May 13, 2012

Link

Amy Winehouse and Adele both attended the same performing arts school, though several years apart. They also both worked with producer Mark Ronson on their Grammy-winning debut albums, though Amy did it first. Now, Ronson says that before she died, Amy seemed disturbed and threatened by Adele's success.

Speaking to the Village Voice, Ronson says that he and Amy had talked about working together again, but said that when they did speak, "It was tense." He says, "She was in a bad state, God knows why," and adds, "I think that the Adele thing had Amy freaked out. She liked her, but Adele's success was making Amy feel upset, competitive, restless."

At the time of Amy's death, Adele had already scored a #1 album with 21, as well as the #1 hits "Rolling in the Deep" and "Someone Like You," and had set numerous chart records. However, she was always quick to credit Amy with inspiring her, as well as opening the door for her.

After Amy died, in July of 2011, Adele wrote on her blog, "Amy paved the way for artists like me and made people excited about british music again whilst being fearlessly hilarious and blase about the whole thing. i don’t think she ever realized just how brilliant she was and how important she is." She added, "Although im incredibly sad about Amy passing im also reminded of how immensely proud of her i am as well. and grateful to be inspired by her."

Ronson tells the Village Voice, "[Amy and I] lost touch briefly. And before she and I could really start the process of beginning a new album, it was too late."

I wondered if Amy was upset by Adele's success, but to me Amy is and was 10x better than Adele. Adele is not a fake like Joss Stone or Duffy, but she's NO Amy.

Adele said:

Amy paved the way for artists like me and made people excited about british music again whilst being fearlessly hilarious and blase about the whole thing. I don’t think she ever realized just how brilliant she was and how important she is.

Amy didn't seem able to appreciate her own talent or place in the music world.

Then again who wouldn't be mad at seeing someone you opened the door for outsell you.

Cinny said:

Amy didn't seem able to appreciate her own talent or place in the music world.

Then again who wouldn't be mad at seeing someone you opened the door for outsell you.

Agreed. I've always thought that if Amy hadn't fucked around and kept putting out fantastic records, Adele probably wouldn't have had the success she has. Seemed like Adele only really got over once it was pretty much assumed Amy couldn't produce.

Not sure that is entirely true.

was that really necessary for him to bring up?

I'm aware it could've been manipulated to sound meaner than intended to be, but I still don't see why it had to be brought up.

Rayan said:

was that really necessary for him to bring up?

I'm aware it could've been manipulated to sound meaner than intended to be, but I still don't see why it had to be brought up.

That's what I took from this article. Amy ain't here to defend herself.

I really think Amy's real problem wasn't drugs, but the assholes around here and that includes Ronson. Of course his ego implies she crashed and burned cause they lost touch.

He may have said something a little revealing, but it really seems like someone is stirring the shit pot here. I'm thinking there is a whole boatload of things Ronson could be saying that are not necessary, but is not.

Rayan said:

was that really necessary for him to bring up?

I'm aware it could've been manipulated to sound meaner than intended to be, but I still don't see why it had to be brought up.

Pretty Much. They just did that because Amy is not here to defend herself

I guess this is like Marvin's comments on Prince when he was the next hot thing coming up in the R&B scene: "That little skinny motherfucka with the high voice trying to sound like me."

Perhaps she was, but then again Amy was probably just upset with herself for not recording the music she wanted to create. It's so sad tho, but Amy is million times better than Adele. Adele is so OVERRATED to me, Amy had feeling and passion and I dont feel that with Adele. I also hate how much she's been overexposed like a diva and compared with the greats, that's just overdoing it. Perhaps I'm bias because I've been listening to Amy since 03 when I was a kid, but Adele does nothing for me and will probably fade away just like Norah Jones and Dido did...

scriptgirl said:

Not sure that is entirely true.

i'm glad other posters are questioning this.

was amy bummed out about adele, or is that just *his opinion*?

he pretty much states that he doesn't know why amy was upset, but then speculates that it was because of adele's success. is he a mind reader or something?

kibbles said:

scriptgirl said:

Not sure that is entirely true.

i'm glad other posters are questioning this.

was amy bummed out about adele, or is that just *his opinion*?

he pretty much states that he doesn't know why amy was upset, but then speculates that it was because of adele's success. is he a mind reader or something?

