The Cost of Fame

I will venture to guess that almost five or six years ago, a dear musician friend living in London forced me to listen to a young female artist that he was absolutely in love with… That young woman turned out to be a young Amy Winehouse.

Amy Winehouse circa 2003

After the first track I listened to, I was hooked. I mean hooked in a way that very rarely comes along in this lifetime. Therefore I would spend the next few years after this initial introduction catching bits and pieces of Amy’s incredible live concerts on YouTube, LimeWire or wherever I could find it – I mean I was seriously hooked. Then it happened – Amy decided to cross the pond and turn herself into an international “star”.

You must watch these two videos to truly appreciate how wonderful Amy Winehouse truly was at the beginning of her journey.

From the second it was announced that Amy would be releasing her first international album, I had a very uneasy feeling. I was mainly afraid that her vocal soul and rhythm would get watered down into some frothy pop-like ramblings. Instead I was pleasantly surprised with the release of Fade to Black's rawness and honesty. It was evident that Amy was able to retain her passion and artistry, but the pessimist inside of me wondered "at what cost." Unfortunately we all get to see the cost of Amy's fame every day via YouTube, TMZ and Perez Hilton. I will not go into a long diatribe regarding Amy and her current situation - all I can say it that I have been slightly devastated watching this talented artist trade her life for what we have deemed as “success”.

ADELE

Well early last year, I started hearing whispers about this new singer, Adele. I would often hear these comparisons to Amy Winehouse but I found myself completely devoted to Amy and didn’t even dream of giving this Adele creature the time of day. As the whispers grew into slight rumbling I almost considered giving her a listen, but instead I chose to wait for Amy to change her devilish ways. Then a few months ago another dear friend “forced” me to watch a video of Adele performing live at the Brit awards – I was absolutely mesmerized. I don’t know if I was more mesmerized by her voice or by her choice to reveal herself to world in a “take me as I am” fashion. Either way I knew that Adele was the real thing.

Adele performs live - Brilliant!

Adele’s voice is undeniably beautiful. There is a sense of wonderment and awe in each of her songs with a slight undercurrent of pain and regret. The layers to this woman’s voice and the depths of her lyrics leave me speechless. But every since her album debuted in the States at the beginning of the summer and Adele moved to New York to begin working on her next album, I find myself growing a bit nervous for this song bird. I am just hoping and praying that she will find a way to anchor herself to what is true and real in her life and artistry and hold on to it for dear life. For lack of an inner ancho I would suggest she hang two huge photos of Amy Winehouse marked “Before Fame & Money” and another marked “After Fame & Money”…

The Cost of Fame