Congratulations, Amy :)

You were amazing at Mandela's 90th birthday.

Winehouse Plays for Full House at Mandela Gig

Taken from E! Online

Nelson Mandela's not just a moral authority, he's a miracle worker.

Tens of thousands of punters and a slew of A-list stars and musical acts gathered in London's Hyde Park Friday for a special concert honoring the South African leader's 90th birthday party. The biggest surprise of the evening came courtesy of a healthy-looking Amy Winehouse, who, despite speculation and a track record to the contrary, actually turned up as planned and delivered a hitch-free performance during the four-hour event.

Will Smith hosted the megaconcert (with ample help from wife Jada Pinkett Smith), which also counted Josh Groban, Leona Lewis, Queen, Annie Lennox, Stephen Fry, Quincy Jones, Lewis Hamilton, Simple Minds, Geri Halliwell, Razorlight and U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown among its stage-gracing guests.

Winehouse made her triumphant appearance roughly two hours into the show, first taking the stage with the rest of the performers to sing "Happy Birthday" to the guest of honor. Per usual, her trademark "Blake" heart brooch was ensconced firmly in her beehive.

Donning a short black-and-white dress, she took the stage again roughly a half-hour later to perform a solo set.

After a short struggle to adjust her microphone, Winehouse kicked off the set with "Rehab." The song's lack of slurred lyrics and nonshortness of breath combined with particularly effusive backup dancers resulted in major crowd love for the singer, who curtsied and twirled for the fans before next launching straight into "Valerie," a cover of the Zutons hit she performed on Mark Ronson's Version.

Remarkably, she left the stage after the two tunes without incident.

She then returned to the stage for the concert's finale to lead the rest of the artists in attendance in an updated version of the Specials' 1984 anthem "Free Nelson Mandela."

While Winehouse was one of the final performers added to the lineup last month, her appearance was iffy at best in recent weeks—she went from being hospitalized to having emphysema to not really having emphysema to having it, maybe, just a bit.

Pretaped messages abounded during the packed-house event, including a beamed-in Bono and The Edge joining in the "Happy Birthday" song and shout-outs from Susan Sarandon, Morgan Freeman, Gordon Ramsay, David Beckham (who garnered the loudest cheers of the montage) and wife Victoria (who garnered the loudest boos).

In addition to marking Mandela's entrée into the world of nonagenarians, the concert also raised funds for his HIV/AIDS charity, 46664, so named for his prison number.

In keeping with the theme, 46,664 people attended the concert in Hyde Park, which actually comes a few weeks before Mandela's real birthday, July 18.

Amy Winehouse leaves hospital to rehearse for Nelson Mandela concert

Taken from the Telegraph


Amy Winehouse has briefly left hospital to rehearse for the Nelson Mandela concert this Friday. However, following doctors' advice, the singer returned afterwards.

The multiple grammy winning star is receiving medical treatment at the London Clinic, near Harley Street, after collapsing at home last Monday.

Her spokesman said: "She had a couple of hours off to rehearse and everyone who heard her thought she sounded amazing so it went well. And it seems likely that she will be ready for the Mandela concert and for Glastonbury."

Queen, Dame Shirley Bassey, Annie Lennox and the Soweto Gospel Choir are among the acts that will appear at a concert for Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday on Friday.

The former South African president will travel to London for the event in Hyde Park which will host a crowd of 46,664 - Mr Mandela's old prison number.

It had been reported Miss Winehouse would miss the event after she was rushed to hospital.

But her spokesman said today: "She's really keen to perform this weekend and we've been told the treatment has been going well."

Her father revealed at the weekend that she could be suffering from emphysema.

In an interview with the Sunday Mirror, Mitch Winehouse said his daughter had developed the chronic lung disease, possibly brought on by smoking crack cocaine.

Mr Winehouse added that smoking crack and cigarettes had meant that her lungs were "all gunked up".

"The doctors have told her if she goes back to smoking drugs it won't just ruin her voice, it will kill her."

Mr Winehouse said his daughter had vowed to stay clean and has started a drug replacement programme.

But he feared that the circles she moves in could lure her back to substance abuse.

He said: "I'm saying to those drug dealers, and they know who they are, if they are supplying crack to Amy, then they've got to take responsibility.

"I don't want her hanging out with her mates either. What hope does she have if people are taking drugs around her?"

Amy Winehouse diagnosed with emphysema

Taken from Times Online

Amy Winehouse has been diagnosed with emphysema, thought to have been caused by smoking crack cocaine, her father has revealed.

The Grammy-award winning singer is being treated in a private London hospital, and could require a permanent oxygen mask, Mitch Winehouse told the Sunday Mirror.

