Amy Winehouse album to be released posthumously?

Amy Winehouse

When news broke that Amy Winehouse had sadly passed away, her album Back to Black went straight to the top of the iTunes chart in mere hours, and her most famous single, Rehab, was downloaded countless times. This, of course, has sparked rumours about a new Amy Winehouse album.During the past two years Amy worked sporadically on her third album. Sources tell the Telegraph that the songs were still in their demo phase, but that "a lot of material" is available. Amy's parents, Mitch and Janis Winehouse, have the final say regarding a posthumous release of the material. However, already the unknown material is said to outsell Back to Black's five million copies.

According to industry experts there will be a massive demand for such a posthumous album. Phil Alexander, editor-in-chief or Mojo magazine, said, "It is inevitable that her death will elevate her reputation and that there will be a third record released.It's difficult to place her in the pantheon of greats now because the truth is that her career was still in its early days. That's the tragedy of the situation. She was a wonderful writer. The thing that's very sad about this is that there was so much more to come." Regarding the comparison that's often been drawn between Amy and Billie Holiday, Phil says, "Billie Holiday had an extensive body of work, whereas Amy's body of work is two albums. I don't think you can say she's one of the great singers of the modern age but she had the potential to be that. She established a vocal style that was very much her own. She really did influence a lot of people that came after her, and genuinely won the respect of her peers as well as her elders."

Amy Winehouse

When Phil first met Amy in 2004, she was "a gobby 20-year-old" who was full of fun. He always believed that she would come out a winner in her struggles with drugs and alcohol, "I always thought she would pull through, that she had a strength of character that would allow her to finally escape it." He praises Amy as a strong lyricist, saying "You can absolutely separate her popularity from her personal life. It's not about her wobbling up Parkway out of her brain. It's about the songs."

Whereas Phil Alexander says that Amy isn't in the pantheon of the greats (yet), Adam Liversage of the British Phonographic Industry holds a different opinion, saying "You might argue that Amy Winehouse was already in the pantheon of greats. Her songs have become standards.Already there has been a lot of anticipation for a new album and if it was released posthumously that will only increase the interest in her."

Posthumous album or not, we will definitely be able to enjoy a new track of Amy Winehouse: a duet she recorded last March with Tony Bennett. It will be featured on Tony's soon-to-be-released album. Reportedly, it was a revived Amy that recorded that song. Tony said, "She was an extraordinary musician with a rare intuition as a vocalist and I am truly devastated that her exceptional talent has come to such an early end."