In this July 4, 2008 file photo, jazz soul singer Amy Winehouse, from England, performs during the Rock in Rio music festival in Arganda del Rey, on the outskirts of Madrid. Winehouse was booed and jeered late Saturday, June 18, 2011, during a concert in Serbia's capital as she stumbled onto the stage, mumbled through her songs and wandered off. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano, File)
Amy Winehouse has canceled some of her tour dates after she showed up to her first show drunk and was subsequently booed off stage.
The 27-year-old singer arrived to her first performance in the Serbian capital Belgrade an hour late, and when she finally did take the stage she was stumbling and sat on a speaker with her back to the audience.
Reports said that she greeted the audience “Hello, Athens,” and spent most of the time singing indecipherably and hugging her bandmates before the crowd of 20,000 booed her off the stage. Some audience members, who had paid a considerable amount on the tickets, even walked out.
She later decided to cancel appearances in Istanbul on Monday and in Athens on Wednesday.
“Despite feeling sure that she wanted to fulfill these commitments, she has agreed with management that she cannot perform to the best of her ability and will return home,” a statement from her reps read. “She would like to apologize to fans expecting to see her at the shows but feels that this is the right thing to do.”
Winehouse ironically shot to fame with her single “Rehab” in 2007, where she sang about her refusal to seek help.
She has struggled with alcohol and drugs throughout her career, and in late May checked into a rehab clinic for alcohol addiction.
Winehouse had been banned from drinking on the 12-date European tour.
