Amy Winehouse who had battled most of her adult life against addiction was found dead in her London flat on Saturday. The circumstances surrounding her death are not totally clear at the moment, but newspapers are already speculating at a drug fuelled night before she died.
What is clear about Amy Winehouse is that despite her success as a singer and pop icon her life was mostly filled with self doubt and internal unhappiness. She had it all chart success, critical acclaim and worldwide stardom, things which many in society can only dream of.
It would be fair to say that for Amy Winehouse the material things in life mattered little and she was in search for something else. She was self critical of her Music and rebellious against the norms of society.
The relationship with her husband Blake Fielder-Civil was chaotic at the best of times and it included alcohol and drugs binges and even suggestions of self harm. The fact most of this chaos was lived out in the public sphere thanks to the tabloid press only seemed to make her life worse.
Amy Winehouse wouldn’t be alone in having seen her life slip away after the heights of stardom, she is a number of famous celebrities who have died aged just 27. They include Kurt Cobain , who committed suicide at the height of his career and Jimi Hendrix.
The deep unhappiness felt by Winehouse and other celebrities all over the world is due to the vacuum Western society leaves in peoples lives. The constant quest for wealth, career and the perfect relationship leads most to believe this will ultimately bring joy and meaning.
However the purpose of life is not successfully winning critical acclaim or selling millions of records it is something other than this. For life to have meaning it involves understanding and comprehending the world in which we live and to have a consistent firm basis for action, not to live each day as if it was your last.
Despite all the breakdowns many celebrities suffer there is still an insatiable desire to be famous. With shows such as X factor, pop idol and Britain’s Got Talent selling false hope to millions. However even those who win these shows realise that maybe it isn’t all that they dreamed it would be. Susan Boyle who won Britain’s Got Talent suffered immense mental anguish after her success, at one point almost asking for her old spinster lifestyle back.
Amy Winehouse won’t be the last celebrity who’s success will equate to misery. Capitalism despite its hype fails to deliver people happiness and give their lives meaning. It seems the closer you get to the Capitalist dream the more miserable life becomes, the tabloids being full of celebrity breakdowns bears testimony to this.
Only Islam can provide true meaning and tranquility to life. The millions of Muslims suffering poverty, war and misery across the globe still remain hold on to a sense of purpose despite their circumstances. This is something Amy Winehouse spent her whole life trying to find and ultimately failed.