I think MARK is the one who is jealous of Adele. I think Amy respected Adele... Mark is just putting words in her mouth. Like said, she ain't here to defend yourself so Mark set himself up. Idiot. He and Amy had a fallout before she died anyway.

I liked Adele BEFORE Amy passed away. although BOTH British Singers, they were very different. i think a lotta folks have latched onto Adele JUST BECAUSE Amy Winehouse died.........

Woogie, cosign

If she was upset, I don't blame her - she could probably see how the record company's were basically grooming this new person to replace her.

And then to have her own producer work with that person, I can totally see why she was tense about it and possibly saw it as a betrayal of sorts.

And actually to me, the fact that Ronson is even saying this publicly to the media is just a shitty thing to do and just another example of him betraying her.

I bet the record companies saw that Amy had a lot of issues, and that she wasn't really palatable enough for mainstream sensibilities, so they decided to throw her over and find someone else to take her place.

Adele is a snore.

I really don't see the controversy here at all. A headline taken from one quote in a review (and scrapping the rest of the review - wherever it is) is to blame for the sensationalism of this. Ronson didn't really say a damn thing.

Amy was upset about something petty and irrelevant just about every other day until the day she died.

Ronson's comment is more an illustration of what it happened to be THAT particular day they spoke.

errant said:

I really don't see the controversy here at all. A headline taken from one quote in a review (and scrapping the rest of the review - wherever it is) is to blame for the sensationalism of this. Ronson didn't really say a damn thing.

Amy was upset about something petty and irrelevant just about every other day until the day she died.

Ronson's comment is more an illustration of what it happened to be THAT particular day they spoke.

I agree.

At the same token in that context why mention it at all? Still, singers/musicians have been getting their dander up about contemporaries and upstarts eclipsing them forever. Sometimes it pushes them to be more... to step up their game, sadly for Ms. Winehouse we shall never know.

=======================

[Edited 5/15/12 19:11pm]

TD3 said:

errant said:

I really don't see the controversy here at all. A headline taken from one quote in a review (and scrapping the rest of the review - wherever it is) is to blame for the sensationalism of this. Ronson didn't really say a damn thing.

Amy was upset about something petty and irrelevant just about every other day until the day she died.

Ronson's comment is more an illustration of what it happened to be THAT particular day they spoke.

I agree.

At the same token in that context why mention it at all? Still, singers/musicians have been getting their dander up about contemporaries and upstarts eclipsing forever. Sometimes it pushes them to be more step up their game, sadly for Ms. Winehouse we shall never know.

This is what I'm saying - it was out of line for him to even bring that up publicly and there was no reason to do so in the first place.

I still don't think it was so much a coincidental thing where this new girl came along and happened to surpass her. I think it was totally intentional, that they intentionally sought to replace her and pretty much just discarded Amy like she was trash.

That industry is pretty much known for doing that to people. I don't think her anger about it was petty or unnecessary in any way.

Think about it - if you were working a job and then they hired a new person and made them work with your head team member or whatever and then promoted that new person into your spot or whatever...nobody would be pleased with that kind of thing. It's weird to me that anyone is in here trying to say that Amy being upset about that, was unjustified when if something like that happened to them, they'd be seeing red.

Dren5 said:

TD3 said:

I agree.

At the same token in that context why mention it at all? Still, singers/musicians have been getting their dander up about contemporaries and upstarts eclipsing forever. Sometimes it pushes them to be more step up their game, sadly for Ms. Winehouse we shall never know.

This is what I'm saying - it was out of line for him to even bring that up publicly and there was no reason to do so in the first place.

I still don't think it was so much a coincidental thing where this new girl came along and happened to surpass her. I think it was totally intentional, that they intentionally sought to replace her and pretty much just discarded Amy like she was trash.

That industry is pretty much known for doing that to people. I don't think her anger about it was petty or unnecessary in any way.

Think about it - if you were working a job and then they hired a new person and made them work with your head team member or whatever and then promoted that new person into your spot or whatever...nobody would be pleased with that kind of thing. It's weird to me that anyone is in here trying to say that Amy being upset about that, was unjustified when if something like that happened to them, they'd be seeing red.

here's the problem. Amy made herself trash and threw herself away. how many people did she have rooting for her? on her side? she continually ignored them and threw everything away.

you can't make someone not act like a shit-head, which is what Amy was doing.

Amy gave up on herself. Why would the record industry stick around and wait for her to get her shit together?

