Amy Winehouse was an English singer known for her soulful voice and unique style. She was signed to major record labels that helped promote her music worldwide but also brought pressure to conform to mainstream styles. Winehouse developed an iconic look with her beehive hair and tattoos that attracted fans but also contributed to her image as a rebellious figure struggling with addiction, which came to overshadow her career despite her commercial success against challenges. Richard Dyer's theory of star image analyzes how celebrities are constructed for audiences through their ordinariness and extraordinary qualities as well as how they navigate being both present in the public eye and maintaining privacy.

1. Richard Dyer’s Theory on
‘Star Image’
Amy Winehouse

2. First, who is Amy Winehouse?
Amy Winehouse was an English singer and songwriter known for her deep eccentric voice within the genres of
soul, jazz, rhythm and blues. She was born in north London, daughter of Jewish parents: Janis and Mitch. Many
of her uncles were professional Jazz musicians and her grandmother; Cynthia, was a singer and dated English
Jazz legend Ronnie Scott. It was her and Amy’s parents who influenced her interest in Jazz.

3. Record Labels
Throughout Amy Winehouse’s career, she was signed to record labels such as ‘Universal Music Group’, ‘Island
Records’, and ‘Lioness Records’.

4. Record Label Advantages
Universal Music Group, Inc. is an American worldwide music company that operates as a subsidiary of French media
conglomerate Vivendi. It is the largest music corporation in the world.
-As it is the largest music company in the world, this makes the promotion and marketing aspects for Amy Winehouse sky
high. It is worldwide based, therefore being signed to this particular group increases the potential audience, expanding Amy’s
fan base from the England, across the world globally. Amy has an iconic look; differentiating from other artists within the
company, therefore this makes her stand out more to her target audience.
- The worldwide corporation has £42.3m in Net Worth and £77.7m in assets, therefore is worth a large amount of money.
This means that money can be spent on advertisements, marketing and promotion of their artists, such as Amy Winehouse,
therefore increasing both her popularity and her income.

5. Record Label Limitations
- Due to being the worlds biggest music corporation, Universal Music Group have signed some of the leading names within the
music industry to exist. These include Queen, Elton John, Metallica and BB King. Although this is positive, it could mean that
there is an image that Amy Winehouse should follow. For example, majority of the artists of today who are signed are
mainstream pop artists, whose images have been carefully constructed to meet the corporations audiences expectations. Being
part of a company on such a large scale could have resulted in her being pressured to change her iconic look.

6. Common Values Applicable to Amy Winehouse
REBELLION- (Tears dry on their own).
Amy Winehouse was represented as one of the most rebellious music artists of our
time. The connotations we receive from her tattoos and eccentric clothing portrays
herself as wanting to cross the boundaries. Many of the camera shots within her music
videos are medium close ups, from an eyeline match point of view. She tends to address
the camera directly with a stern facial expression: reflecting the rebellious nature
within her.
SEXUAL MAGNETISM- (You know I’m no good).
Within this particular music video, Amy is portrayed in a sexual manner: with close
ups and angle shots of her female characteristics, surrounded by men- reflecting the
aspect of voyeurism. Due to her being a young, attractive music artist, this could have
been constructeddeliberately to attract a wider audience.

7. ORIGINALITY: (Back to Black)
Amy Winehouse is known for iconic look: beehive hair bun, tattoos
and winged eyeliner. This challenges the stereotype of most music
artists within today’s genre. However, it is this style which has
attracted many of her fans/ target audience, as she pushes the
boundaries of mainstream music artists.
CONSPICUOUS CONSUMPTION: (Paparazzi
Photograph)
Although Amy appears as ‘sober’ within her music videos, she
was recognised as being a drug addict, as shown in the recent
documentary about her. This impacts her star image as it
counteracts the positive image which the audience receive,
resulting in paparazzi portraying her in a negative light.

