What was the final song Amy Winehouse recorded before her death?
Sometimes, it’s hard to believe that Amy Winehouse wasn’t directly transported straight from the soul of the swinging sixties to the heart of the 2000s zeitgeist, but such was the timelessness of her voice so transcendental that it could never be replaced. In that sense, it also makes her tragic and untimely passing at just 27 years old in 2011 all the more devastating, knowing she had so much more to give over a career that would undoubtedly span decades.
You’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who disagreed with that statement, including the music legends closest to her. Reflecting the way her voice defied eras, Winehouse was adored by a whole host of music moguls and collaborators throughout the decades, from Mark Ronson to Tony Bennett.
Indeed, it was the latter iconic crooner who held a special place in his heart for the London songstress, and who had the honour of collaborating with her on the final song she ever recorded.
That song was ‘Body and Soul’, taken from Bennett’s Duets II album. The classic jazz standard was, of course, no challenge for the queen of the charts – her distinctive sound was firmly rooted in the genre, and she had grown up surrounded by its blazing scores in the National Youth Jazz Orchestra.
Recorded in March 2011, just mere months before Winehouse’s death, the song represented a peak moment in her career, not only returning to her roots but getting to perform it with one of her life’s idols. Bennett, too, recalled the memory fondly, saying: “Amy was engaging, funny, charming, and utterly professional but a little bit shy. She said she was nervous because she had never recorded a song with someone she considered to be one of her idols.”
But that feeling was also clearly reciprocated, as Bennett’s only regret from the opportunity was not being able to save her from the addiction issues that would ultimately take her life shortly afterwards. He was absolutely correct in that it was a life cut tragically short – Back to Black, her iconic 2006 album that rocketed her to stratospheric fame, ended up being her first and last shot at the top.
Only fittingly, a posthumous compilation record titled Lioness: Hidden Treasures was released at the end of 2011, which included ‘Body and Soul’ as well as other now acclaimed covers such as ‘Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?’. But clearly her collaboration with Bennett was the one held in the most special place, as it was individually released as a single on September 14th that year, marking what would have been her 28th birthday.
Bennett said it best when he insisted in the wake of Winehouse’s passing that: “If she had lived, she would’ve been right up there with Billie Holiday and Dinah Washington. It’s just a tragedy.”
Though this may be true, in all of Winehouse’s short life, she managed to achieve a level of success rarely seen in the modern calibre of artists, for which she merits just the same acclaim as the greats. She may have been from a different era and not lived as nearly as long as she should have, but Winehouse’s legacy is one that places her rubbing shoulders with the world’s biggest musical icons. She deserves no less.
