Back to Black is the second and final studio album by the English singer-songwriterAmy Winehouse, released on 27 October 2006 byIsland Records. Winehouse predominantly based the album on her tumultuous relationship with Blake Fielder-Civil, who temporarily left her to pursue an ex-girlfriend. Their brief separation spurred Winehouse to create an album that explores themes of guilt, grief, infidelity, heartbreak and trauma in a relationship.
Back to Black sold 20 million copies worldwide, becoming one of thebest-selling albums of all time and theUK's second best-selling album of the 21st century. It received widespread acclaim from music critics, who praised Winehouse's songwriting, emotive singing style, and Remi and Ronson's production. At the2008 Grammy Awards,Back to Black wonBest Pop Vocal Album and was also nominated forAlbum of the Year. At the same ceremony, Winehouse won four additional awards, tying her with five other artists as the second-most awarded female in a single ceremony. The album was also nominated at the2007 Brit Awards forMasterCard British Album and was short-listed for the 2007Mercury Prize, among other accolades.
Recognized as a key recording in the widespread popularity ofBritish soul throughout the late 2000s,Back to Black established Winehouse as acultural icon and appears in numerous lists of the greatest albums of all time. In 2025, it was selected by theLibrary of Congress for preservation in theNational Recording Registry as a "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" work.
After signing withIsland Records in 2002,[1] Winehouse released her debut album,Frank, on 20 October 2003. She dedicated the album to her ex-boyfriend, Chris Taylor, as she gradually lost interest in him.[2][3] Produced mainly bySalaam Remi, many songs were influenced byjazz, and apart from two cover versions, every song was co-written by Winehouse. The album received positive reviews,[4][5] with compliments over the "cool, critical gaze" in its lyrics,[6] while her vocals drew comparisons toSarah Vaughan,[7]Macy Gray and others.[6]The album reached number 13 on theUK Albums Chart at the time of its release, and has been certified triple Platinum by theBritish Phonographic Industry (BPI).[8][9] In 2004, Winehouse was nominated for British Female Solo Artist and British Urban Act at theBrit Awards,[10] whileFrank made the shortlist for theMercury Prize.[11] That same year, the album's first single, "Stronger Than Me", earned Winehouse and Remi anIvor Novello Award for Best Contemporary Song.[12] In a 2004 interview withThe Observer, Winehouse expressed dissatisfaction with the album, stating that "some things on [the] album [made her] go to a little place that's fucking bitter". She further notes that the marketing was "fucked", the promotion was "terrible", and everything was "a shambles".[13]
In 2005, Winehouse dated Blake Fielder-Civil, who was an assistant on music video sets. Around the same time, she rediscovered the 1960s music she loved as a girl, stating in a 2007Rolling Stone interview: "When I fell in love with Blake, there was Sixties music around us a lot."[14] In 2005, the couple spent a lot of time in a localCamden bar, and during their time there, Winehouse would listen toblues,'60s girl groups, andMotown artists, explaining that "it was [her] local" and "spent a lot of time there [...] playing pool and listening to jukebox music."[14] The music heard in the bar appealed to Winehouse when she was writing songs for her second album.[14]
Around the same year, she went through a period of drinking, heavy drug use, and weight loss.[15] People who saw her during the end of that year and early 2006 reported a rebound that coincided with the writing ofBack to Black.[15] Her family believes that the mid-2006 death of her grandmother, who was a stabilising influence, set her off into addiction.[15] Fielder-Civil then left Winehouse to revert to his previous girlfriend. During their break, she would write the bulk of the album on the state of her "relationship at the time with Blake [Fielder-Civil]" through themes of "grief, guilt, and heartache".[14] Winehouse dated musicianAlex Clare briefly in 2006,[16] and would later return to and marry Fielder-Civil in the following year.[3][17]
Most of the songs onBack to Black were solely written by Winehouse,[18] as her primary focus of the album's sound shifted more towards the style of the girl groups from the 1950s and 1960s. Winehouse worked with New York singerSharon Jones's longtime band, theDap-Kings, to back her up in the studio and on tour.[19] Her father, Mitch Winehouse, relates in his memoir,Amy, My Daughter, how fascinating watching her process was, especially with witnessing her perfectionism in the studio. She would also put out what she had sung on a CD and play it in his taxi outside to know how most people would hear her music.[20]
Mark Ronson (pictured above) was one of the main co-producers for the album.
