Amy Winehouse’s mother reveals the painful truth behind the star’s addiction

Amy Winehouse’s mother, Janis Winehouse, got candid about dealing with the grief of her daughter’s death, 15 years on from the singer’s tragic passing.

The “Back To Black” star passed away on July 23, 2011, and was found dead inside her home in Camden, London. Authorities later ruled that she had died from accidental alcohol poisoning, as her blood alcohol level was more than five times the legal drink-driving limit. Amy was just 27 years old when she passed.

“She was a victim of her own success,” Janis shared with The i Paper. “She didn’t want it, but it just followed her. And she’d be like, ‘Who, me?'”

“She didn’t have confidence. Hence the alcohol,” the 72-year-old explained. “I think it’s the same with many, many addicts with alcohol. The alcohol takes away the pain. And that is a horrible thing with addiction.”

“Once you’re addicted, you’re addicted. The only boss is the addiction. People say, ‘Oh, no, you just stop doing such and such.’ They don’t get it. You can’t stop because your body is saying I need it.”

Janis shared how she was coping with Amy’s death 15 years later. “I’m just getting on with it because that’s what I do. I get on with life. I live it.” Amy’s family hosted a tribute event to the late star at Camden Market on July 19, where fans could come and pay their respects.

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In the years after her death, her loved ones created the Amy Winehouse Foundation, which runs resilience programs in schools, recovery homes for young women (Amy’s Place), and music therapy for children, amongst other projects.

Learn more about the music stars gone too soon below…

The “Rehab” crooner’s stepmother, Jane Winehouse, shared with The i Paper that Amy “would love the women” at Amy’s Place.

“It’s very true to her,” Jane explained. “Everyone here is so real. To be here, to engage properly in recovery, you have to get real. You quickly connect to people on quite a visceral level that you don’t necessarily connect with people in everyday life.”

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She added that the Amy Winehouse Foundation had allowed the family to begin healing from the pain of losing Amy. “I think as a family, we just didn’t want to spend the rest of our lives in misery, you know,” Jane said. “We wanted to make something really positive come out of something that was so tragic.”

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While Amy only put out two albums in her lifetime – Frank and Back To Black – she was one of the UK’s most successful artists and the winner of six Grammy Awards, including Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for “Rehab”, as well as Best New Artist and Best Pop Vocal Album for Back to Black.

She also won a posthumous Grammy in 2012 for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for her duet with Tony Bennett, “Body & Soul”.