Kelly Clarkson had already heard Amy Winehouse sing and perform before being acknowledged for her brilliance in her Back to Black album.
Clarkson recalled the beautiful encounter at The Kelly Clarkson Show with Marisa Abela, who will play Winehouse in her biopic of the same album name.
"I actually saw her before she was who she was," Clarkson revealed. "She was just coming over with her boyfriend, and it was while I was shooting this movie that I absolutely hate but anyway, we all did a karaoke night."
Clarkson did not specify where and when the karaoke session occurred, but she was sure it was before she became internationally famous after Back to Black.
"It was before she was her ... and she almost sounded a little different as well," Clarkson remembered. "I don't think she had a record deal or anything at that time. But we all went to karaoke and she sang Etta James, and I was like, 'Wait, what?' It was like she, just from the jump, had such a presence about her voice. It almost became more of a character, too, like with herself throughout her career."
Although Winehouse has had massive success in the United Kingdom with Frank, Back to Black launched her to international stardom in 2006.
It became one of the best-selling albums in UK history and was nominated for British Album of the Year at the 2007 BRIT Awards.
The album's lead single, "Rehab," earned Winehouse her second Ivor Novello Award. She also swept three of the Big Four Grammy Awards at the 50th Grammy Awards - winning Best New Artist, Song of the Year, and Record of the Year, along with Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
The same year, Clarkson was also nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals with Reba McEntire for "Because of You."
Winehouse's controversial and inspiring life is being translated into a biopic film with Abela starring as her. Abela raved about Winehouse's life at Harper's Bazaar and how important her art is.
"I remembered how I felt when I was young, seeing that woman who was proud and cool, wearing a big Star of David in between a cleavage and a nice bra," she remembered. "I understood what a Friday-night dinner would look like in her home, the humour in her family. I loved how effervescent she was, how huge a soul, how she just permeated any room she was in. But also, her relationship to her art form, and wanting to be good. That was the most important thing."
Back to Black was released in the United Kingdom in April 2024. It will be shown in theatres nationwide on May 17, 2024, in the United States.
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