Lioness Untamed: Artists Reflect on Amy Winehouse and Her Legacy

Though Amy Winehouse passed away at the age of 27 on July 23, 2011, her music lives on. Her 2003 debut Frank exhibited honest songwriting and an appreciation for musical genres ranging from jazz to hip-hop. Though Frank received favorable reviews, it wasn't until its successor, 2006's Back to Black, that Winehouse exploded internationally on the strength of her breakout single, "Rehab."

Produced entirely by Salaam Remi and Mark Ronson, Back to Black had a darker, more distinct R&B sound than its predecessor, spawning additional hits like "You Know I'm No Good" and "Back to Black." The critically acclaimed album was nominated for Album of the Year at the 50th Grammy awards in 2008, winning the awards for Best Pop Vocal album, as well as Record of the Year and Song of the Year for "Rehab." Sadly, it was the last album Winehouse released while she was still alive.

In her 27 years, Winehoue touched fans and other artists alike with her music. She had a special bond with Remi and Ronson, the two men responsible for her sonic progression from Frank to Back to Black. She also shared a unique connection with rapper Nas due to their work with Remi and their shared birthday, which is today. Other artists ranging from Questlove, Pharoahe Monch, Ghostface Killah, Jay-Z and Kanye West all either sang her praises, recorded remixes to her songs or paid homage to her after her passing.

On her 30th birthday, we reflect on Winehouse's legacy and the long-lasting impact of her music through the words of other artists who loved her. There will never be another Amy Winehouse and she will never be forgotten. RIP.

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On the impact of her music: "I think it was great. I was a tremendous fan. The authenticity of the vocals, vocal stylings and the vintage sound of her voice—that in itself lends to inspiration. It just felt right and it was an inspiration and a motivation for me. It was good to see an artist have that authentic of texture and that kind of songwriting that wasn't being displayed at the time persevered and blow up."

On how her music will be remembered over time: "It will be very well remembered. That's the point, you know? Those songs are timeless, not even in the sense of standing the test of time, but when they were out, you were like, 'What era is this?' It's hitting everybody right now, and I found that it transcended what a trend is supposed to be at the moment. That's how you make records that stand the test of time. The writing was genuine and current, but some of the arrangements and musicality was vintage. It was a dope combination; it'll last forever."

On his favorite song from her catalog and why he chose to record a "Rehab" remix: "I'll say 'Rehab' because I actually recorded vocals over the remix. The thing that I love about artists is when they have humility and are open in how we relate to them. Biggie saying that he was black and ugly, but, however, these are the things that he [did] take pride in. Kanye saying 'My jaw is broke and I'm in a fucked up situation, but I'm still going to do this,' or 'I know my mother taught me better than to spend my money on this dumbass jewelry, but I did it anyway—but I got my money.' When she did that song, it hit me like 'God damn!' That [was] gut-wrenching and unprecedented to be like 'I need this, but I'm refusing it.'"

On how her music will be remembered over time: "She accomplished a lot in a short period of time. I saw her perform live and in my opinion, no one is greater than any studio recordings until you can transform it into live performance. She did that and did it well. Even with her controversy she didn't let that affect her artistry."

On which artists he would've liked to see her work with: "Me."

On his favorite Amy Winehouse song: "Rehab."

On his favorite hip-hop collaboration of hers: "'You Know I'm No Good' with Ghostface Killah."

On how me met Amy Winehouse: "Me and Amy's connection was through producer and mutual friend Salaam Remi. He plugged us up because we shared the same birthday. He was like 'Y'all remind me a lot of each other,' and that's how we met: via Skype, via iChat—me, her and Salaam. Then talking on the phone and talking about music." [via Fuse]

On "Me & Mr. Jones": "I don't really remember if Salaam—who was really close to her, who introduced us—if he told me about it or not. I don't remember right now. But, I heard a lot about it before I even heard the song." [via XXL]

"When the legendary Amy Winehouse sang about me in her song 'Me and Mr. Jones,' I was so honored. Amy Winehouse was my true soul sister." [via MTV News]

On her spirit and personality: "She was a genuine person. She was like, real. When you talked to her, she was real. She was struggling with a lot of things in her life, but she was a real artist. She was like a sister to me, like a little sister. We had the same birthday so she just had this big, big spirit for this little body. You know what I mean? I wish she was here today, man. God bless her soul." [via Island Def Jam]