The situation described here isn't one of the industry "moving on" it's one of it continually moving forward and Amy taking a very long, dangerous detour that lead to her death.

The music industry (or the record buying public) is not responsible for making sure Amy Winehouse still continues to sell records if she can't get herself sober enough to record any.

Amy Winehouse did this to Amy Winehouse. The industry, the public, and especially Adele are not to blame for it.

As for Ronson's interview quote, I'd like to see the entire article in the Village Voice. It sounds like an off-hand remark in a more lengthy piece, I'd imagine, not meant to disparage Amy, but taken out of context for a salacious headline that only quotes the one line in every other print and online publication.

[Edited 5/15/12 19:11pm]

Dren5 said:

TD3 said:

I agree.

At the same token in that context why mention it at all? Still, singers/musicians have been getting their dander up about contemporaries and upstarts eclipsing forever. Sometimes it pushes them to be more step up their game, sadly for Ms. Winehouse we shall never know.

This is what I'm saying - it was out of line for him to even bring that up publicly and there was no reason to do so in the first place.

I still don't think it was so much a coincidental thing where this new girl came along and happened to surpass her. I think it was totally intentional, that they intentionally sought to replace her and pretty much just discarded Amy like she was trash.

That industry is pretty much known for doing that to people. I don't think her anger about it was petty or unnecessary in any way.

Think about it - if you were working a job and then they hired a new person and made them work with your head team member or whatever and then promoted that new person into your spot or whatever...nobody would be pleased with that kind of thing. It's weird to me that anyone is in here trying to say that Amy being upset about that, was unjustified when if something like that happened to them, they'd be seeing red.

My only question is, why reveal a conversation for which it was for your ears? We've all been in this situation (maybe I should speak for myself) where people vent and sometimes bitch about one thing or another and its sound petty. Still, all you do is listen and you sure don't repeat what was said to you, I would think.

In terms of the record industry kicking her to the curb; hey its a business not a babysitting serve. Ms. Winehouse had some personal struggles and those struggles interfered with her ability to record, write, and perform music. The music business like any other business is a very competitive and if you don't have your shit together... NEXT.

How many people who have no real time connection with Amy Winehouse, on the org alone, feel entitled to offer up their opinion on the woman? And this man has no right to speak about his own life? And he had a falling out with her? So what? I don't think it would have been all that hard to have a falling out, given the circumstance. It is really fucking sad for so many reasons that she died, but one of those sad reasons could be that she might have repaired a lot of relationships that had been damaged by excessive drug use, and by the stupid mystery of youth. If she had not died she might have redeemed herself in her own eyes and made same more amazing mind blowing music and put her anxiety about the success of her peers in its proper and rightful place. And it's not likely that he just busted out with this, came running into the room screaming "Amy Winehouse Was Upset by Adele's Success." There was probably a conversation that made its way to some variation on that statement.

[Edited 5/16/12 0:17am]

I don't believe it but even if it were true, why mention it?

Dren5 said:

TD3 said:

I agree.

At the same token in that context why mention it at all? Still, singers/musicians have been getting their dander up about contemporaries and upstarts eclipsing forever. Sometimes it pushes them to be more step up their game, sadly for Ms. Winehouse we shall never know.

This is what I'm saying - it was out of line for him to even bring that up publicly and there was no reason to do so in the first place.

I still don't think it was so much a coincidental thing where this new girl came along and happened to surpass her. I think it was totally intentional, that they intentionally sought to replace her and pretty much just discarded Amy like she was trash.

That industry is pretty much known for doing that to people. I don't think her anger about it was petty or unnecessary in any way.

Think about it - if you were working a job and then they hired a new person and made them work with your head team member or whatever and then promoted that new person into your spot or whatever...nobody would be pleased with that kind of thing. It's weird to me that anyone is in here trying to say that Amy being upset about that, was unjustified when if something like that happened to them, they'd be seeing red.

Amy wrote her biggest hit about how she was not pretty much discarded like she was trash. But she said "NO NO NO." Of course it was not coincidental that this new girl came along, they went to the same performing arts school. Speaking parts of your truth like Ronson did can be crucial to moving forward with your own sanity.

neonlights said:

I don't believe it but even if it were true, why mention it?

Bored I guess. It's a "when keeping it real goes wrong" even if she had those type of feelings. Why air it out unless you was writing a book like David Ritz or something?

Oh well that must be why she drank herself to death. Case closed, no more Wino talk.