In 2005, Winehouse returned to Miami (as she went there previously to produce her debut album) to record five songs atSalaam Remi's Instrumental Zoo Studios: "Tears Dry on Their Own", "Some Unholy War", "Me & Mr Jones", "Just Friends", and "Addicted". The recording process of Remi's album portion was "intimate", consisting of Winehouse singing while on guitar and Remi adding the other instruments played mostly by himself (chiefly played the piano and the main/bass guitars on the album), or by instrumentalist Vincent Henry (primarily played the saxophone, the flute, and the clarinet).[21][18] Winehouse and producerMark Ronson both shared a publishing company, which encouraged a meeting between the two. They conversed in March 2006 in Ronson's New York studio that he used to have. They worked on six tracks together: "Rehab", "Back to Black", "You Know I'm No Good", "Love Is a Losing Game", "Wake Up Alone", and "He Can Only Hold Her".[3][18][22] Ronson said in a 2010 interview withThe Guardian that he liked working with Winehouse because she was blunt when she did not like his work.[23] She in turn thought that when they first met, he was a sound engineer and that she was expecting an "older man with a beard".[24]
Ronson wrote "Back to Black" the night after he met Winehouse, explaining in a 2010Mojo interview:
I just thought, 'Let's talk about music, see what she likes.' She said she liked to go out to bars and clubs and play snooker with her boyfriend and listen to the Shangri-Las. So she played me some of those records ... I told her that I had nothing to play her right now but if she [lets] me work on something overnight she could come back tomorrow. So I came up with this little piano riff, which became the verse chords to 'Back to Black.' Behind it I just put a kick drum and a tambourine and tons of reverb.[22]
Mark Ronson later recalled theBack to Black recording sessions in a 2015The FADER interview:
Amy was so serious about her words. Working on "Back to Black", when she first sang the chorus, she said, We only said goodbye in words/ I died a hundred times. My producer instinct went off and I said, "Hey, sorry, it's got to rhyme. That's weird. Can you fix that?" And she just looked at me like I was crazy, like, "Why would I fix that? That's what came out." They're some of the most unlikely lyrics you could ever imagine on a massive pop single.[25]
Winehouse's father later recalled the formulation of "Rehab" in his memoir:
One day [Ronson and Winehouse] decided to take a quick stroll around the neighborhood because Amy wanted to buy [her then-boyfriend] Alex Clare a present ... on the way back Amy began telling Mark about being with Blake [Fielder-Civil, her ex], then not being with Blake and being with Alex instead. She told him about the time at my house after she'd been in hospital when everyone had been going on at her about her drinking: 'You know they tried to make me go to rehab, and I told them, no, no, no.' 'That's quite gimmicky,' Mark replied. 'It sounds hooky. You should go back to the studio and we should turn that into a song.'[22]
"She [Winehouse] was in Miami only for ten days forBack to Black. Her vocals were quick. She'd give a couple takes that were effortless and honest, and we'd [the Instrumental Zoo personnel] have it. People think of studio sessions as all-nighters, but we'd get there at 10 a.m. to set up; she'd come at noon. By 8 or 9 at night, we were done and we'd be back up in the morning getting it done in the daylight."
—Frank Socorro, sound engineer forBack to Black[21]
The majority of the songs produced by Ronson were completed atDaptone Records—along with the instrumental help of The Dap-Kings—in Brooklyn, New York.[18][26][27] Three of the horn players from the group played abaritone saxophone, atenor saxophone, and a trumpet. Ronson recorded the trio to create the "'60s-sounding metallics" on the album. The drums, piano, guitar, and bass were all done together in one room, with the drums being recorded with one microphone. There was also muchspill between the instruments.[28] Additional production of the album was located atChung King[27] and Allido Studios[29][30][31] in New York City, and atMetropolis Records in London.[18] In the Allido studio, Ronson used synthesisers and vintage keyboards to display the sound landscape for the album, including theWurlitzer electric piano.[18][32] In May of that year, Winehouse's demo tracks such as "You Know I'm No Good" and "Rehab" appeared on Mark Ronson's New York radio show onEast Village Radio. These were some of the first new songs played on the radio after the release of "Pumps" and both were slated to appear on her second album. The 11-track album, completed in five months,[20] was produced entirely by Remi and Ronson, with the production credits being split between them.
