Amy Winehouse, 27, found dead at her London flat after suspected 'drug overdose'

• Troubled singer had a long battle with drink and drugs
• London Ambulance Service found singer at 3.54pm but unable to revive her
• She was 'beyond help' according to Sky sources
• Autopsy could take place 'within next 24 hours'
• Comes after Winehouse was booed off stage after shambolic Serbian show

Amy Winehouse has been found dead at her home in London.
The Back To Black singer was found at the property by emergency services at 3.54pm, and it's believed Winehouse's death was due to a suspected drug overdose.
Winehouse was apparently 'beyond help' when paramedics arrived, according to Sky sources.
Sources have also claimed Winehouse's death was due to a drug overdose.

Passing: Amy Winehouse has been found dead at her home this afternoon

The scene: Amy was pronounced dead yesterday afternoon after emergency services arrived at her house in north London

Tragic: Winehouse's body is seen being removed from her home

Drama: Members of the press and local residents watch as Winehouse's body is taken to the van

WITHIN MINUTES 20M WERE TALKING TO EACH OTHER ON TWITTER ABOUT THE SINGER'S SUDDEN DEATH

Before it was announced on mainstream media the micro-blogging site was responding to the death of the singer and ‘Amy Winehouse’ quickly became one of Twitter’s 'trending' topics.

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Trending refers to whichever names or terms are the most talked about at that particular moment. These are defined by the site as ‘most breaking’ topics.
Unlike topics which are discussed for a length of time, such as the phone hacking scandal, trending topics see huge numbers of Twitter users debating subjects as they happen.
Shortly after the confirmation of her death, Winehouse was mentioned in nearly 10 per cent of all tweets worldwide. As there are 200million users this equates to 20million people communicating with one another about her death.

Two ambulance crews arrived at the scene within five minutes and a paramedic on a bicycle also attended, according to a spokeswoman.
'Sadly the patient had died,' she added.

 

More...

• A death foretold: The rapid rise and tragic fall of Amy Winehouse, the deeply flawed soul prodigy
• Outpouring of grief on Twitter over Amy Winehouse's sudden death
• Read PAUL CONNOLLY'S tribute to Amy Winehouse here

A statement from Winehouse's U.S. record label read: 'We are deeply saddened at the sudden loss of such a gifted musician, artist and performer.
'Our prayers go out to Amy's family, friends and fans at this difficult time.'
In a statement, the Metropolitan Police said: 'Police were called by London Ambulance Service to an address in Camden Square NW1 shortly before 16.05hrs today, Saturday 23 July, following reports of a woman found deceased.
'On arrival officers found the body of a 27-year-old female who was pronounced dead at the scene.
'Enquiries continue into the circumstances of the death. At this early stage it is being treated as unexplained.’
A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said in a press conference this evening that no cause of death had yet been confirmed.
He said: 'I am aware of reports of a suspected drugs overdose, but I would like to reremphaise that no post-mortem has yet taken place and it would be inapproporaite to speculate on the cause of death.
'The death of any person is a sad time of friends and family especially for someone known nationally and internationally like Amy Winehouse. My sympathy extends not only to her family but also to her millions of fans across the world.'
A spokesman for the late singer said: 'Everyone involved with Amy is shocked and devastated.
'Our thoughts are with her family and friends. The family will issue a statement when ready.'
It has also been claimed on gossip website RadarOnline.com that Winehouse's autopsy could take place within the next 24 hours.

Last public appearance: Amy joined goddaughter Dionne Bromfield on stage during the iTunes festival on Wednesday night

Healthy: Amy was spotted out in London looking healthier earlier this month

A Scotland Yard spokesman is quoted by the website as saying: 'The postmortem has not been scheduled yet but it is unlikely to take place before tomorrow.
'In the case of a murder it can be done within hours but this is not the case so tomorrow or even Monday is more likely in these circumstances.'

Cutie pie: Amy looking adorable at the age of two

A section of the road where the singer lived remained cordoned off tonight. Journalists, local residents and fans gathered at the police tapes, while forensic officers were seen going in and out of the building.
One neighbour, who did not want to be named, said she saw the singer's grief-stricken boyfriend, believed to be film director Reg Traviss, on the ground outside the house.
Two women then came 'speeding' up in a black Mercedes and walked in and out of the house crying. They said they believed the singer was at home last night.
Winehouse's father, Mitch, is understood to be returning to the UK from New York. He had been due to perform at the Blue Note jazz club in the city on Monday.

