The world lost a striking, unique talent with the recent passing of singer/songwriter (and notorious substance abuser) Amy Winehouse.  Here are a few of the headlines that came out after her passing:
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Wake-up call?  Really?  If the death of Amy Winehouse is your wake-up call to the dangers of drugs, you are a mighty heavy sleeper.

Amy Winehouse was not the first young, beautiful, talented celebrity to be taken by drug abuse.  Hey everybody, remember Heath Ledger?  Or (arguably, I guess) Michael Jackson?  

And what if we go back a few more years, from the mid-nineties to today?  Bradley Nowell of Sublime.  Steve Clark of Def Leppard.  Kurt Cobain, Nirvana.  Dee Dee Ramone.  John Entwistle, The Who.  DJ AM.  And we could go even farther back to talk about Hendrix, Joplin, or Judy Garland.  

These are just a few select musicians.  The list just gets longer and more depressing as you venture into visual art, comedy, theatre, dance...  Here's a fun little list about just that from Wikipedia to perk up your day.

Winehouse's death was not a wake-up call; it was deja vu.

There was some dark irony to the drug-related death of the woman who wrote "Rehab" and "Back to Black," which may be why so many are so committed to turning this into a wake-up call.  But irony and tragedy are cousins, and can all too often be found traveling together.

I'm saddened by the loss of Amy Winehouse.  And I wonder how we can remember her without falling back asleep.  

(This is not what I would recommend.  In case you were curious.)

To end, I'll leave you with a couple of videos to compare.