Tom Elmhirst, who mixed the single "You Know I'm No Good", was enlisted to help with the mixing of the album at Metropolis Records. He first received Ronson's original mix, which he described as being "radical in terms of panning, kind ofBeatlesque". He continued, "The drums, for instance, were all panned to one side". He attempted to mix "Love Is a Losing Game" in the same manner he did with "Rehab", but felt it was not right to do so. Elmhirst mixed "Rehab", but when he first received the multitrack of the song, many tracks remained unused. Therefore, Ronson went to London to record strings, brass and percussion in one of Metropolis' tracking rooms.[26][33]After these instruments were added, the song had garnered a "retro, '60s soul, R&B" feel to it. Elmhirst added acontemporary sound to the song as well, while Ronson wanted to keep the mix sparse and not overproduced.[33] The album wasmastered by Stuart Hawkes at Metropolis.[34]
Back to Black has been cited to have musical stylings ofcontemporary R&B,[33]neo soul,[36]reggae,[37] classicR&B,[38] and 1960s "pop andsoul".[39][40] According toAllMusic's John Bush,Back to Black finds Winehouse "desertingjazz and wholly embracing contemporary R&B".[41] David Mead ofPaste also viewed it as a departure fromFrank and said that it sets her singing to Salaam Remi and Mark Ronson's "syntheticMotown-style backdrop".[42] Meanwhile,Ann Powers fromNPR Music characterisedBack to Black as "a full embrace of classic rhythm and blues."[38] Music journalistChuck Eddy credits Ronson and Remi's production for resemblingPhil Spector'sWall of Sound technique and surrounding Winehouse with brass and string sections, harp, and theWurlitzer.[35]PopMatters writer Christian John Wikane said that its "sensibilities of 1960s pop and soul" are contradicted by Winehouse's "blunt" lyrics and felt that "this particular marriage of words and music mirrors the bittersweet dichotomy that sometimes frames real relationships".[39] The staff ofThe A.V. Club emphasized on "the record's status as the pinnacle of the Brit neo-soul wave it ushered in".[36]
The album's first song and single, "Rehab", is an upbeat,[43] contemporary,[33] and autobiographical song about Winehouse's past refusal to attend an alcoholrehabilitation centre after a conversation she had with her father, Mitch Winehouse. Previously, her management team prodded her to go to one.The song also contains "spring reverbs" on the lead vocals and drums to obtain a "retro feel", live "handclaps",timpanis, bells, and "slight vintage effects" on the piano and bass.[33] Winehouse mentions "Ray" and "Mr. Hathaway", in reference toRay Charles andDonny Hathaway. However, for some time during live performances, she replaced "Ray" with "Blake", referring to her ex-husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, who served time in prison for charges relating togrievous bodily harm.[44]
"You Know I'm No Good" is an uptempo[45] song about Winehouse cheating on a "good man that loves her", and therefore cheating herself out of a healthy relationship. The lyrics also entail Winehouse as being "helpless" while trying to understand and resist her own self-destructive compulsions.[46]
In thejazz and reggae-influenced "Me and Mr Jones" song, Winehouse sings about accepting that she never made it to aSlick Rick concert, but yet refuses to skip aNas show as they were both close friends (Nas' last name is Jones).[47] The song's title plays off the 1972 "Me and Mrs. Jones" byBilly Paul. In a 2011XXL interview, Nas recollects: "I don't really remember if Salaam, who was really close to her [Winehouse], who introduced us, if he told me about it ["Mr Jones" being based on Nas] or not [...] But, I heard a lot about it before I even heard the song."[22] Winehousecursed about the relationship between her and Nas in the song's first chorus ("What kind of fuckery is this?" / "You made me miss the Slick Rick gig") and in later ones as well. In aGenius commentary, Island Records presidentDarcus Beese added that the original track was titled "Fuckery" from both Remi and Winehouse. He then continues, "I remember saying to Amy and Salaam, "You can't call this song 'Fuckery' [...] Salaam was more of the grown up of the two but Amy was like, 'Well, why can't I?' [...] That's why I always say, you have to give everything you're thinking and give people something that's exciting."[48]
