How is Mitch, Amy Winehouse's father?
Years ago, I wrote an article about Blake Fielder-Civil, Amy Winehouse's ex, and it is still read daily by thousands of people. Amy Winehouse and her tragic life continue to fascinate us. And when I recently sat in my daughter's bedroom and lowered the needle of her record player onto the vinyl of Frank (Amy Winehouse's first album), I wondered how Mitch Winehouse, Amy's father, was doing.
Mitch Winehouse in the song Rehab
We mainly know Mitch Winehouse from the song Rehab, in which she sang the following lines as justification for not going to a rehab clinic: I ain’t got the time, and my daddy thinks I’m fine. That changed over the years, as when her addiction became more serious, Mitch decided to intervene more. He tried almost literally to keep her away from drugs and sometimes even got into fights with her dealers. Mitch, and the rest of the family, organized several interventions and admissions to a clinic. At the same time, Mitch is criticized for continuing to push her career while she might have benefited more from a period in the limelight.
The documentary that did not exactly make Mitch Winehouse popular
Amy spent some time on the island of Saint Lucia, where she seemed to be having a happy time. Suddenly, her father appeared with a film crew. He was making a documentary about parents dealing with an addicted child and wanted to include Amy in it, but it felt completely inappropriate. As if even her father wanted to ride on her fame, even in a place where she felt safe and unobserved.
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The bond between Amy and her father Mitch Winehouse
The relationship between Amy and Mitch Winehouse was also very close. Amy even had a tattoo that said Daddy’s Girl, and her love for jazz was passed down to her from her father Mitch. There was a lot of jazz music played at home, and when her parents divorced when Amy was nine, her father, who was a taxi driver, sometimes took her along in the taxi where they listened to jazz music together. It is said that her longing for a man and her willingness to give up so much for love stems from the void created when Mitch left her mother for another woman.
Mitch Winehouse after the death of Amy Winehouse
Her father founded the Amy Winehouse Foundation, which provides help for addiction and supports vulnerable youth with music and education projects. In addition, Mitch released a jazz album, Rush of Love, on which he sings songs from the Great American Songbook. You can listen to it on Spotify. Mitch Winehouse does not have the exceptional talent of his daughter, but he has certainly been a link in the chain of her success. He says that singing and producing jazz music brings him closer to his daughter and helps him cope with the rare heavy loss of her death.
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Mitch Winehouse today: in his seventies and guardian of Amy’s legacy
Mitch Winehouse is now in his seventies and still regularly appears at memorials for Amy, for example on or around the day she died. Almost fifteen years after her death, he remains one of the most important guardians of her legacy, both through the foundation and through projects that keep her music alive.
So in answer to the question: how is Mitch Winehouse doing now? He is still here and is making the best of it despite everything.