8. SUCCESS AGAINST THE ODDS
Amy Winehouse Nelson Mandela Concert:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fS0NvVgvk64
Although Amy Winehouse was criticised for her drug and alcohol abuse and passed away at the early age of 27, her career was
very successful. She recorded her first album (Frank) at the age of 19, and released her second album just three years after (Back
on Black). Her big break came in 2008 where she became the first British female to win 5 Grammy awards in one night. In June
of 2008, she was suddenly hospitalized due to a very serious lung condition, however left hospital early to perform for Nelson
Mandela on his 90th birthday celebrations in Hyde Park. She also performed for Roman Abramovich’s party in Moscow, where
she made $2 million for a one hour gig.

9. RICHARD DYER: PARADOX ONE
‘The star must be simultaneouslyordinaryand
extraordinaryfor the consumer’
Amy Winehouse was born a normal child, raised in
South London by her jewish parents Janis and
Mitch. She wasn’t born into fame, therefore she was
an average girl before she was discovered. Infact, an
article featured within Camden News describes how
a pub landlord, who grew close and knew Amy for
nine years, explained how she wanted to settle down
and start a family.

10. RICHARD DYER: PARADOX TWO
‘The star must be simultaneouslypresent and absent for
the consumer’
During her life, Amy Winehouse was featured frequently
on the tabloids, radio and television. When she wasn’t on
tour, or taking a break from the music industry, she
remained a key feature in the public eye. However, this
wasn’t always positive, as Amy was frequently portrayed
in a negative manner; as a drug and alcohol addict. This
had a large impact on her star image, as she was no
longer portrayed as the eccentric young woman she used
to be.

11. Richard Dyers theory of Star Image can be broken down into five
main sections:
-The Making of the star
-Constructions
-Audiences and Institutions
-Hegemoney (social values)
-Character and Personality

12. THE MAKING OF A STAR
Amy Winehouse- ‘Stronger than me’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CYE0DYIbaw
The screenshot above was taken from Amy’s first music video ‘Stronger Than Me’, back in 2003 when she was just 19. Here she
is shown clear faced, with her hair wore down- and no tattoos, winged eyeliner or beehive. Since then, her image has
developed- with almost all of her music videos featuring the iconic look the audience knew her for. This shows how she has
been developed as a star; th econsistency of her iconic look has remained the same for the latter part of her career: upholding
the audiences expectations of her.

13. CONSTRUCTIONS
The star is built solely for an audience, not the person.
To the left is a photograph taken at the MBO awards towards the beginning
of her music career. She is portrayed in a natural manner, no excessive
make-up or tattoos, showing her in a positive way.
Amy Winehouse’s image was constructed in a metonymic way. Her beehive
hair style and winged eyeliner is an iconic look which her fans all over the
globe have replicated, therefore it is a successful construction as it is
increasing her popularity, therefore increasing the record label/ companies
profit.

14. AUDIENCES AND INSTITUTIONS
For the institutions, stars within the music industry only have one main purpose: To make money. The
institutions modify and change their image to suit their target audience.
For example, a rock artists image would be constructed by the institution for rock fans (baggy clothing, dark
make-up, piercings, etc).
In Amy Winehouses case, as she is a soul and jazz musician, her image has been constructed by her record
label to suit the audience of these genres. The eccentric look of big hair and tattoos reflects the genre of her
songs: therefore meeting her target audiences expectations.

15. HEGEMONY (SOCIAL VALUES)
Hegemony within star image is that we (as the audience) can relate to the star as we admire them, or share their
experiences. This is where we idolize them. Due to Amy Winehouse constantly being featured within the tabloids,
her audience can follow her movements/experiences/problems, etc.
However, this has been negative for Winehouse, as the image her audience received towards the later part of her
career shows her in a negative way, the drug addiction causing controversy in relation to her teenage admirers.
However, her recent documentary released after death has been rumoured to be made to warn teenagers of the
effects of drug abuse, as does a lot of articles featured within the internet regarding Amy today.
Article fromThe Guardian: Amy Winehousessister.

16. CHARACTER AND PERSONALITY
Majority of sources online claimed that Amy way a beautiful, kind, warm hearted person, regardless
of the way she had been exploited within the media. However, a lot of people knew she was unhappy,
which many speculate that it was one of the leading factors towards her death.