The fourth song on the album, "Just Friends", is about "[a woman] trying to pull away from an illicit affair", with lyrics indicating, "The guilt will kill you if she don't first". It is a "ska-soul" song[49] with a "pulsing reggae groove" throughout the track.[37]Jon Pareles ofThe New York Times elaborates that Winehouse makes songs such as "Just Friends" into "games of tone and phrasing [...] withholding a line and then breezing through it, stretching out a note over [her backing band]'s steady beat".[50]
The title track "Back to Black" explores elements of old-schoolsoul music.[51] The song's sound and beat have been described as similar to vintage girl groups from the 1960s.[52][53] Its production was noted for itsWall of Sound.[52][54] Winehouse expresses feelings of hurt and bitterness for a boyfriend who has left her; however, throughout the lyrics she "remains strong", exemplified in the opening lines, "He left no time to regret, Kept his dick wet, With his same old safe bet, Me and my head high, And my tears dry, Get on without my guy".[55] The song was inspired by her relationship with Fielder-Civil, who had left Winehouse for an ex-girlfriend. The breakup left her going to "black", which to the listener may appear to refer todrinking and depression. "Black" has sometimes been considered a reference to heroin, but this is inaccurate as Winehouse's heroin use did not begin until after her marriage to Blake Fielder-Civil (mid 2007), as confirmed in the Asif Kapadia documentary. The song's lyrical content consists of a sad goodbye to a relationship with the lyrics being frank.[53][56] John Murphy ofmusicOMH compared the song's introduction to theMartha and the Vandellas song "Jimmy Mack", adding that it continues to a "much darker place".[51]
"Love Is a Losing Game" is asentimental ballad that invokes Winehouse's chosen metaphor as a pastime that could be "addictive and destructive".Alexis Petridis ofThe Guardian further explains, "Over a solitary electric guitar and subtle drums, [Winehouse's] voice takes centre stage to [set] out her resigned viewpoint that, as with gambling, you can only love for so long before ending up the loser".[57]
The song "Tears Dry on Their Own" samples the main chord progression fromMarvin Gaye andTammi Terrell's 1967 song "Ain't No Mountain High Enough".[49] Remi stated that he thought the album needed something "up-tempo" and suggested to Winehouse that she procure a "slower, sadder conception" of the song.[58] Laura Barton ofThe Guardian explicated the track as Winehouse giving herself a stern "talking-to" with lyrics such as, "I cannot play myself again, I should be my own best friend" and "Not fuck myself in the head with stupid men".[59]
TheHelloBeautiful staff views "Wake Up Alone", written by Winehouse andPaul O'Duffy, as another sentimental ballad that "chronicles [the] time right after a breakup [and] when you're trying not to think of the person by keeping busy." They add, "[B]ut when night time comes, so do [the] thoughts of said person."[60] Winehouse spent a month in O'Duffy's North London studio working on tracks of the album, and "Wake Up Alone" was the first song recorded during the sessions and the only tune that made it onto the album. A "one-take" demo of the song recorded in March 2006 by O'Duffy later appeared on Winehouse's posthumous album,Lioness: Hidden Treasures.[61]
Nick Shymansky, Winehouse's first manager, revealed that the inspiration of "Some Unholy War", a mid-temposoul song,[62] came into fruition after Winehouse heard a radio broadcast on theWar in Afghanistan. As she heard the term "holy war", a war being primarily caused or justified by differences in religion, Winehouse immediately thought of an idea to spin the religious conflict into her own personal issues with Fielder-Civil. The idea is further bolstered with the song's opening lines, "If my man was fighting some unholy war, I would be behind him". Usually in live performances, she would start with the slower version of the song before proceeding into a more uptempo version.[63]
"He Can Only Hold Her" interpolates "(My Girl) She's a Fox" by brothersRobert andRichard Poindexter. Joshua Klein ofPitchfork describes Winehouse in the song as "an objective observer, [and] able to see her personal issues for what they are". The chorus goes, "So he tries to pacify her, 'cause what's inside her never dies".[64] Klein assumes that from "this new vantage [,] Winehouse has moved on".[65] John Harrison, the original demo producer of "He Can Only Hold Her", explained at aBIMM London masterclass that he was "introduced to '(My Girl) She's a Fox' by his sister". He then played the song for Winehouse and, when she expressed interest, made a backing track for her. Harrison was not originally given a writing credit onBack to Black, so he sued Winehouse forcopyright infringement. They had a settlement over the song, and eventually, his name was added to the track. The initialBack to Black liner notes only said: "Original demo produced by P*Nut [John Harrison's nickname]."[66][67]
