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Amy Winehouse’s funeral takes place in London
By CMU Editorial | Published on Wednesday 27 July 2011
As expected, Amy Winehouse’s funeral took place yesterday. A service was held at Edgewarebury Cemetery in London with a congregation made up of close friends and family, who closed the ceremony with a rendition of Winehouse’s favourite song, Carole King’s ‘So Far Away’. Her body was then taken to the nearby Golders Green Crematorium.
Although the location of the service had been kept a secret, a number of photographers and fans did gather outside the cemetery. Those in attendance at the service included Mark Ronson, Kelly Osbourne, Kerry Katona, and Winehouse’s boyfriend Reg Traviss.
In a statement, the singer’s father Mitch Winehouse said that prior to her death, Amy had been “the happiest she had been for years”, adding: “Three years ago, Amy conquered her drug dependency, the doctors said it was impossible but she really did it. She was trying hard to deal with her drinking and had just completed three 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'”.
Speaking about her death on Saturday, he said: “[On Friday] night, she was in her room, playing drums and singing. As it was late, her security guard said to keep it quiet and she did. He heard her walking around for a while and when he went to check on her in the morning he thought she was asleep. He went back a few hours later, that was when he realised she was not breathing and called for help. But knowing she wasn’t depressed, knowing she passed away, knowing she passed away happy, it makes us all feel better”.
He finished by saying that he now plans to launch an Amy Winehouse Foundation, which will be an organisation “to help the things she loved – children, horses, but also to help those struggling with substance abuse”.
He added: “In this country, if you cannot afford a private rehabilitation clinic, there is a two-year waiting list for help. With the help of Keith Vaz MP, we are trying to change that”.
As previously reported, Amy Winehouse was found dead at her home in Camden on Saturday. An inquest was opened on Monday but adjourned until 26 Oct, as results of a postmortem were inconclusive. It may be four weeks until a cause of death can be established, while the outcome of toxicology and histology tests are awaited.
