Amy Winehouse_ The Biography - Chas Newkey-Burden [42]
Speaking of Allen, there were reports that she and Amy had a huge row on the evening of the ceremony. Allen had been up for a number of awards but ended up winning none of them. According to an eyewitness at Heathrow airport, she admitted, ‘I had a real slanging match with Amy Winehouse. We had a really bad row. It was terrible. I’m miserable and don’t want to talk about it.’ An onlooker at the airport added that Lily waited alone for a flight to Washington, DC: ‘She had tears streaming down her face and she seemed as though she hadn’t slept a wink. She looked really rough and hung over. Someone asked if she was all right and she said she’d had a bust-up with Amy Winehouse. She was sniffing and wiping tears from her cheeks. She looked like a little lost schoolgirl.’
However spokespeople for both women denied the incident. A representative for Allen said, ‘I don’t know anything about an argument. As far as I know they’ve always got on OK.’ Amy’s camp added, ‘Lily was crying because she was tired and emotional after her big night. They didn’t have an argument – they’re friends.’ Allen herself added, ‘The story about me being in tears either because I didn’t win a BRIT or had a fight with Amy is complete rubbish. She and I are friends and we were hanging out at the BRITs and at the Oasis party afterwards. I was talking to her for ages. I always said that I wasn’t expecting to win, and that if I wasn’t going to win then I hoped Amy did. I’m very pleased for her.
‘The pictures of me crying in the papers were taken when I was saying goodbye to my boyfriend, who I haven’t seen much of recently. I’ve been working really hard and travelling a lot and I only got to see him at the BRITs, so the tears were just because I was leaving to get on yet another plane.’
Reports vary as to just how hard Amy’s celebrations after the ceremony were. The Daily Star said, ‘Winehouse claimed she would party all night, but she was later seen walking around the Mocoto bar and the Cuckoo Club looking seriously sober, saying she just wanted to celebrate with family and friends.’ However, Mark Ronson says that he and Amy partied hard after the BRITs. ‘We got wasted together after the BRITs and I passed out on her floor hugging an animal rug at 7 a.m.,’ he recalls.
The final word on the night goes to Amy, who managed to take the time to offer her sympathy to Robbie Williams, who had recently gone into a clinic to address his demons. ‘I feel gutted for him. Addiction to prescription drugs is a really hard thing. I hope he comes out OK,’ she said. The following day she and a companion were spotted out and about. One onlooker said, ‘They kept their heads down and didn’t say too much. It must have been a very good time the previous night.’
HMV’s Gennaro Castaldo puts into perspective what a BRIT triumph meant for Amy’s career: ‘Aside from the kudos that it gives you, winning a BRIT or performing at the awards ceremony can seriously enhance an artist’s recording career. The profile that it gives you means that successful artists can break out of their immediate fan base to connect with a much wider audience. This is happening right now to Amy Winehouse.
‘It will help take her to that next level of stardom, as we have seen in the past with the likes of Robbie Williams and Coldplay.’
Back to Black, which had slipped to Number 5, went to Number 2 in the wake of the BRITs, with sales up nearly 200 per cent at HMV, and downloads of her single ‘Rehab’ shot up 40 per cent during the show itself.
Within months came Amy’s performance at the Glastonbury Festival. Although she began the set nervously, it proved to be a memorable and enjoyable performance. Sauntering onto the Pyramid Stage just after 3 p.m., Amy expressed her gratitude that fans were willing to stand in the rain to listen to her sing. She was utterly entertaining: swinging her hips seductively, singing her heart out and even muttering to herself and giggling at times. It made for quite a spectacle.
Then the bizarre: someone flew over the crowd in