Amy Winehouse’s Back To Black video reaches 1 billion views on YouTube
Amy Winehouse’s music video for Back To Black has racked up more than a billion views on YouTube more than 16 years since its release.
The Grammy-winning singer – who died aged 27 from alcohol poisoning on July 23, 2011 at her home in Camden, north London – continues to enjoy phenomenal success, long after her tragic death.
This week, Back To Black finally hit one billion views on the video streaming platform, with Amy joining an elite group of musicians to achieve this impressive feat, including Justin Bieber and Ed Sheeran.
Title track Back To Black – widely regarded as one of Amy’s signature songs – is part of the Back to Black album that launched the artist to commercial and international fame in 2006.
Her debut song from the album, Rehab, became an international and critical success and earned her three Grammy Awards at the 50th Awards, including Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
Iconic: Grammy-winning singer Amy Winehouse – who died on July 23, 2011 at the age of 27 – continues to enjoy phenomenal success long after her death (pictured in 2008)
Important: This week, Amy’s Back to Black music video finally surpassed one billion views on video streaming platform YouTube – more than 16 years after its release
Single Back To Black also achieved success in its own right, peaking at number eight on the UK Singles Chart and is Winehouse’s third best-selling single in the UK.
Many well-known artists have covered the song, including the cast of the American musical comedy-drama Glee, and Beyoncé and André 3000 for the soundtrack of the 2013 film adaptation of the novel The Great Gatsby.
The song was written by Amy and Mark Ronson, directly inspired by the turbulent relationship the singer shared with Black Fielder-Civil, who had left her for an ex-girlfriend at the time.
The couple reconciled and married in 2007, but divorced two years later in 2009 after she admitted to being unfaithful.
It is believed that Winehouse’s public struggles with her troubled love life and alcohol and drug addiction, as well as her subsequent death, contributed to the continued popularity of the Back To Black album.
The black-and-white music video for the somber jazz track, directed by Phil Griffin, portrays Amy attending a funeral service due to an apparently failed romance.
Amid a crowd of people, she attends the funeral, where a headstone reads: “RIP the Heart of Amy Winehouse” – although the images were removed after her death in 2011 from alcohol poisoning.
In the song’s lyrics, Amy reminisces about the relationship and the fragments left behind by her boyfriend, singing, “We only said goodbye with words / I died a hundred times / You go back to her / And I go back to black .’
Gloomy: Directed by Phil Griffin, the black-and-white music video for the somber jazz track portrays Amy attending a funeral service for an apparently failed romance
Inspiration: Back to Black was directly inspired by the turbulent relationship the singer shared with Black Fielder-Civil, who had left her for an ex-girlfriend at the time (pictured in 2007)
Pure talent: Amy Winehouse won three Grammy Awards for her debut hit Rehab during the 50th ceremony. from the Back to Black album, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year (pictured at the BRITs in 2007)
Music producer Mark Ronson – who helped create Amy’s hit cover of The Zutons’ Valerie – often pays tribute to the star on TikTok, especially on her birthday.
Last year, Ronson, 46, spoke about his experience co-writing and producing the song with the singer, sharing previously unreleased raw vocal recordings from Back to Black in a video on the social app, touching the hearts of thousands of Amy’s fans.
He said in the footage: “I wrote the song Back To Black with Amy Winehouse about 15 years ago right on this piano, right here,” showing fans the grand piano where he worked on music with the star.
“Amy came here to my studio. We met for the first time and I immediately fell in love with her,” Ronson continued. “She played me all this great ’60s music, and she left, and I got really inspired, and I came up with this piano here.”
“The next day she came in and wrote these incredible lyrics, which she scribbled in the back room. And maybe for the first time ever, here are the very first vocals she did.”
Special treat for fans: Producer Mark Ronson shared unreleased raw vocal recordings from Back to Black in a video on TikTok, touching the hearts of thousands of Amy Winehouse fans
The producer then played an audio clip of Amy singing a slightly different version of the song – much to the delight and chagrin of her fans.
One fan wrote: “I will never be able to thank you enough for the art you and Amy have created,” while another said: “This is so special to me. I’d like to hear more of the early singing.’
Another person commented, “Amy was one of my singing inspirations. Back to black was iconic to me growing up.. thank you for making this art & RIP Amy.”
A fellow fan wrote: ‘I miss her so much. It’s really hard not to cry when I hear her music,” while another commented: “I usually skip this song because it destroys my heart every time… but it’s an absolute masterpiece.”
A movie biopic – Back to Black – based on Amy’s life is scheduled for release in 2024, with filming already underway, but the project has been harshly criticized by friends and fans who feel it’s too early for something like this a movie. to make a video.