A message has been placed on the club's website, reading: 'We are very sad to report that the Mitch Winehouse performance on Monday July 25th is cancelled due to the unexpected death of his daughter, Amy Winehouse.
'Our condolences go out to Mitch and his family.' Mitch is now on his way back from New York.

Winehouse had been seen with her goddaughter Dionne Bromfield earlier this week as the teenager took to the stage at the iTunes festival.
She refused to join in for Mama Said, but did support the 14-year-old with a few dance moves before urging the crowd to buy Dionne's new album Good For The Soul.
A source said: 'Amy staggered onstage and grabbed the mic to beg the crowd to buy her protege’s new album.'
Winehouse's appearance at the concert came after she cancelled her European tour following a disastrous performance in June when she stumbled onto the stage in Belgrade and gave an incoherent performance appearing very disorientated and removed from reality.

Unconfirmed: A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said the cause of death has yet to be confirmed

Mourning: Floral tributes are left outside Amy's house as news breaks of her death

Heartfelt: One note from a local resident states how much the singer will be missed in her local community

Following the concert which saw fans enraged and the subsequent video that circulated to millions she cancelled the remaining dates of her European tour.
A statement released by the troubled singer's spokesperson at the time said that the singer would be given 'as long as it takes' to recover.
The statement read: 'Amy Winehouse is withdrawing from all scheduled performances.
'Everyone involved wishes to do everything they can to help her return to her best and she will be given as long as it takes for this to happen.'

Family: Amy with her father Mitch, to whom she was incredibly close, and her mother Janis

Shambolic: Amy was booed off stage during a shambolic performance in Belgrade in June

AMY AND BLAKE: A TROUBLED ROMANCE

Amy married Blake Fielder-Civil in Miami, Florida in 2007 but they were divorced two years later in September 2009.
From the beginning their relationship was fraught with difficulty as they struggled with addictions to crack cocaine and heroin. This led to numerous break-ups and ensuing make-ups.

Three months after they divorced speculation began to mount that they would once more marry. This was supported by the announcement on Facebook where they had both changed their relationship status to married.
But they never actually went ahead with it.
Fielder-Civil’s troubles continued and in June of this year was sentenced to 32 months in prison for burglary and possession of an imitation firearm.
Police caught the 29-year-old in a car in February with an altered number plate full of recently stolen possessions.

Winehouse had been working on her long-awaited new album, the follow-up to her 2006 breakthrough multi-million selling Back To Black, for the past three years.
The singer was born Amy Jade Winehouse on 14th September 1983 in Southgate, London.
Winehouse has had a troubled life which has included various stints in rehab for drug and alcohol addiction.
The singer is thought to have been to rehab four times.
In an interview in 2008, her mother Janis said she would be unsurprised if her daughter died before her time.
She said: 'I've known for a long time that my daughter has problems.
'But seeing it on screen rammed it home. I realise my daughter could be dead within the year. We're watching her kill herself, slowly.
'I've already come to terms with her dead. I've steeled myself to ask her what ground she wants to be buried in, which cemetery.
'Because the drugs will get her if she stays on this road.
'I look at Heath Ledger and Britney. She's on their path. It's like watching a car crash - this person throwing all these gifts away.'
In addition, there was a website set up called When Will Amy Winehouse Die?, with visitors asked to guess the date of death with the chance of winning an iPod Touch.
In an interview last October with Harper's Bazaar magazine, Amy was asked if she was happy.
She replied: 'I don't know what you mean. I've got a very nice boyfriend. He's very good to me.'
And, asked if she had any unfulfilled ambitions, Amy replied: 'Nope! If I died tomorrow, I would be a happy girl.'
As well her battles with drugs and alcohol, Winehouse also had a troubled marriage to Blake Fielder-Civil, who she divorced in summer 2009.
Fielder-Civil and Winehouse married in 2007 in Miami.
The pair's relationship - heavily documented by the media - saw them appearing in public bloodied and bruised after fights.

