Amy Winehouse performing in concert before her death in 2011. A hologram will recreate her act. (Photo: BangShowbiz)
Amy Winehouse could tour again–as a 3D hologram–but not if ex-husband Blake Fielder-Civil has his say. He spoke out against the idea in an interview today (Dec. 11) on “Good Morning Britain.”
Fielder-Civil was only married to Winehouse from 2007 until 2009. To call him a bad influence would be an understatement. The pair had a notoriously turbulent relationship, according to UK newspapers.
Related: Amy Winehouse, Troubled UK Singer, Found Dead at 27
He is widely credited with getting Winehouse hooked on hard drugs. She eventually died of cardiac arrest at 27, from acute alcohol poisoning in 2011. He denied the claim, according to London’s Sun newspaper.
“The drug thing has been attributed to me for years, the fact me and Amy only used drugs together six months of our marriage,” he said.
He added:
“I’m not willing to be the only person to take responsibility. I feel like I’m the only one who has taken responsibility since Amy died. People don’t realise Amy didn’t do anything Amy didn’t want to do. I will always carry a burden of guilt of how I should have acted.”
Related: Amy Winehouse Cause of Death Finally Revealed
Fielder-Civil, 36, looked disheveled and emaciated on the show, prompting a strong reaction on social media. And, good god, those teeth? He’s giving British denistry a bad name.
He claimed that people are seeking to exploit Winehouse’s talent for their own financial benefit.
“I object to every sort of opportunity that’s been made. It seems since Amy passed away seven years ago, there’s been three films, a hologram tour. To me, I can’t see many other reasons for this tour.”
Related: Amy Winehouse’s Long Dark Descent Captured in New ‘Amy’ Trailer (watch)
Meanwhile, Amy’s family defended the upcoming hologram tour, which is being organized by her father, Mitch Winehouse.
In a statement, the family said:
“All the family’s proceeds from the hologram tour will go to the Amy Winehouse Foundation which is helping 1,000s of young people around the UK and abroad through its drugs and alcohol education, music programs, women’s recovery house and much more. Though there has been a positive reaction from her fans, not everyone has to welcome the hologram. But ultimately Amy believed passionately in helping those in need and that is a vital part of her legacy we want to secure.”
UK gadfly Piers Morgan jumped into the fray by reminding Fielder-Civil that he made a fair amount of change himself by selling his story to the tabloids.
“To call it cashing in is a bit misleading,” he said.
“I would have done it without any money, but the reason I ended up taking money was I had been in a situation where I found it really hard to get a job and couldn’t really earn money any other way.”
“The way I feel about the actual hologram itself, it’s no different to watching a video clip or listening to her music,” he said.
Check out the video below:
Winehouse, who once said she feared joining the “27 Club” of dead rock stars, like Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison, was found lifeless in her London home. She had canceled a European comeback tour after a disastrous performance in Belgrade in which she appeared too intoxicated to perform.
Disappointed fans booed her from the stage.
Winehouse had a smooth, smoky voice and a unique throwback style to ’60s-era soul singers, symbolized by a her mile-high bee-hive hair do.
But her skyrocketing career ran aground after she descended into a world of drugs and alcohol that involved intoxicated public displays and multiple trips to rehab.
She had taken time off from to get clean, and had recently relaunched her career. The cause of death was not immediately known, but she was pronounced dead at the scene.
Eerily, she is the same age as Kurt Cobain and Janis Joplin when they died, as well as Hendrix, and Morrison, who fronted for the iconic ’60s group The Doors.
Winehouse rose to international acclaim in 2007, and was part of a new wave of British singers included Josh Stone, Duffy and Adele, all of whom were retro soul.
Winehouse was the rebel of the group and it was reflected in her music.
Her hit songs included “You Know I’m No Good,” and “Rehab,” with the controversial lyrics, “They tried to make me go to rehab, I said, ‘No, no, no.’ ”
Her first big international hit was her second album Back in Black, released in the United States in 2007 a year after it debuted to critical acclaim in Great Britain.
But as soon as her career hit a high point, an increasing number of drunken or drug-induced episodes began making tabloid headlines.
She was often spotted in clubs snorting lines of cocaine, or engaged in drunken fights with her then husband Blake Fielder-Civil.
She ended up in the hospital after several monumental drug binges. In December 2009, Winehouse was charged with common assault after being ejected form a theater for disruptive behavior and appearing drunk.
The singer spent much of 2010 in and out of hospital in London in an effort to beat alcohol problems. She spent eight weeks in the Caribbean to get healthy and avoid London bar scene; sadly to no avail.
Winehouse died from acute alcohol poisoning, with more than five times the legal limit to drive after apparently downing three bottles of vodka in her home.
The finding was the legal conclusion of a coroner’s report into her sudden death at 27. She hit the bottle after being dry for three weeks, which triggered the poisoning.