one of her Brazil tour dates in January 2011.

Cancelled Tour:

- In June 2011, Winehouse cancelled all her scheduled concerts after she was jeered by fans in Serbia recently for a shambolic performance.

- Winehouse sporting her trademark beehive hairdo and figure-hugging dress, struggled to perform her songs and keep her balance at the gig in the Serbian capital Belgrade, and on some tunes the audience did most of the singing.

- The news was a major setback for the artist and her entourage. At the start of last month she had checked out of a rehab clinic and confidently looked forward to her upcoming tour.