AMY WINEHOUSE has turned to Buddhism to try and beat her drug and alcohol addictions, according to U.K. tabloid reports.
The Back To Black singer has faced a string of health issues over the last year (07/08) and was rushed to hospital after collapsing at her house in London in July (08).
The star was also diagnosed with traces of deadly lung disease emphysema.
But Winehouse is now said to be battling her addictions by using calming Buddhist chants to help her relax and battle stress, according to Britain’s The Sun newspaper.
A source tell the publication, “One of her musicians introduced Amy to Buddhist chanting. She chants for ten minutes in the morning and just before she sleeps.
“Amy has also been watching the interview clip of Tina Turner on YouTube and she reckons it’s already affecting her in a positive way.”
Singer Tina Turner turned to Buddhism after she split from her rocker husband Ike Turner in 1975.

Amy Winehouse could be sued by the organisers of a Paris music festival after she withdrew hours before she was due to perform because of “illness”.

The 24-year-old did not travel to the Rock En Seine festival due to an illness which resulted in her needing to rest, according to her spokesman.

Commenting on her withdrawal from the Rock En Seine lineup, her spokesman said: “Amy Winehouse was regrettably unable to perform at the Rock En Seine show in Paris due to illness.

“She was taken ill at her house and wasn’t able to travel to France for the concert.”

A statement from the Rock En Seine organisers said there was “no explanation of the exact reasons for her absence”.

“Amy Winehouse should have arrived on the site early Friday evening. We were told by her agent at 8:00 pm that she wasn’t coming,” it added.

She has performed at the Glastonbury and V festivals this summer and is due to take to the stage at Bestival next weekend.

The Rehab star was hospitalised in June and diagnosed with early stage emphysema before another hospital visit last month after suffering a reaction to medication while at her north London home.

Her father Mitch had reportedly claimed that his daughter’s drink had been spiked with ecstasy, but according to Winehouse’s mother Janis, the hospital visit was simply a matter of human error.

“The truth is that Amy ended up in hospital this week because she mixed up the medication she’s taking to help her come off drugs,” she told the Daily Mirror newspaper.

Amy Winehouse has stunned the media with another display of erratic behaviour - the singer was pictured with white powder inside her nose after turning her car into a public changing room.

The British star emerged from her London home on Wednesday (05Dec07) night with a clearly-visible white residue, believed to be cocaine, inside her nostrils and climbed into an awaiting car. Once inside the vehicle, Winehouse then proceeded to change her trousers - in full view of photographers. Earlier on Wednesday, the Rehab singer had denied reports she is using drugs, after photos of a “bag of white stuff” in the boot (trunk) of her car emerged.

In a statement, Winehouse explained the contents of the bag were “the driver’s hand towels”. Doctors recently ordered the 24-year-old to cancel the remaining dates on her U.K. tour and withdraw from any promotional commitments until the beginning of 2008 - to allow her to “take complete rest and deal with her health issues”

Singer AMY WINEHOUSE has denied reports that she is a drug user, insisting she is “too busy” to be an addict.

The troubled star, who was hospitalised for a drug overdose in August (07) and arrested for marijuana possession last month (Oct07), recently gave a bizarre interview to a U.S. music publication, during which she is said to have slurred her words and fallen asleep mid-sentence three times. And although she denies being a drug addict, she admits she has a problem with alcohol.

She tells Blender magazine, “I don’t have the time (for drugs)… I’m a really big drinker. “I used to be there before the pub opened, banging on the door.”

Amy Winehouse has been arrested and fined €500 (£349) in Norway for possession of drugs.

Police in Bergen, where the Rehab singer is due to perform tonight, said the 24-year-old had been arrested along with husband Blake Fielder-Civil and one other individual in their hotel.

Lars Lothe, a police lawyer, told the AFP news agency that 7g of marijuana had been discovered in the singer’s possession following a tip-off.

“She spent a few hours in custody from Thursday evening to early Friday, she got a fine and then she was released,” he said.

“The case is over for us.”

After tonight’s gig in Bergen Winehouse is due to perform in the Norwegian capital Oslo before journeying to the Netherlands.

The singer - whose album Back to Black was shortlisted for the Mercury music prize - has consistently faced allegations of drug and alcohol abuse over the last year.

She pulled out of a number of scheduled performances over the summer amid rumours she had agreed to go into rehab, although her record company stressed the cancellations were for “health issues”.

Actress FAYE DUNAWAY has invited Amy Winehouse and husband BLAKE FIELDER-CIVIL for a break at her new York home.

