The rise of British Girl Power

01-03-2008 08:15

Despite Britain arguably producing some of the world's best bands, including The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Oasis, outstanding female artists have never really been the nation's forte. Until now.There's a new wave of female talent coming through and these girls are really something to shout about.Leading the way is Amy Winehouse. Although the 24-year-old released her critically-acclaimed debut album 'Frank' in 2003, it was 2006's 'Back to Black' which shot her to global superstardom. For the LP, she teamed up with producer of the moment, Mark Ronson, and her singles, including 'Rehab', 'You Know I'm No Good' and 'Tears Dry On Their Own', were heard on airwaves worldwide. Amy had finally arrived but admitted it was working with Ronson that finally enabled her to fulfil her potential. She said: "After 'Frank' I didn't write for 18 months but when I met Mark I pretty much wrote the album in six months - he was so inspiring."However, Amy has paid the price for her success and has recently been in rehab fighting her drink and drug addictions. Things came to a head last month when she was caught on video smoking what appeared to be crack cocaine and, after many failed attempted to get herself clean, she checked herself into a London clinic to get the help she so desperately needed. Music lovers everywhere begged her to clean up her act as they didn't want to see such a talent go to waste.On February 10th 2008, Amy had her status re-confirmed as one of the world's greatest female artists when she won an unprecedented five Grammy Awards.Although she couldn't fly to the prestigious Los Angeles bash due to complications with her US visa, she performed in London via satellite, looking a world away from the gaunt, tragic figure who had entered rehab just weeks earlier.