Reflecting on Amy Winehouse’s Jewish identity

Amy Winehouse at the Eurockéennes festival in 2007. (Credit: Rama/Wikimedia Commons)

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Not many people know Amy Jade Winehouse was Jewish. But the acclaimed singer-songwriter was in fact born to two Jewish parents in a small town in north London, where she attended Jewish Sunday school, though she was hesitant about the experience. She once told a reporter she only attended synagogue once a year “out of respect”.

Nonetheless, she never forgot her roots. She once said being Jewish was “not about lighting candles and saying a bracha,” and that she still felt the connection. Indeed, Judaism remained close to her heart—literally. A bronze statue of the late singer in Camden Town depicts her with a Magen David necklace she often wore while performing, engraving her spirituality in stone.

On today’s episode of The CJN‘s comedy interview podcast, A Few of My Favourite Jews, host Laura Leibow’s sister Amanda joins to discuss her favourite singer—and favourite Jew.