Former love: Amy with her ex-husband Blake Fielder-Civil

Troubled: Amy battled drink and drug addictions during her short life

It is also alleged former music video producer Fielder-Civil was the one who introduced the Back to Black star to heroin and crack cocaine.
Amy's father Mitch previously spoke out about how his daughter stayed away from drugs prior to meeting her ex-husband.
In a previous interview last year he said: 'He's not entirely responsible, she's got to take a portion of the responsibility, but it's clear, it really kicked off when they got together.'
Most recently, Winehouse was romantically linked to film director Reg Traviss, who she dated for a few months last year.

Weight worries: Amy also caused concern with her shrinking frame, and looked gaunt back in 2008 (right)

And Mitch also gave the new man his seal of approval.
In an interview with STV's The Hour programme, he said: 'I'm happy she's got a new boyfriend. I'm happy that she's moving on with her life.'
He said Traviss was a 'very nice, normal bloke'. The pair split in January this year but quickly rekindled their relationship.
In March, Traviss said: 'We've been together nearly a year now and we're very happy. Amy's doing well, she's fine. She's healthy and happy.'

AMY WINEHOUSE - THE LATEST MEMBER OF THE '27 CLUB'

The singer's tragic death at the age of 27 puts her in a pantheon of famous musicians who have all died at the same age.
Amy follows now joins the notorious 27 Club, also known as Forever 27, which is a group of musicians who have all died at the age while struggling to cope with fame.

 

Club members: Kurt Cobain,, Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison are among those who died at the age of 27

Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain was the most recent victim and in 1994, pumped with heroin and valium, he turned a gun on himself.
Decades earlier Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison and Brian Jones all died at 27.
Rolling Stone Jones drowned in a swimming pool in 1969; Hendrix choked to death in 1970 after mixing wine with sleeping pills and singer Janis Joplin suffered a suspected heroin overdose the same year.
Doors star Morrison died of heart failure in 1971.

Winehouse has also caused controversy with her weight over the past few years. After hitting the music industry as a curvy role model, Winehouse then shed an astonishing amount of weight, leading to her looking gaunt in 2008.
Amy had a hugely successful musical career with the release of her debut album Frank in 2003, and the record considered her breakthrough album - Back To Black in 2006.
The singer featured on the Sunday Times Rich List earlier this year with an estimated net worth of around £6million.
During her career, Winehouse won awards including five Grammy Awards, a Q Music Award for Best Album for Back To Black and a World Music Award in 2008 for World's Best Selling Pop/Rock Female Artist.

Finding love again: Amy is believed to have been dating film director Reg Traviss at the time of her death

Success: Amy performed via video link at the Grammy Awards in 2008 after winning five awards

AMY WINEHOUSE: A LIFE CUT DOWN IN ITS PRIME

by Adrian Thrills

The tragic loss of Amy Winehouse has robbed us of a young, if fatally troubled, life cut down in its prime. It has also cheated British music of a talent, at 27, whose best years surely still lay ahead.
As a homegrown singer, she was with without question the outstanding vocalist of her generation. Without Amy, there would have been no Adele, no Duffy and no Lady Gaga. She may have been an alumni of the Brit School, but Winehouse was also a British great.
In an era of manufactured stars and precision-tooled pop puppets, she was the real deal. For all her demons - and, sadly, sometimes because of them - she cut through pop's hyperbole. Her rawness and emotional honesty harked back to an era when the best singers were more believable. For a white girl raised in the North London suburbs, she had the sweet, sure touch of an Aretha Franklin or Etta James.

Tragic loss: Amy Winehouse was a talented and much-loved singer and performer

Her talent was obvious from the off. The first time I saw her live was at the V Festival eight years ago. Tucked away at the bottom of the bill in one of the small tents, well away from the crowds gathering for headliners the Red Hot Chili Peppers, she oozed class. Dressed in a Fifties-style frock, playing a white Fender guitar, she showed nervous glimpses of a talent that would later wow the world.
I was lucky enough to interview her twice. The first time came shortly before the release of debut album Frank in 2003. Having met her in a photographic studio in Soho around lunchtime, we relocated, at Amy's insistence, to her favourite local Italian cafe, where we enjoyed a lengthy chat over a large, non alcoholic lunch. She struck me then as a witty, intelligent young girl on the cusp of womanhood.

