Twenty years after the release of Back to Black, Amy Winehouse remains best known for her singular voice and candid songwriting. But there’s another side to her musicianship that deserves to be remembered alongside the landmark album: Winehouse was a distinctive guitarist who used the instrument to shape her songs and develop a style entirely her own.
Take it from Pete Doherty, singer and guitarist for the Libertines, who once watched Winehouse play up close. As Doherty told MusicRadar in 2024, Winehouse had a distinctive approach to the instrument.
“Listen, I’ve actually sat in a room with her and a guitar,” he said, “watching those tiny hands finding all these weird jazz chords. And her strumming patterns… crazy, off-kilter timings. She made it look so effortless.”
The anniversary celebrations have also brought Winehouse’s music back to the stage. On Wednesday, the Amy Winehouse Band reunited with original album producers Mark Ronson and Salaam Remi for a star-studded concert at London’s Roundhouse, performing Back to Black in full with guest vocalists including Corinne Bailey Rae, Jorja Smith and Yebba. The occasion offers another reason to revisit the musical instincts behind the album — including Winehouse’s distinctive approach to guitar.
Winehouse’s guitar playing was an extension of the same musical instincts that helped make Back to Black so distinctive. From an early age, she made electric guitar integral to her songwriting and performing, using the instrument to write songs and give them a personal touch. She first fell in love with the Fender Stratocaster as a teenager, after her older brother acquired a used model.
“It was the most beautiful thing in the world,” Winehouse recalled during a 2004 interview. “It’s such a beautiful guitar. I mean it’s got to be probably the most attractive guitar there is.”
Winehouse wasn’t supposed to play her brother’s Stratocaster, but she would carefully sneak into his room to play it whenever she had the chance. Those sessions helped her develop her chops. When she finally acquired a guitar of her own — an acoustic model — the siblings amicably swapped instruments back and forth.
“I just played every day. No one said to me, ‘You’ve got to play for at least this amount of time.’ It was all I wanted to do.
“It’s so easy to teach yourself if you have love for guitar. People say to me all the time, ‘How come you taught yourself?’ And there’s things people can show you, but the truth is, if you learn how to play guitar off someone, you just kind of learn to play it like them, you know what I mean? And that’s why I can say that while I’m not even an adequate guitarist, I’m still a distinctive guitarist. I sound different.”
Inspired by artists including Carole King, PJ Harvey and Shuggie Otis, Winehouse developed a self-taught approach that complemented her remarkable songwriting and unmistakable voice. She may not have considered herself an accomplished guitarist, but her unconventional playing helped give her music a character all its own.
The videos below offer a glimpse of Winehouse’s unusual relationship with the instrument.
First, in a 2003 performance of “Stronger Than Me” — from her debut album, Frank, released earlier that year — Winehouse captivates the studio audience on the BBC’s live music show Later… With Jools Holland. Her loose, jazz-inflected rhythm-guitar playing provides the song’s harmonic foundation.
Next, we get an up-close look at a 20-year-old Winehouse performing with nothing more than her voice and a Stratocaster at London’s Wembley Arena. The 2004 Strat Pack concert celebrated the 50th anniversary of Fender’s iconic guitar and featured an all-star lineup that included David Gilmour, Ronnie Wood and Hank Marvin.
Finally, Winehouse discusses her love of guitar — and the Stratocaster in particular — in a video celebrating the model’s 50th anniversary.
