Birthday Card to Amy Winehouse

n.p.: n.p., 2008. Near fine.. Original birthday card inscribed to Amy Winehouse by her producer Mark Ronson and a then up-and-coming singer, Adele. Though undated, the card is almost certainly from Winehouse's infamous 25th birthday party, where the singer failed to show up. Held on September 14th, 2008 at one of the Winehouse's favorite clubs, Jazz After Dark in Soho, both Ronson (who produced more than half the tracks for BACK TO BLACK) and Adele were in attendance - as were both of Winehouse's parents and a host of friends. Despite (reportedly) several taxis and pleas from friends, the singer refused to leave her house, and the party broke up around 2am without the singer having ever appeared - a fact seized upon by the tabloids the following day.

But at the time of this card's inscriptions Winehouse was at the height of her fame and power. The previous year she'd won five GRAMMYs for her album BACK TO BLACK. And while her paparazzi exploits were beginning to gain more traction, it's also true that she was in many ways at the pinnacle of her career, her reputation more "sex and drugs and rock-and-roll" than the sadder, seedier one soon to follow.

Adele, however, was largely a newcomer. Ronson had produced the first single off of her debut album 19, "Cold Shoulder," just months before, and the younger singer was still very much framed in the press (along with singers like Duffy) as "the new Amy Winehouse." But in Adele's case, the connections were more than just superficial. Both singers had attended London's Croydon school as students and Adele has frequently admitted her debt to Winehouse: "[H]er first album, FRANK [...] really changed my life. I went to music school when I was 14, and when I was like 15 and a half, FRANK came out. I used to see her on TV or in magazine shoots with a pink electric guitar. I used to think she was the coolest motherfucker on the face of the Earth" (quoted in Sanchez).

Indeed, Adele's career has in many ways seemed almost a mirror image of what Winehouse's was, or might have been - as popular and beloved as her former schoolmate's was controversial and condemned. And the two singers continue to be mentioned together. Several years ago, Ronson had to deny quotes that appeared in the VILLAGE VOICE attributed to him that Winehouse was before her death "unnerved" by Adele's success. More recently, Adele's song, "Love Is A Game," which closes her recent album, 30, seems to be both inspired by and in direct dialogue with Winehouse's "Love is a Losing Game." And numerous reviews of 30 have pointed out the debt to Winehouse on that more jazz- and soul-influenced album.
Shortly after Winehouse's death in 2011, Adele encouraged her audience at an Albert Hall concert to hold up their phones: "So Amy can see us now, from upstairs."

A stupendous association between these two vocal and song-writing giants. 6.5'' x 6.5''. Commercial pictorial birthday card picturing a black-and-white photo of an elderly couple. In original envelope addressed by Ronson: "Amy [inside a heart]." Inscribed inside the card first by Ronson: "Dear Amy / Happy Birthday / + / Lots of Love / From / Mark / xo." Additionally inscribed beside that by Adele: "a very happy birthday / love / Adele / xxx." Provenance: Julien's Auctions, Property from the Life and Career of Amy Winehouse, lot 401 - with original lot tag and description card laid in. A copy of the full-color limited edition slipcased hardcover auction catalogue (508 pages, fine condition - this item, page 239) is also provided. Mild wear to the card; some touches of soiling to envelope. Otherwise bright and sound.