"Addicted", a bonus track included on the expanded versions ofBack to Black, pertains to Winehouse's experiences withmarijuana. "I used to smoke a lot of weed", the singer toldRolling Stone in 2007. "I suppose if you have an addictive personality [,] then you go from one poison to the other."[68]
Winehouse performing at theEurockéennes festival in France in 2007
Back to Black was released on 27 October 2006.[69] A deluxe edition ofBack to Black was released in mainland Europe in November 2007 and in the United Kingdom on 3 December 2007. The reissue features the original studio album remastered as well as a bonus disc containing variousB-sides and live tracks, including Winehouse's solo rendition of the single "Valerie" onBBC Radio 1'sLive Lounge; the song was originally available in studio form on Ronson'sVersion album. Winehouse's debut DVDI Told You I Was Trouble: Live in London was released in the UK on 5 November and in the US on 13 November. It includes a live set recorded at London'sShepherd's Bush Empire and a 50-minute documentary chronicling the singer's career over the previous four years.[70]
The first single released from the album on 23 October 2006 was "Rehab". On 22 October 2006, based solely ondownload sales, it entered theUK Singles Chart at number 19,[71] and when the physical single was released the following week, it climbed to number seven.[72] Following a performance of "Rehab" at the2007 MTV Movie Awards on 3 June 2007, the song rose to number 10 on the USBillboard Hot 100 for the week of 23 June,[73] peaking at number nine the following week.[74]
"You Know I'm No Good" was released on 8 January 2007 as the album's second single, reaching number 18 on the UK Singles Chart.[75]Back to Black was released in the United States in March 2007, with a remix of "You Know I'm No Good" featuring rap vocals byGhostface Killah as its lead single. A third UK single, "Back to Black", was released on 30 April 2007. Having previously peaked at number 25 on the UK chart, the track climbed to number eight in late July 2011, following Winehouse's death.[75][76] Two further singles were released from the album: "Tears Dry on Their Own" was released on 13 August 2007, and peaked at number 16 in the UK, while "Love Is a Losing Game", released on 10 December 2007, reached number 33.[75]
In November 2007, the opening night of a 17-date tour was marred by booing and walkouts at theNational Indoor Arena in Birmingham. A critic for theBirmingham Mail said it was "one of the saddest nights of my life [...] I saw a supremely talented artist reduced to tears, stumbling around the stage and, unforgivably, swearing at the audience."[84] Other concerts ended similarly, with, for example, fans at herHammersmith Apollo performance saying that she "looked highly intoxicated throughout",[85] until she announced on 27 November 2007 that her performances and public appearances were cancelled for the remainder of the year, citing her doctor's advice to take a complete rest. A statement issued by concert promoterLive Nation blamed "the rigours involved in touring and the intense emotional strain that Amy has been under in recent weeks" for the decision.[86] Mitch Winehouse wrote about her nervousness before public performances in his 2012 book,Amy, My Daughter.[87]
Back to Black was widely acclaimed by critics. AtMetacritic, which assigns anormalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received anaverage score of 81, based on 26 reviews.[88]AllMusic writer John Bush lauded Winehouse's musical transition from her debut record: "All the best parts of her musical character emerge intact, and actually, are all the better for the transformation from jazz vocalist to soul siren."[41] Dorian Lynskey ofThe Guardian calledBack to Black "a 21st-century soul classic".[91] Sal Cinquemani ofSlant Magazine said that Winehouse and her producers are "expert mood-setters or crafty reconstructionists".[97]The New Yorker'sSasha Frere-Jones praised Winehouse's "mush-mouthed approach [on the album]".[98]Nathan Rabin, writing inThe A.V. Club, was impressed by "the incongruity between Winehouse's trifling lyrical concerns andBack To Black's wall-of-sound richness".[89]Entertainment Weekly'sWill Hermes felt that her "smartass" lyrics "raise [the album] into the realm of true, of-the-minute originality".[90]Douglas Wolk, writing forBlender, said that the album "sounds fantastic—partly because the production nails sample-ready '60s soul right down to the drum sound [...] Winehouse is one hell of an impressive singer, especially when she's not copping other people's phrasing".[99]
