Amy Winehouse

Biographer Solomon surveys the tumultuous life of pop singer Amy Winehouse in her straightforward debut. Born in London in 1983, Winehouse was introduced to the world of jazz in her childhood thanks to her grandmother Cynthia, a singer who supported Winehouse’s musical passions. After Winehouse joined a jazz orchestra at age 16, she started to get attention from London producers for her remarkable singing and in 2002 signed a song-publishing deal with EMI. Shortly after, she accepted a record deal with Universal, which released her 2006 Grammy-winning Back to Black album. Solomon does not shy away from the grim realities of Winehouse’s alcohol addiction, which ended in her 2011 death from alcohol poisoning at the age of 27. And though she doesn’t reveal anything new that readers of previous Winehouse biographies won’t know (she relies heavily on Winehouse’s parents’ books and secondhand accounts), Solomon’s eloquent prose empathetically conveys the tragedy of Winehouse’s demise (“It was impossible to disguise her trembling hands and damaged voice, but more than that, there was something about her that had gone missing; a light in her eyes had dulled”). For readers who know the songs, but not so much the artist behind them, this is a decent primer. (Mar.)