On "Like Smoke" and "Cherry Wine": "Before she passed, we were talking about a different record—two different records, actually—and we never got a chance to record them. And those were the vocals for an idea, but not the idea that we had. It was some idea that she was laying down that could've been for me, or that could've just been for her, or just something she had worked on with Salaam. Salaam had the vocals, and we were about to say 'Nah,' but she wouldn't have done that if it was me that passed. She was not that type of person—we had the same birthday, so we connected like that—and if it was me who passed, she would not have just rode off into the sunset and [acted] like it was nothing. So this was our way to salute her and remember her." [via Vibe]

On meeting Amy Winehouse: "She came to EMI Music Publishing because she had liked 'The Block Party,' which was Lisa Left Eye Lopes' first single on the album before she passed. The head of Sony/EMI for Europe called me and was like: I really want you to meet her. I had just moved to Miami so I met her two weeks after my 30th birthday. I kind of wanted to be left alone, and he was like, Just meet her. She sat down and started singing 'Girl from Ipanema,' then we wrote a few songs, some of which helped get her a deal with Universal/Island and ended up on her first album. I was really mentoring her, cause at that time they still had other people writing with her. I wanted them to hear her ideas of lyrics. Writing and being at the top of your game allows you to work with other artists well, from the Fugees, to Nas, to Jazmine Sullivan, Spragga Benz. I could just throw anything at them. They are all people that I could just say stuff to, or not say something to. With robots you have to program them. Artists you have to do something to inspire them and they give you back art that you could not have asked for, it's bigger than anything you can dream of. That's how that works. With Amy, I was just able to say stuff to her that made her think she could write what she wanted." [via Okayplayer]

On the moment during the Frank sessions he knew she was going to be successful: "The first song we did. In the first session we did 'Cherry,' then 'I Heard Love Is Blind,' and that was like a whole other thing. From there, I was like if this is where you are at 18, where will you be at 25. She had a serious styling ability, a serious voice and she was serious on the writing, which was everything I felt it took to be able to push her." [via Okayplayer]

On her impact on music and how she inspired others: "[After looking] at Amy Winehouse and what's going on there, what I felt was that it wasn't even songs that she left behind. She left behind inspiration. She will inspire another generation and another set of people. She might have collectively 20 or 30 songs that she's released for her actual recording career but I feel that she inspired many other artists to now dig back into her artistry. She was inspired by Ms. Dynamite, by Ella Fitzgerald, by Dinah Washington, by Lauryn Hill, all these other things and people that she'd never met, and mashed it to make who she was. So now she will continue in that same idea of inspiring other people.

"I just miss her. As far as her as a person, she just always had something smart to say. And you'd want to be like, 'You shouldn't have said that.' But then you've got to laugh because it was so funny. I miss her actually as a person. And musically, she still stands up there as one of the best to ever do what she's done." [via The Hollywood Reporter]

On why he enjoyed working with Winehouse: "[If she didn't like something] Amy would just go 'Nah, I don't like it'. She'd say 'Nah, don't bother, it's shit'. That's really helpful because you can waste time taking an idea that you didn't like in the first place and making it vaguely better." [via The Guardian]

On why his bond with her was so strong: "I dunno. It's just one of those things. Some people you just have that great [connection] with. In our case, it was musical: we both had a shared love of soul and blues. She would turn me onto stuff. I would turn her onto stuff. It was also just a really strong friendship as well. It came after two days in the studio. [She was] kinda like a sister." [via GQ]

On whether her Lioness: Hidden Treasures album was a follow-up to Back to Black: "No. Back to Black was such a phenomenon in a way and a lot of people kinda copied the sound of it. So for the first two, three years after it that we were thinking about doing another record, I was like, I was so sick of that sound, you know, between Version—my own album—and Amy's thing.

"I just felt like I had taken it as far as I could. And then it was always a bit of like an ongoing question in my head, 'If Amy and I work again, what should it sound like?' But you kinda know what sounds good with Amy's voice. But who knows what it would have sounded like? She could have come up with a batch of songs that would have been completely different." [via GQ]

On why he changed his mind about getting involved with the project: "[Darcus Beese] was, you know, quite persistent. I listened to the vocal [of 'Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?'] by itself and I realized, it is a fucking amazingly powerful vocal and I thought, 'Well if I don't do it, no one else is gonna to do it.' I spent a couple days really working on the arrangement and I sort of realized that I didn't actually pull outside something in her. She would always pull out something arrangement-wise I think that I never got from any other people I worked with. It's a combination of experience and a little bit of life...her delivery was always so incredible but also slightly dangerous. It was never in danger of becoming pastiche. It wouldn't' sound corny. I just thought if I could do something that I would have been just as proud to have done with her while she was still here, then that would kinda resolve any issues or problems that I had with the actual project." [via GQ]