Some reviewers were more critical of the album. In a mixed review,Rolling Stone'sChristian Hoard stated: "The tunes don't always hold up. But the best ones are impossible to dislike."[95]Robert Christgau gave it an "honorable mention" in his consumer guide forMSN Music, citing "You Know I'm No Good" and "Rehab" as highlights and writing, "Pray her marriage lasts—she's observant, and it would broaden her perspective".[100]Pitchfork critic Joshua Klein criticised Winehouse's "defensive", subjective lyrics concerning relationships, but added that "Winehouse has been blessed by a brassy voice that can transform even mundane sentiments into powerful statements".[65]
Back to Black was named one of the 10 best albums of 2006 and 2007 by several publications on their year-end albums lists, includingTime (number one),[101]Entertainment Weekly (number two),Billboard (number three),The New York Times (number three),The Austin Chronicle (number four),Slant Magazine (number four), andBlender (number eight).[102] The album was placed at number 40 onRolling Stone's list of The Top 50 Albums of 2007.[103]Entertainment Weekly critic Chris Willman namedBack to Black the second best album of 2007, commenting that "Black will hold up as one of the great breakthrough CDs of our time." He adds, "In the end, the singer's real-life heartache over her incarcerated spouse proves what's obvious from the grooves: When this lady sings about love, she means every word."[104]
Back to Black debuted at number three on theUK Albums Chart on 5 November 2006 with first-week sales of 43,021 copies.[110] The album reached number one for the first time during the week ending 20 January 2007, its 11th week on the chart, selling over 35,500 copies.[111] The following week, it remained at number one with nearly 48,000 copies sold.[112] Five weeks later, it returned for a third week atop the UK chart, selling 47,000 copies.[113]Back to Black was the best-selling album of 2007 in the UK, having sold 1.85 million copies.[114] The BPI certified the album 15-times Platinum on 28 March 2025,[115] denoting shipments of 4.5 million copies in the UK, making itthe UK's second best-selling album of the 21st century so far,[116] as well as the joint11th best-selling album in the UK of all time.[117]
Back to Black debuted at number seven on theBillboard 200 in the United States with first-week sales of 51,000 copies,[118] becoming the highest debut entry for an album by a British female solo artist at the time—a record that would be broken byJoss Stone'sIntroducing Joss Stone, which debuted at number two on theBillboard 200 the following week.[119][120] Following Winehouse's multiple wins at the50th Annual Grammy Awards, the album jumped from number 24 to a new peak of number two on theBillboard 200 chart issue dated 1 March 2008 with sales of 115,000 copies.[121] The album was certified double-Platinum by theRecording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on 12 March 2008,[122] and has since sold nearly three million copies in the US.[123]
Following Winehouse's death on 23 July 2011,[131] sales ofBack to Black drastically increased across the world. The album rose to number one on several iTunes charts worldwide.[132] On 24 July 2011, with fewer than seven hours sales after the announcement of her death counting towards the respective week's chart figures,[133] the album re-entered the UK Albums Chart at number 49 with 2,446 copies sold.[134] The following week, it soared back to number one,[76] marking the fourth time the album had reached the top of the chart.Back to Black held the top spot for two additional weeks.[135][136] On 26 July 2011,Billboard reported that the album had re-entered theBillboard 200 chart dated 6 August 2011 at number nine with sales of 37,000 copies,[137] although that week's chart only tracked the first 36 hours of sales after her death was announced.[138] The following week, it climbed to number seven with 38,000 copies sold after a full week's worth of sales.[139] In Canada, the album re-entered theCanadian Albums Chart at number 13 on sales of 2,500 copies.[140][141] It rose to number six the following week, selling an additional 5,000 copies.[142] In continental Europe,Back to Black returned to the number-one spot in Austria,[143] Croatia,[144] Germany,[145] the Netherlands,[146] Poland[147] and Switzerland,[148] while reaching number one for the first time in Italy.[149] As of July 2015,Back to Black had sold 20 million copies worldwide.[150]