Full of joy: Amy performing at the start of her career back in 2004

She was full of the joys of life and understandably excited about her future.
Confident in her own abilities, she was gleefully irreverent. Whereas other singers, media-trained to within an inch of their lives, were masters in the art of diplomacy, she happily sounded off with little regard of the consequences.
Unconcerned about how her words might look in print, she dismissed her peers.
Dido and Norah Jones, huge at the time, were among her targets. They were ridiculed for being bland. She was savage, too, in her criticisms of Madonna.
She was naive, yes, but immensely likeable. A glowing review ensued.
Later, shortly before the release of second album Back To Black, I came face to face with a different Amy. Noticeably more slight than when we'd met three years previously, she turned up late in a coffee bar close to her North London home, but still turned heads with her long, raven black hair and striking eye-liner.
But, while some of that earlier youthful, sparkle had gone, she still struck me as a woman who knew exactly what she wanted. Perhaps more aware of her own flaws, she even retracted what she had said three years earlier about her fellow female stars. 'When I was promoting my first album I was very defensive, so I lashed out a lot,' she said. 'But I won't be saying anything negative about other singers now. They've got their job to do. I'm just happy to be doing my own thing.' More mature in many ways, she was ready to let her music do the talking.
And Back To Black did just that. Rooted in emotional turmoil, it will go down as one of the classic British albums. Even now, in an era where female pop rules the charts in the shape of Adele, Beyoncé, Katy Perry and Gaga, nothing has come close to packing the sheer emotional punch of Back To Black. A departure from her jazzy debut, it was stark, simple and stunningly direct.

 

Singer Linda Lewis: The night I asked my boyfriend 'Do you mind if I sleep with Cat Stevens?'

From a singer who knew EVERYONE (and we mean REALLY knew), an uproariously scandalous - yet irresistibly funny - pop memoir

Taking LSD the night before the first Glastonbury festival wasn't a sensible move. It was 1971 and, in my trance-like state, I was convinced I had returned to the court of King Arthur. I danced with a tree.
The next day, one of the festival organisers ran up to me. 'You're on in 10 minutes,' he said. 'On where?' I asked, still dazed from the effects of the acid.
'On stage. It's your spot.' I'd forgotten. In blind panic, I walked through the small audience. A large man was sitting in the crowd with a pair of bongos.

An eventful life: Singer Linda Lewis reveals all about her wild exploits in the Seventies but insists she has now settled down

Can you play percussion?' I jabbered. He said he could, so I grabbed a guitar and stumbled on stage with him.
After that, I decided to start rehearsing and stick to tea before going on. My wild days, however, were only just getting going.
I was always a performer. In 1953, when I was just three years old, my mum Lily sent me to Peggy O'Farrell's School Of One Hundred Wonderful Children, a stage school just behind West Ham Football Club's ground.
Aged eight, I won a part in a film with the legendary Hollywood star Gary Cooper. My role required me to do hopscotch, which I diligently rehearsed.
Cooper wandered along, asking what I was doing. 'Hopscotch,' I said.
He drawled: 'Well, I can see the hop, but I can't see the scotch.' For me, this was the height of showbusiness wit. I was enthralled.
My mother always had ambitions for me  -  as shown on a fateful day trip to Southend, where John Lee Hooker was playing.
Aged 15 and a mad Beatles fan, I'd never heard of the great blues guitarist, but that didn't hold Mum back. We got ourselves into the nightclub and she introduced herself to Hooker.
He indulged Mum by allowing me to sing Dancing In The Street with his band. I'd developed a good voice - it runs over about five octaves - and did enough to impress one man in the club.
Ian 'Sammy' Samwell was a record producer who'd written songs for Cliff Richard and the Small Faces. Sammy took me under his wing.

'Exotic creatures': Rod Stewart and Elton John were regulars at Linda's Hampstead commune

It was my break. One minute I was in the East End, the next I was strolling down Carnaby Street with Sammy. I couldn't believe my luck.
I left home at 17 after Mum discovered I'd started sleeping with Sammy. I moved into a commune in Hampstead, London, with my lover.
I was now wearing hippie clothes: see-through dresses and men's frilly shirts with no skirt.
I'd already released one single - a flop which had only succeeded in getting me better party invitations.
Our commune was made up of three girls and a number of men, including Sammy.
Over the next few years, exotic creatures like Marc Bolan, Cat Stevens, David Bowie, Rod Stewart and Elton John dropped by.
Marc was still in his hippie phase - he was yet to metamorphose into the glam rocker beloved of screaming teenage girls - and would affect a posh, superior voice.
I later found out he was from Hackney, but that didn't stop me being besotted.
However, in the early Seventies he became involved with American singer Gloria Jone, who later gave him a son, Rolan.
Gloria played the lioness, guarding her man from adoring women.
As Marc became more famous, his ego swelled and he took too many drugs. Drugs and fame were a destructive combination.

