to wish people would stop saying "such a waste of talent"....

[Mummalish]

in reference to Amy Winehouse. She was more than a talent, but a person, and someone's daughter

It would be sad even if she wasn't talented. My granny was talented, but I didn't worry about her talent when she died, I was sad about HER.

Old and Grumpy? Probably.

takethisonehere, sorry.

YABU. People say "waste of talent" because that's how we, as the general public, knew her. We didn't know her personally and therefore cannot miss her personally, and can only miss what we knew of her - her talent.

She was the apple of her fathers eye, somebody's daughter I feel for her family as I would any other, it's such a waste of a young life.

we all wonder what music jim morrison/curt kobain/janis joplin would have produced if they'd survived

it's not a waste of talent at all more of a sadness of potential that was never fulfilled.

:( i did like her alot

It is a waste of life, talent, promise, potential when anyone dies "before" their time." I was personally more shocked and outraged by the deaths of all those defenselss young people in Norway. It was inevitable that AW would self destruct.

I am terribly upset about Amy's death . She was an amazing singer, I was always a huge fan, saw her live a few times, and when I worked in Camden, often frequented the same places as her. She was the same age as me and from the same town which may be why it hit me so hard.

I was also terribly upset about the awful events in Norway, and the dreadful situation in East Africa. I have enough sympathy to go round.

LostMyIdentityAlongTheWay - It is a bit of a cliche the media like to use though with regards to what BodyofEeyore said, I get what she means.

YANBU. it grates with me too, as if that was all she was. I know it's newspeak but it still grates. I feel desperately upset about her dying and, yes, a big part of that is her stunning voice that came from her very soul (it seemed to me) so in a sense we all 'knew' her as you will 'know' any artist by their work. I didn't know her in the social sense but i am a mother and it is a tragedy that her parents (and loved ones) have lost her, not just a cherished human being but one with such promise, someone most of us hoped would pull through and conquer her demons. It is relevent that she was also an extraordinarily gifted artist. We all like to see a gift flowering for as long as possible, it is a joy to see/experience it, a gift to us all.

I have also had a bit of a screwy day as the items in the news got a bit much for me - Norway, Amy, Africa, nurse. Nothing was competing, more of a tragic, upsetting, overwhelming jumble.

Unfortunately it often seems to be the case that 'talented' people are also very unhappy people who tend to take refuge in drink or drugs and die young. According to a lot of the reports rushed out now and earlier writeups when she hadn't actually died yet but was rather visibly publicly losing the plot, this was an insecure, unhappy, shy and vulnerable person who also happened to produce some good music. A lot of performers are shy and insecure and take too many drugs. Some get over it, stop consuming intoxicants and give up being famous. some die of it. When Kerry Katona drops dead (which is likely to be not that far off, given that she regularly necks her own bodyweight in drugs too) her deth will still matter to the people who actually love her, even though she has a negligigle 'talent' for anythin other than compulsive performin.