Statue Of Amy Winehouse To Be Unveiled In Camden Next Month

The late singer Amy Winehouse is to be honoured with a statue near her most recent home in Camden Market. The life-size brass sculpture will stand at the centre of Stables Market, a short walk from the townhouse that belonged to the singer.

27 year old Winehouse died of alcohol poisoning at that address in July 2011. Even though she was hugely famous, she was a regular sight around the North London borough, and her father Mitch has said that there would be no place more fitting for the placing of the statue.

"I had a meeting with Camden Council and they told me they don't usually allow statues until 20 years after someone has died, but in Amy's case they made an exception," he said. "It's a great honour to have the statue in the Stables. Amy was an integral part of Camden and still is, so you couldn't really think of putting a statue for her anywhere else, could you really?"

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The memorial will be unveiled on September 14th, which would have been the jazz and blues singer’s 31st birthday. Scott Eaton, the statue’s designer, has included Winehouse’s trademark beehive hair and information on how to donate to the Amy Winehouse Foundation, a charity formed by her family after her death to help prevent the effects of drug and alcohol misuse on young people.

Planning permission for the statue was handed in last year but Camden Council was believed to be opposed to the idea at first, questioning its appropriateness so soon after the singer’s death. It was also not impressed by Eaton’s initial designs.

Winehouse's father described the memorial a "bittersweet moment". He said “of course it's a double-edged sword, because they don't put statues up of people who are still with us.”