LONDON – Wearing dark suits, black dresses and the occasional beehive hairdo, friends and family said goodbye to Amy Winehouse Tuesday with prayers, tears, laughter and song at an emotional funeral ceremony.
“Amy was the greatest daughter, family member and friend you could ever have,” said her father, Mitch Winehouse, in a section of the eulogy released by a family spokesman.
Additional Photos
The singer’s father, mother and brother were joined by Winehouse’s close friends, band members and celebrities including producer Mark Ronson for the service at Edgwarebury Cemetery in north London.
Fans and photographers thronged the lane outside, but the funeral was for several hundred friends and family only.
Mitch Winehouse told mourners that his late daughter had recently found love and had beaten her drug dependency three years before her death, but he admitted she was still struggling to control her drinking after several weeks of abstinence.
“She said, ‘Dad I’ve had enough of drinking, I can’t stand the look on your and the family’s faces anymore.’ ” Mitch Winehouse said.
He said Amy had been playing her drums and singing in the home the night before her death.
But “knowing she wasn’t depressed, knowing she passed away, knowing she passed away happy, it makes us all feel better,” he said.
Beck: Norway camp was ‘like Hitler Youth’
NEW YORK – Radio talk show host Glenn Beck said on his show that the camp in Norway where a gunman opened fire on young people sounds “like Hitler Youth.”
On his radio show Monday, the former Fox News Channel host was discussing last week’s attacks where at least 76 people were killed. In an aside, he talked about the Utoya Island camp run by the ruling Labor Party for youngsters interested in politics.
The camp “sounds a little like the Hitler Youth or whatever,” Beck said. “Who does a camp for kids that’s all about politics? Disturbing.”
The camp was targeted by the gunman, who claimed he was trying to save Europe from what he says is Muslim colonization.
The Labor Party has advanced a policy of ethnic tolerance.
Torbjorn Eriksen, a former press secretary to Norway prime minister Jens Stoltenberg, told The Daily Telegraph in England that the comments were a “new low” for Beck.
“Young political activists have gathered at Utoya for over 60 years to learn about and be part of democracy, the very opposite of what the Hitler Youth was about,” Eriksen said. “Glenn Beck’s comments are ignorant, incorrect and extremely hurtful.”
Beck made his comments during a discussion about problems that he predicted Europe would face because of an increased Muslim population.
Beck denounced the gunman, who he said “is just as bad as Osama bin Laden.”
Teacher-turned-celebrity helps hometown
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Some winning bidder will soon be cruising life’s winding road in Sheryl Crow’s 1959 Mercedes-Benz 190SL Roadster.
The Grammy award-winning singer said Monday that she’s auctioning off the classic car next month and that the proceeds will go toward helping rebuild the tornado-ravaged city of Joplin in her native state of Missouri.
Crow says she loves the car and has had it for six years, but doesn’t drive it anymore.
Crow was a schoolteacher before launching her singing career, and the money will go to the Joplin Schools Recovery Fund.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.