Many of you probably heard that the European tour just launched by the talented Amy Winehouse has been canceled after fans watched the diva stumble under the lights in Serbia. Reports say audience members in Belgrade booed her off the stage Saturday night just a few songs into the first concert of the tour when she couldn’t even remember the lyrics to her own songs. The Grammy winner was scheduled for a dream tour—to Istanbul, Athens, Spain, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Poland, Hungary and Romania—but those dates have all been cancelled. The Serbian media called the concert a "scandal," with Belgrade’s daily newspaper calling it "the worst performance in the history of Belgrade."
It is ironic that Amy Winehouse became famous for her song "Rehab," where she sang: "They tried to make me go to rehab. I said 'No, no, no.'" After the song became a hit, she actually said “yes” to drug and alcohol rehab in London, where she stayed for a month. If she has turned again to drugs, people will ask the same questions about if rehab works, and why big stars risk everything for drugs…
We’ve talked about rehab before, but Amy Winehouse’s struggle highlights what rehab is all about: addiction is a chronic disease, which means it has to be managed throughout your whole life. People relapse to drug addiction just like they do with other chronic illnesses like diabetes, hypertension, and asthma. To successfully treat a chronic disease, you have to change deeply imbedded behaviors—and that takes practice. For example, a diabetic has to learn how to manage a restricted diet, just as a person struggling with addiction has to learn how to manage cravings. Relapse does not mean treatment failure, but that treatment needs to be adjusted or changed altogether.
Sadly, many people are able to hide their addiction from the world and never get help. For famous people, every slip is recorded by fans and posted for millions to see. But famous or not, being successful in recovery takes a lot of support—which it sounds like Amy Winehouse has. Her representative put out this statement: "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."
R.I.P Amy Winehouse 1983-2011
While we are still not sure exactly what killed Amy Winehouse, many people are speculating that it had something to do with her admitted drug and alcohol abuse. As we blogged a few weeks ago, Winehouse was booed off the stage in her last concert. Now she may be among what some call the “27 Club”—famous people who died at the age of 27 from drug and alcohol abuse, including Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison, all major music heroes of their times. Coincidence?
Not really. As their fame and wealth increased, so did their access to drugs and so maybe, too, their belief that they were outside the rules, invincible. But that wasn’t true. By the time they were in their mid-twenties it is likely their bodies started to rebel, screaming enough is enough!
Going to rehab is a smart move, even if it takes several tries. Rehab is hard. It calls for major changes in an addicted person’s life beyond stopping drug use—like a change of friendships (maybe even of a best friend or partner), not to mention a change of lifestyle and even where you live. When you’re “on top,” too much change might be harder to accept.
Still, the alternative is worse—just ask the people who loved Amy Winehouse. She was a great talent who could really have moved the world. To quote one of our 2010 GRAMMY winners from their video "Drug Free State of Mind," "…we all shootin’ stars basically waitin’ to be seen…"
What is your talent that is waiting to be seen? Make a plan not to waste it!