The taxi driver said that his daughter started a drug replacement programme last Tuesday after being told she would need to wear the mask and may be confined to a wheelchair unless she abstained from smoking crack cocaine.

“With smoking the crack cocaine and the cigarettes, her lungs are all gunked up. There are nodules around the chest and dark marks. She's got 70 per cent lung capacity."

“The doctors have told her if she goes back to smoking drugs it won't just ruin her voice, it will kill her.”

The singer, 24, was admitted to The Clinic last week after collapsing at her north London home. She told doctors she had not slept for 48 hours and they found she was suffering from an irregular heartbeat.

Scans showed Winehouse, who is scheduled to play at Glastonbury this weekend, had a lump in her chest, but doctors ruled out cancer and diagnosed the progressive lung disease.

British Lung Foundation spokesperson Dr Keith Prowse said Chronic Obstrusive Pulmonary Disease, an umbrella term for lung conditions like emphysema, rarely affected people in their twenties.

“It normally affects people in their forties onwards, but heavy smoking and inhaling other substances like drugs can age the lungs prematurely and bring on early onset in someone much younger.”

“COPD causes irreversible damage to the lungs, leaving the sufferer struggling for breath. The disease is progressive but it can be managed with treatment and stopping smoking is vital to slow it down and stop the lungs getting any worse."

Dr Prowse indicated Winehouse’s celebrated voice could be affected by her illness.

“In the late stages of the disease people with COPD struggle to walk more than a few steps and often are confined to a wheelchair. They have difficulty taking part in everyday activities. Anyone who relies on their lungs for a living, such as a singer, dancer, or musician, would struggle to find the breath to perform effectively.”

Winehouse won world-wide acclaim after releasing her second album, Back to Black, in 2006, but has since become more famous for her drug problems and chaotic lifesyle.

Over the past year she has been arrested four times, checked in and out of rehab repeatedly, and cancelled a string of performances.

Her husband of one year, Blake Fielder-Civil, is in prison after pleading guilty to charges of assault and perverting the course of justice.

Singer Amy Winehouse has lung damage and irregular heart beat, says her father

Taken from The Herald Tribune

Soul diva Amy Winehouse has damaged her lungs by smoking crack cocaine and cigarettes, her father said in an interview published Sunday.

The Sunday Mirror quoted Mitch Winehouse as saying that Amy has an early stage emphysema and an irregular heartbeat, and has been warned that she will have to wear an oxygen mask unless she stops smoking drugs.

"The doctors have told her if she goes back to smoking drugs, it won't just ruin her voice, it will kill her," Mitch Winehouse was quoted as saying. "There are nodules around the chest and dark marks. She has 70 percent lung capacity."

Winehouse collapsed at her north London home Monday after signing autographs for a group of fans and was taken to a London hospital for tests. She remained there all week.

She is still scheduled to sing at a concert in London on Friday celebrating 90th birthday of Nelson Mandela, the South African Nobel Prize-winner, and plans to take part in the Glastonbury music festival the following day.

Mitch Winehouse said it would be good for his daughter to perform.

"When she's been inactive work-wise then that's when the problems really start. The doctors have said that medically there isn't any reason why she can't do Glastonbury," the paper quoted him as saying.

He also pleaded with her drug taking friends to stay away from her.

"What hope does she have if people are taking drugs around her," he said.

Winehouse may pull out of top gigs

Taken from The Press Association

Amy Winehouse might have to miss Glastonbury and the Nelson Mandela concert next week, the singer's spokesman has admitted.

The troubled singer is booked to play at Mandela's 90th birthday concert in Hyde Park on Friday June 27 followed by Glastonbury, directly before headliner Jay-Z, the following day.

But Winehouse, who has fought heroin and crack addiction, is still in a London clinic awaiting the results of tests following her collapse at home.

A spokesman said Winehouse still intended to perform at both high-profile events, but that that doctors would decide whether she was well enough to take to the stage.

He said: "Amy has undergone more scans and tests and we are awaiting the verdict of her doctors.

"At present, she still intends to perform at the two scheduled dates next week. However, a decision will be made entirely upon the advice of her doctors and in her best interests."

Winehouse, 24, has been in the London Clinic since being taken there by her father Mitch after fainting at her home in Camden, north London, on Monday."

How can you save Amy?

•Write a letter using her forum or her fan mail address.

•Download and print our poster and use it when you go to her concert.

•Give her your support if you, by any chance, see her in person. Say it or try to give her a note for her to read it later.

Why should you save amy?

It seems there's no one around her capable enough to make her change her direction. She’s an amazing singer and a very talented songwriter that can not be lost.

Maybe she will listen to her fans. That's were you get in.