Linda with Albert O'Sullivan, Suzi Quatro, David Essex and Alvin Stardust on TV show Supersonic in 1975

When he died in 1977 after his purple Mini smashed into a tree, we were distraught.
Gloria had been driving and was seriously injured herself, with a broken arm and jaw.
When I visited her in hospital, she couldn't speak. She had her mouth wired together and was frantically handwriting notes to visitors. She handed one to me. What I read horrified me.
She had written: 'Did you sleep with Marc?' I said: 'No.' It was the only thing I could say. Gloria could have died herself - she was still very ill.
So I told her what she wanted to hear. If she had asked me the same question 10 years later, I might have replied differently. Perhaps one day we will be able to talk about it.
In those days everyone slept with everyone. If you said no, you were considered uptight.
But I always felt guilty afterwards and I continued to go to confession. Puzzlingly, the priest was always keen to hear all the details of my partying life.
It was late at night and Sammy was in a deep sleep beside me. 'Sammy, is it OK if I sleep with Cat Stevens?'
There was no reply, so I took his silence as approval and went ahead. Cat Stevens wasn't his real name, of course - we all knew him as Steve Georgiou.
He lived with his parents in a flat above their restaurant in Shaftesbury Avenue. Cat used to sit in our front room playing the guitar. That's where he wrote his beautiful song Moonshadow.
Cat, a sensitive and caring man, used to be fun. He always liked to have a muse. His first inspiration was his girlfriend Patti D'Arbanville, for whom he wrote Lady D'Arbanville.
His second was me. We'd talk about our childhood and he wrote Old School Yard for me.
I continued with my music, too, sitting in the kitchen in Hampstead strumming my songs.

A sensitive and caring man: The singer once asked her boyfriend if minded is slept with cat Stevens, who is now known as Yusuf Islam

That's how a Warner Brothers executive, who was a dinner guest at the commune, discovered me in 1971.
My on-off romance with Cat lasted several years. I was still seeing Sammy at the time, too. It was the Seventies, after all.
But soon Cat began to change. To put it kindly, he was searching for greater meaning in life. To put it bluntly, he was becoming a pain.
We went to an Islamic wedding before he converted and adopted the name Yusuf Islam in 1977.
Cat was clearly impressed with the orderliness of the Muslim faith.
At the reception, I didn't like the way the women were sent to the kitchen, while the men smoked.
If he didn't exactly lose his sense of humour, Cat certainly mislaid it for a while.
He started laying down the law when we toured the U.S., instructing us not to smoke joints or drink.
He carried a small prayer mat with him, which we would mock lightheartedly.
Cat responded by saying: 'You are not here to have fun.'
Strange  -  that's exactly what we all thought we were there for.
When I met in 1968 there was a huge buzz about this otherworldly arrival from the U.S. Jimi came into the Bag O'Nails club in Soho, where I was playing, and sat at a table with half-a-dozen beautiful girls.
Later, he came backstage to tell me he thought the show was really cool. Jimi was small in the flesh and had no pretension about him. We had a joint together. He spoke in a whisper.
Fame didn't treat Jimi well. He had too many people giving him drugs and telling him he was brilliant.
He wanted to pretend he was a tough guy, but he wasn't. If someone took one tab of acid, he would take six.
The rock star image had become a monster, eating him up. He was like a little boy lost.
The last time I saw him was at Ronnie Scott's club in 1970. He looked really happy. A few days later he was dead.
The David Bowie I first met was not yet a glam-rock peacock, but a reserved young man who hid his shyness behind a veneer of mystery.
He loved camp imagery in those days  -  he famously posed in a dress on the cover of his album The Man Who Sold The World.
But if you see him these days, he's just a normal bloke. People have asked me whether he was actually ever gay.
Perhaps he probably tried it a few times. Everybody did in those days.
I sang background vocals on his album Aladdin Sane and attended the after-show party on his farewell tour as Ziggy Stardust in 1973.
Bianca Jagger and Bowie's wife Angie were there, snogging furiously. No one batted an eyelid.
I was more interested in helping myself to the buffet. From behind me, a gruff voice said: 'I wouldn't give up my lunch for nobody.' It was Mick Jagger, quoting a line from one of my songs, Rock A Doodle Do.
Another of our commune's visitors, the young Rod Stewart, was good fun on his own, but became pompous when he was in a group.
Rod was a bit like the Queen - he never carried money. This was understandable - in his early days as a budding singer, he'd been quite poor and had become used to cadging money for drinks.
Even after he was successful, however, he remained stingy. If you lent him cash, you rarely saw your money again.

