Why do so many people care that Amy Winehouse died?

I was not a fan of Amy Winehouse, but for anyone to ruin their young years with drugs and die at 27 is tragic.. It would be just as tragic if it was someone living in the next street to you. It´s just that when someone is famous , and has a brilliant voice , like she did, there are more people who know about it, even though they don´t know her personally. That´s just my opinion anyway.

I fel sad for all parents who lose their children to something so avoidable like drugtaking.

I cannot speak for other people. I was not a fan of hers. But I come from a musical family.

I have come from a family of artistic talent in general and regardless of whether or not I personally pay attention to an artist, I always pay attention to when artists die who were young, as well as artists who die that are from the studio system era where people were larger than life and had a strong work ethic-few of them still left. As well, she was younger than I am. I am 35.

Whenever someone dies young it is sad, whether I knew them or not. But yes, I have lost friends that were quite young through various causes. Five members of my graduating class as well as a 6th person who should have graduated with us died before the age of 30.

Two were suicide.

From the tone of your question it seems you don't care or rather you have little or no compassion or empathy. Regardless of who she was or what she accomplished she was still a vulnerable human being battling demons only she felt. It is irrelevant whether I knew her or not, her passing is a tragedy just like all those poor people who died in Norway, those who die violent deaths, anyone who dies at their own hand.

How sad a world if people didn't feel compassion or empathy for loss. Do you share the same disdain for people addicted to alcohol, cigarettes, prescription drugs, food? We are all vulnerable.

I loved Amy's music. She was definitely the soul queen of her time. It's a pity she didn't go on rehab or something to save herself from the hell she was living in, and using drugs is indeed living in hell for the addict and the family.

Human race is a wicked race, but still, not all people are bad, and you don't need to actually know somebody or be their friend to feel a little sympathy or pity when you see or hear about such tragic events.

She was still a person, a daughter maybe a sister. Drug addict or not she was still a person. I worked with addicts for quite awhile.

They have a problem and they struggle and they cause problems for their family and friends. That does not negate them as people. No she was not a friend of mine and I did not listen to her music but she was young and talented, had a disease (yes, addiction is a disease) and she died tragically.

Well for me, I am familiar with two of her songs and I thought she was very talented...No I don't know her personally. I just think its sad for someone to die so young. I didn't know the people who was killed in 9/11 but it didn't stop me from feeling compassion on them or grieving for them.

I really don't think you have to know someone personally before you conjure up some form of compassion. Just because a person is a drug addict does that mean their any less valuable as a human being? Should we throw people away who make mistakes or are trapped within the confines of an addiction and act like they never existed?

She needed help and unfortunately it was too late to save her or give her an intervention. So yes it is very sad that her story ended on a negative note.

It doesn't effect my life, because I'm not very familiar with her music. For those who were, it's a loss. It means that an artist they admired or enjoyed will no longer be producing music.

People get upset over things like losing some change down a drain... That's a loss, too. Music is a powerful medium and I'm sure you know that people form connections with the artists who produce the music they love. That they didn't know them personally doesn't negate that.

Most Americans didn't know JFK personally, either, or the people who jumped out of the WTC's windows. Losses still impact upon people. For me, it's not much of a loss, but for others I'm sure it will be.

I never met Amy, but was a fan of hers and saw her play live a few years back. It wasn't a great surprise that she died, because of her history of drug and alcohol abuse. She was depressed and a very troubled woman.It is still tragic that she died so much and did have so much more she could have did with her life.

I feel sorry for her family who have tried many times to save her from herself. She had a lot of problems aside from the alcohol and drugs.It's a tragic end to a life, and she is now at peace.

I agree that what happened in Norway was absolutely tragic, but I don't know how that detracts from Amy Winehouse's death also being a tragedy. She was 27-years-old, and in a place dark enough that she was at the tail-end of a week-long bender that ultimately killed her. To me, that is tragic.

Was I her biggest fan? No, but she was incredibly talented, and I felt incredibly sorry for her. In any case, I recently finished up a hub on this very topic, so I won't go any further on it at the moment.

Would love to hear your thoughts, however, and continue the discussion over there! hubpages.com/hub/Why-Its-Okay-to-Mourn-the.

Sure, I never met her, but I think it's important to try to empathize with ANYONE who died. Celebrity or otherwise, death is tragic. She is a human being after all, a daughter.

Her parents would be absolutely heartbroken I imagine. It would be cruel to imagine anyone not giving a d*** when anyone dies, including Amy Winehouse. Otherwise, I also imagine some people might just be interested since Amy now joins Cobain, Morrison, Joplin, Hendrix, and others in the famed "27 Club."

But for me personally, having grown up myself in a difficult life and having had to deal with addictions and spousal abuse, I hope her soul may now finally know peace.

I think perhaps genius isn't an accolade she deserves, but she certainly was a talented and inciteful songwriter. My first thought on hearing about her death that I was disappointed that I never would hear a third album. I don't think I need to know her or be her friend to care/be saddened at her death but of course the media have a tendency to over hype these things - just as they did with Princess Diana and Michael Jackson.

Thanks for all your responses, I do appreciate it. I think what fascinates me most is how people get so caught up with celebrities. Not many people care about the drug addict on the corner who dies, but millions of people will jump out of their knickers to crown Amy Winehouse a musical genius and comment about how sad it is.

Yes, I feel badly for her parents, her relatives, as many people would. I don't think a drug addict dying is tragic. For whatever reasons, she decided to be a drug addict and she paid the ultimate price.

She had many resources available to her that most people do not and she still crashed. That's sad. But what makes me really sad is how society is so wrapped up in keeping up with celebrities.

I do not care that she died. In the leastest bit. Rather, I care more about the 93 Norweigans who were ruthlessly slaughtered in a detonated bomb and an execution type massacre within the borders of Norway, by a home grown terrorist.

The lives of 93 innocents matter more to me, than one drug ridden celebrity who did herself in.

All part of our celebrity obsessed culture. Her contribution to mankind's existence is minimal at best. The media blows any celebrity deaths out of proportion, whether people really care or not, to increase their viewership and ad revenues.

But let's face it, if people did not read or tune in for these stories, then the media would find something else to hype, so ultimately the media hypes these stories due to public demand for information.

Because people are obsessed with celebrities. I never understood the hype and never will, to me it just detracts from real news. The thing that makes me really angry is when I go to a news site or watch the news and they have celebrity crap on the front page.

I'm not saying I don't care when people die, but please, I don't want to hear about how "x is dating y" or "y did this". For Amy Winehouse in particular, she was just a drug addict with a decent singing career. Nothing else to it.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.