The film legend complimented the Rehab singer on her talent as they waited for a private audience with Prince at the O2 arena in London’s Docklands last week (ends21Sep07). Dunaway told Winehouse she had a “beautiful voice” and a “rare talent”. She was heard adding, “This industry can be really tough, you know. I think it is important to rest. I have a great house in America and I want you to know that you are welcome to come over whenever you want. “Even if you are the strongest person in the world, being in London takes it out of you.”

She adds, “I’ll write down my contact details for you now and you call me when you are in New York and you can come over. It will be a good rest for you, make you all creative again.” Winehouse accepted the offer, saying that the trip would help her write her next album.

source : contactmusic

Shambolic singer Amy Winehouse made a fool of herself again last night, staggering through her acceptance of more awards and performing a shockingly bad rendition of TEARS DRY ON THEIR OWN at the Mobos.

The songstress, who ironically won Best Female at the awards which honour the best music of black origin, staggered onto the stage to collect her gong, only managing a brief “thank-you” before exiting swiftly.

Winehouse then performed a poor version of the song from her album BACK TO BLACK, forgetting half the words and swaying precariously.

The heavy-drinking singer seemed worse for wear early on in the night according to sources, who told the Sun that Winehouse was in a bizarre mood.

A source said: “In her dressing room she was really on edge, then flipped.

“She was screaming and chucking anything she could get her hands on at the people around her. She wasn’t in a good way.”

Winehouse also won an award at the Vodafone Live Music Awards in London on the same night, but couldn’t attend so she sent the landlord of her local pub to accept on her behalf.

source : contactmusic

Courtney Love has claimed that she has never known anyone to take as many drugs as troubled singer Amy Winehouse. In comments reported by the Sun, Kurt Cobain’s widow, herself a notorious drug user, said Winehouse “does more drugs than anyone I’ve known”.

Last week Rehab singer Winehouse was forced to cancel tour dates in the US amid claims of reported drug abuse.

The soulful star also pulled out of a planned performance at the MTV Video Music Awards after both her and husband Blake Fielder-Civil were reported to have checked into drug rehabilitation centres.

Her record company Universal Records said the cancellation was part of a “continued effort to support Amy Winehouse’s wellbeing”.

In her interview with the Sun, Love added: “I’ve been with lots of people when they’ve taken coke, including stars like Lindsay Lohan and Kate Moss. “But I’ve never seen anyone take as much coke as Amy. Even I wasn’t that bad.”

Troubled singer AMY WINEHOUSE snubbed a MARK RONSON film shoot for her new single - to go on holiday with husband BLAKE FIELDER-CIVIL instead.

The singer, who was reported to have checked out in and out of rehab on two occasions since she was hospitalised on 8 August (07) was expected to make a video for the producer’s reworking of The Zuton’s Valerie in Manhattan, New York.

But as the star is currently holidaying on the Caribbean island of St Lucia, Ronson was forced to hire Amy Winehouse look-a-likes to complete the shoot.

Amy Winehouse’s father-in law says fans should stop buying her records to force the singer to seek help for what he called a drug addiction.Giles Fielder-Civil said he believed Winehouse and his son, Blake Fielder-Civil, had used cocaine, crack cocaine and heroin and were in “abject denial” about their problem.

“I think they believe they are recreational users of drugs and they are in control,” Fielder-Civil told British Broadcasting Corp. radio Tuesday. “Clearly they are addicts.”

He said fans should send a message to Winehouse “that her addiction and her behavior are not acceptable.”

“Perhaps it is time to stop buying records,” Fielder-Civil said. “It’s a possibility, to send that message.”

However, Winehouse’s father said a boycott would do little good.

“It’s all clutching at straws,” Mitch Winehouse told the BBC. “There’s only one way out of this, and anybody with any drug experience will tell you … that the only way out of this is not sectioning them, not locking them up. At some point they are going to reach rock bottom … and at that point they will say, `Listen, I don’t want to do this anymore.’”

Giles Fielder-Civil said Winehouse’s record label should be more “pro-active in helping the couple to get better.”

Island Records couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

Winehouse, 23, has built her reputation on a soulful voice and a hard-partying image. Her most recent album, “Back to Black,” topped the British charts and produced the hit single “Rehab.”

Concern for her health has grown since Winehouse was taken to a hospital earlier this month for “severe exhaustion” and spent a short stint in a rehab facility. She has since canceled a series of British concerts and postponed a tour of the U.S. and Canada.

Last week, newspaper pictures showed Winehouse and Blake Fielder-Civil bloody and bruised, apparently after a fight in a London hotel.

Gossip Web site perezhilton.com said it had received text messages from Winehouse denying Fielder-Civil was responsible for her injuries.

source: yahoo music