Mark Ronson Shares Unheard Amy Winehouse Vocals in TikTok About the Making of 'Back to Black'
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JMEnternational/Redferns Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse
Mark Ronson is reminiscing on his time working with the late Amy Winehouse.
In a video posted to TikTok on Wednesday, Ronson spoke about his experience co-writing and producing one of Winehouse's signature hits, "Back to Black," and shared previously-unheard raw vocal takes from the legendary neo soul singer.
"Hi, I'm Mark Ronson. For those of you who might not know me, I wrote the song 'Back to Black' with Amy Winehouse some 15 years ago at this exact piano right here," the 46-year-old "Uptown Funk" musician said in the clip, showing fans the grand piano where he worked with Winehouse, who died at 27 in July 2011 of alcohol poisoning.
"Amy came to my studio right here. We met for the first time, and I instantly loved her," Ronson continued. "She played me all this great '60s music, and she left, and I got very inspired, and I came up with this piano right here."
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He then played the instantly recognizable piano riff that repeats throughout the song, which has been certified Platinum in the U.S. and double Platinum in the UK since its release as the title track of Winehouse's 2006 Back to Black album — and become a karaoke bar staple in the process.
"Next day she came in and wrote these incredible lyrics, which she scribbled in the back room," Ronson said, referencing the track's poetically emotional lyrics inspired by Winehouse's relationship with Blake Fielder-Civil, who had then left her for an ex-girlfriend.
"And for the first time ever maybe, here are the very first vocals that she did," added the musician before playing an audio clip of Winehouse singing a slightly different version of the then-work-in-progress track. "We only said goodbye with words / I died a hundred deaths / You go back to her, and I go back to…" she crooned.
Dave Hogan/Getty
Since posted, Ronson's TikTok has garnered over a million views and nearly 300,000 likes on the social platform. In a follow-up video, the musician responded to a fan's comment that read, "This made me tear up to hear her raw takes. Thank you for sharing," by sharing more audio clips from his "Back to Black" sessions with Winehouse.
"A little more demo magic from the Queen," Ronson captioned the video.
"He left no time to regret / Kept his d— wet / With his same old safe bet," she's heard vocalizing in the TikTok video, on which one user commented, "shivers. goose bumps. thank you mark."
"me too," replied the DJ and producer.
Ronson produced six of the 11 tracks featured on Winehouse's Back to Black album including "Rehab," which became her biggest chart hit, peaking at No. 7 in the UK and No. 9 in the U.S.