After the release ofBack to Black, record companies sought out more experimental female artists. Other female artists signed to major labels includedAdele,Duffy,V V Brown,Florence and the Machine,La Roux andLittle Boots. In the years afterBack to Black was released, Dan Cairns ofThe Sunday Times noted that there was a "notion [by A&R executives, radio playlisters and the public] that women are the driving commercial force in pop".[154] In March 2011, theNew York Daily News ran an article attributing the continuing wave of British female artists that have been successful in the United States to Winehouse and her absence.Spin magazine music editor Charles Aaron was quoted as saying, "Amy Winehouse was theNirvana moment for all these women [...] They can all be traced back to her in terms of attitude, musical styles or fashion." According to Keith Caulfield, chart manager forBillboard, "Because of Amy, or the lack thereof, the marketplace was able to get singers like Adele,Estelle and Duffy [...] Now those ladies have brought on the new ones, likeEliza Doolittle,Rumer andEllie [Goulding]."[153] Linda Barnard ofThe Toronto Star finds Winehouse to be among "the British women who claimed chart-topping ownership [...] with powerful voices" and that her "impressive" fiveGrammy wins forBack to Black put her at the "pinnacle of pop music".[155]
In 2011,Rolling Stone ranked the album at number 20 on its list of the 100 Best Albums of the 2000s;[156] the same publication ranked the album at number 33 on its list500 Greatest Albums of All Time list.[157] The album was also included in the book1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[158] In a retrospective review by the same publication in 2010, Douglas Wolk gave the album four-and-a-half out of five stars and referred to it as "an unlikely marvel, a desperately sad and stirring record whose hooks and production (by Remi and Mark Ronson) are worthy of the soul hall-of-famers she namedrops—'Tears Dry on Their Own' is basically 'Ain't No Mountain High Enough' recast as self-recrimination".[159] In a 2019 poll of music writers conducted byThe Guardian,Back to Black placed first in a ranking of the best albums of the 21st century,[160] and the same publication included the album on their 2025 list of defining events inpopular culture of the 21st century.[161] Also in 2025, the album was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by theLibrary of Congress and selected for preservation in theNational Recording Registry.[162][163][164]
In September 2018, a documentary film based onBack to Black, titledAmy Winehouse: Back to Black, was released.[165][166][167] It contains new interviews,[168] as well as archival footage.[169] It was made byEagle Vision,[170][171] produced by Gil Cang,[172] and released on DVD on 2 November 2018.[173] The film features interviews by producersMark Ronson andSalaam Remi, who worked half and half on the album, along with theDap-Kings, Remi's music team,Ronettes singerRonnie Spector, and close friends of Winehouse, including Nick Shymansky, Juliette Ashby, andDionne Bromfield. The film is accompanied byAn Intimate Evening in London, footage of a show Winehouse gave atRiverside Studios in London in 2008. TheSam Taylor-Johnson-directed biographical filmBack to Black (2024), based on Winehouse's life, was named after the album. The movie delves into the creation and background of the album of the same name.[174]
"He Can Only Hold Her" contains a sample interpolation of "(My Girl) She's a Fox", written by Richard and Robert Poindexter, and performed byLonnie Youngblood andJimi Hendrix.[18]
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
^Back to Black (LP liner notes). Amy Winehouse. Island Records. 2007. 173 412 8.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^"Top 20 CDs 2011"(PDF) (in Portuguese). Associação Brasileira dos Produtores de Discos. p. 10. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 13 August 2012. Retrieved7 October 2012.
^"Los Más Vendidos 2011"(PDF) (in Spanish). Asociación Mexicana de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 31 January 2012. Retrieved19 January 2012.
^"Global Top 50 Albums of 2011"(PDF). International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. p. 43.Archived(PDF) from the original on 6 December 2013. Retrieved19 January 2014.
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