Past lovers: Linda had a relationship with legendary guitar player and T-Rex frontman Marc Bolan (right)

When people retrieved a banknote back from Rod's wallet, they'd frame it, such was its rarity.
After he'd had a few hits, I went out with him and some mates. He was buying a round and - guess what - he found himself suddenly short. I stumped up a fiver. Rod, you still owe me.
In an emergency, the girls in the commune were ready to help in any way. When one of the musicians in the house, Robert Wyatt, discovered his girlfriend in bed with another man, he tried unsuccessfully to slash his wrists.
A little later, we women drew straws to decide which of us was going to comfort him. I was chosen.
It was supposed to be a cuddle, a life-saving cuddle. One thing led to another and I can only say that if life-saving is always as good as that, I want to volunteer for the St John Ambulance.
Halfway through this 'emergency procedure', my boyfriend Sammy walked in. He was less than pleased.
We broke up, but got back together for a while. Robert later drunkenly threw himself out of a third-floor window, an accident which confined him to a wheelchair for life. He tells me he still remembers our night together.
In the late 1970s, I moved to Los Angeles, around the time Rod Stewart split up with his then-girlfriend, Britt Ekland.
She was upset and I did my best to comfort her. I always liked Britt; she was more fun than Rod's next blonde, Alana Hamilton.
By now, Rod was fabulously wealthy and I'd had my share of chart success with Rock A Doodle Do and the Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss).
Rod and Alana always invited me to massive dinner parties at their mansion, so I asked them round to my place in return.
Not being quite in Rod's tax bracket, I wondered how I would top their extravaganzas.
Then I came up with the answer: I served them beans on toast, washed down with a few bottles of Guinness. Rod liked it, but Alana, with her airs and graces, wasn't so sure.
Meanwhile, Britt Ekland's idea of getting over Rod wasn't perhaps what everyone would have done.
She had a wild party. As the evening wore on, mountains of cocaine were served. Naked people jumped into the pool and started pairing off.
I've always had a problem putting names to faces and was sitting in a crowded room next to a tall, dark-haired bloke who seemed familiar.
I racked my memory, which by now was suffering the effects of much cocaine.
'You're in a group, aren't you?' The man did not reply. I tried valiantly to guess. Then it came to me.
'I know  -  it's Wings, isn't it? Paul McCartney's group.' Silence fell among the assembled throng.
I was the woman who had failed to recognise Keith Richards. The Rolling Stones were probably the most famous rock and roll band on the planet - but Keith just laughed.
I had my share of comforting to do that evening. You could say that I helped Britt get over her break-up in a similar manner to that I had used on Robert Wyatt.
Britt was lovely. If one woman could persuade me to transfer to the other team, it would be her.
The next morning, however, I witnessed a terrible sight. Wandering among the naked bodies in the debris of the party was Victoria, Britt's 12-year-old daughter from her marriage to Peter Sellers.
Victoria looked lost. I knew I should try to talk to her, but I couldn't. I was too embarrassed.
There are always casualties from the excesses of fame. Usually, it's the children.
Phil Lynott, of Thin Lizzy, was charming, witty and very sexy. I met him at a wedding in the mid-1970s. He was giving me the eye and I went back to his hotel room with him.
It wasn't love. I knew I was another notch on his bedpost - a role I was happy to play. Phil seemed so together and cheerful. It's hard to believe the man I met would die from a drug overdose in 1986.
Adulation and drugs seem to go hand in hand. When you come off stage, it is hard to replicate the attention you get from fans.
There's no training for this stuff. Stage school teaches you to perform, but it cannot prepare you for the stress of fame. It's hardly surprising people like Britney Spears go off the rails.
You're surrounded by people saying yes - but no one saying no.
While walking on Hampstead Heath one day, I came across a guitarist called Jim Cregan. Jim was in Cockney Rebel with Steve Harley - with whom I had a short affair.
Much later, though, Jim became my first husband. We married in 1977, a union that was to last only three years.
We were apart too much - especially after Jim joined Rod Stewart's band - and we were both unfaithful.
Around 1979, Jim and I were staying at a hotel in New Zealand when Muhammad Ali walked in.
He was just so beautiful. It might have been near the end of his boxing career, but as he came through the lobby, everyone stared at this figure of power, authority and grace.
My evening went badly. I'd got into a row with Jim at the hotel bar and stormed off.
Feeling a bit tipsy, I staggered into what I wrongly thought was my suite. That's funny - the door's open, I thought. Inside was Ali, surrounded by an entourage of stunning girls.
'Come on in, honey,' Ali said to me. I wasn't going to argue with a world champion.
I sat next to him and he started chatting me up. Not thinking what I was saying, I said: 'Gosh, your hands are so big.' I think he got the implication.
After a while, Jim came to find me and walked into the room.
Ali said: 'Who's that?' I had to be honest. 'That's my husband.' Ali answered: 'What you doing with that white honkey?'
I guess it's every man's worst dilemma. What do you do when a world heavyweight champion is flirting with your wife and insulting you?
Jim is pale, ginger and skinny. It wouldn't have been much of a match. Jim left. I did the decent thing, made my excuses to Ali and went after my husband.
Ali expected me to stay. I wish I had. Our commune was full of exotic men, dressed in flamboyant clothes. But they were pretty much all heterosexual. Then there was Elton John.
Back then, he dressed in a completely straight manner, apart from the big glasses. Of course, we all knew he was gay, but he didn't talk about it.
Years later, I was partying with Rod and Elton in LA in the late 1970s. Elton used to call Rod 'Phyllis' and Rod in turn nicknamed Elton 'Sharon'.
This was before Elton met his current partner, David Furnish. Later that night, Elton was crying and saying: 'I wish I could have children.'
I offered to have his baby. 'No need to actually do it, just put it in a bottle,' I suggested helpfully.
Oddly, Elton never took me up on the offer.
When I look back, I realise I've lived an extraordinarily rich life. Would I do it all again, given a chance? No. Would I do some of it again? Certainly.
But I can't recommend that people try drugs. They make you feel good for a time, but the pendulum always swings back the other way. The good times get shorter and the paranoia grows stronger.
I abandoned cocaine in the 1980s. Drugs destroy careers and mess up families, just as adultery does.
I can understand why artistic people get involved with drugs. You need something to take you away from the intensity of creativity, but there are other ways to do it. I get the same buzz from reading a book cover to cover these days.
Five years ago, I married Neil Warnock, head of a worldwide booking agency that looks after Dolly Parton, Status Quo and David Gilmour among others. I'm now planning to write a longer version of my memoirs.
You could say I've settled; I'm certainly grounded. I see myself, fancifully, as a kite. Neil's got the string. And these days, I think I prefer someone holding on.

