Born to a taxi-driving father and pharmacist mother, Winehouse grew up in the Southgate area of northern London. Through a close relationship with her mother’s side of the family, which included several professional jazz musicians (her paternal grandmother was reportedly once romantically linked with British jazz legend Ronnie Scott), she began absorbing the musical lessons of such giants as Dinah Washington, Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald.

Once she’d hit her teens, however, she quickly found herself attracted to such then-current American r&b and hip-hop acts as TLC, Salt-N-Pepa, and the Fugees. By the end of 2003, when she was 20 years old, Island had released her debut album, Frank, in the U.K., racking up impressive reviews and sales and paving the way for her 2006 breakthrough Back to Black.

That album includes probably her most famous song, “Rehab,” inspired after she fired her management company for suggesting she check herself in for her extracurricular problems. One month after Winehouse won Best Female Artist at the Brit Awards in February 2007, Universal released Back to Black in the U.S. and found itself with an album that charted higher than any other American debut by a British female recording artist.

Winehouse rode that success to five Grammy Awards (making her the first-ever British female artist to win so many in one night) and the eventual release of Frank in the U.S. (slightly tweaked, with two songs removed and one added). Nevertheless, according to interviews at the time, Winehouse had never really set her sights on conquering America.

“I just did an album that I’m really proud of, that means a lot to me, and I really stretched myself doing it,” she said. “The fact that I get to come to other places other than where I live and I’m from, and do shows, that’s just icing on the cake. I’ve said it before and I'll say it again: I’m a really lucky girl.”

However, that noted edginess also bubbled up: “I’m not interested in writing songs so people can find out who I really am. There’s stuff that I wouldn’t want people to know.”

As she continues to fight her demons off the stage, however, word comes that Winehouse is actively starting work with Black co-producer Mark Ronson. A rep confirmed, “She just went into the studio to record with Mark two or three weeks ago. She was writing in her home studio before that.”

While no date has been set for the album’s release, Winehouse is set to play several festival dates in Europe this summer.

First time winners include Mark Ronson for British Male Solo Artist, who also performed “Valerie” with Amy Winehouse; Adele (PRS) for Critics Choice; and Mika for British Breakthrough Act. Previous Brit Award winner Kanye West walked away with his second International Male Solo Artist honor and the Foo Fighters won awards for International Album and International Group.

Established in 1977, the Brit Awards is a charity event that donates all proceeds to the British Record Industry Trust, better known as the Brit Trust, an organization that encourages the exploration and pursuit of the educational, cultural and therapeutic benefits of music.

West, a previous six-time Grammy winner, garnered the most nods including Album of the Year, Best Rap Album and Best Rap Solo Performance. His songwriting expertise is being recognized twice in the Best Rap Song category for “Good Life” and “Can’t Tell Me Nothing”.

Amy Winehouse, up for six, goes head-to-head with Kanye in the Album of the Year category. Winehouse received nominations including Song of the Year for “Rehab” and the coveted Best New Artist, which she’ll compete with BMI newcomer Taylor Swift.

BMI singer/songwriters dominated the Album of the Year category obtaining all five nominations with the Foo Fighters Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace; Vince Gill’s These Days; Herbie Hancock’s River: The Joni Letters; Kanye West’s Graduation; and Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black.

In addition, T-Pain received his first-ever Grammy recognition garnering five nods in categories including Best R&B Performance By A Duo or Group With Vocals and Best Rap Song. Ne-Yo also scored five nominations, including Best Contemporary R&B Album mention for Because of You.

Daughtry, Tim McGraw, Rihanna and Feist scored four nominations each. Daughtry’s explosive self-titled album is up for Best Rock Album; McGraw’s Let It Go received a Best Country Album nod; Rihanna’s “Umbrella” earned a Record of the Year nomination; and Feist scored a Best New Artist nod.

Producer Mark Ronson received three nominations including Producer of the Year, Non-Classical and Record of the Year for his contributions to Winehouse’s Back to Black. Jack White of the White Stripes and Casting Crown's Mark Hall were also cited three times, as were Herbie Hancock, DJ Toomp and Common.

The Recording Academy will also honor Max Roach, The Band and Earl Scruggs with Lifetime Achievement Awards, as well as Jac Holzman and Willie Mitchell with Trustee Awards.

BMI attained a sizable percentage of the rock field achieving four-of-five nominations in the Best Rock Song and the Best Rock Album categories. The domination continued with BMI’s traditional strength in the Latin, Rap & R&B, Gospel, Jazz categories, and sweeps in the New Age and Traditional Blues categories.