• Linda Lewis's solo UK tour begins on Tuesday  -  she will also perform at Glastonbury and Guilfest. Details at www.lindalewis.co.uk

 

Hendrix family to contest £15 million song sale

Rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix

A private bidder paid $15 million for the rights to hit songs by U.S. rock guitarist

at an auction, but a company owned by the musician's family said it will sue to prove it owns the songs.

The rights, title, and interest to songs including "Hey Joe," "Purple Haze," "Voodoo Child," and "Foxy Lady," were sold over the telephone in New York by the estate of Michael Frank Jeffrey, Hendrix's one-time manager.
Hendrix, who was born in Seattle, died in 1970 at the age of 27 in London, after choking on his own vomit. About 600,000 of his albums are still sold annually.
Jeffrey died in a plane crash three years later.
Fourteen charities based in the United Kingdom, including the Asthma Research Council, the British Heart Foundation and the Kings College Hospital are the beneficiaries of Jeffrey's estate.
"Whoever bought this bought themselves the right to be a litigant," Bob Merlis, a spokesman for Experience Hendrix told Reuters.
The Seattle-based company is owned by members of Hendrix's family. "It will be contested instantly," he added.
Experience Hendrix says it owns all rights to the music, and recordings of the guitarist.
The auctioneer, the auctions division of Chicago-based merchant bank Ocean Tomo, declined to comment on the ownership of rights to the songs.