Could breast implants have saved Billie Holiday?

True, they may be a pair of Spaldeens glued to a fishstick, but a couple of fake new breasts seem to have helped Amy Winehouse find her way back, if unsteadily, from what seemed to be certain destruction...

Egotastic

Willy DeVille's two dead wives

The death of the very eclectic rock 'n roll character Willy DeVille brought back memories of the old days of CBGBs, where he was a regular (his band Mink DeVille had three songs on that CBGBs live album on Atlantic), and his New York Times obit (he got his New York Times obit without delay) brought up all kinds of interesting revelations, not the least of which was that the Latin greaser with the pompadour and pencil mustache was a kid from Stamford, Connecticut, born William Borsey, that he'd gotten an Academy Award nomination (The Princess Bride) and, in a jolting penultimate line, that he left behind a widow and two dead wives:

"Mr. DeVille’s first two wives died."

That got us surfing and then we remembered Toots, the archetypal crazy punk rock chick who was somewhat essential to the Mink Deville mystique: According to Wikipedia:

"Willy DeVille was married in the late 1970s to Toots, with whom he had a son, Sean. Alex Halberstadt, Doc Pomus's biographer, wrote about Toots, 'Half French and half Pima Indian, Toots favored a pair of nose rings, snow-white kabuki make-up and a Ronettes-style beehive the color of tar. She'd once put out a lit Marlboro in a woman's eye just for staring at Willy.'"

The photos reveal that Amy Winehouse owes more than a little to Susan "Toots" DeVille.

So what ever happened to Toots? Heroin, which was not mentioned in the New York Times obit but was a large part of Willy DeVille's life for many years, is said to have been the cause of her death.

Jane Herwig's Digiom blog has a great, informative instant story on Toots' influence and style. Click here to check out What ever happened to Toots DeVille? (Heroin killed her).

Wikipedia says Willy's second wife was his business manager, Lisa (left). They were married in 1984, and lived in New Orleans and on a horse farm in Mississippi.

Lisa apparently died in 2001.

According to Wikipedia, she hanged herself. Willy DeVille found the body.


After Lisa's death, "he married Nina, his third wife, and returned to New York City, where he spent the rest of his life." Willy DeVille was diagnosed with Hepatitis C in February. Nina announced in February that doctors found cancer in his pancreas.

Nina left the following message on his website yesterday:

"It is with heavy hearts that we let you know that Willy passed away peacefully last night, August 6, 2009. His music and spirit will always be with us."


August 25th would have been Willy DeVille's 59th birthday.

Amy Winehouse makes Dr. Ruehl's Bizarre News

The Realm Of Bizarre News 39: Amy Winehouse Scarecrow

Tabloid Baby pal, contributor, columnist and TV, movie and music video star Dr. Franklin Ruehl, Ph.D. has Amy Winehouse in this week's Realm of Bizarre News. And who starred in Arsenic & Old Lace?

Amy Winehouse vs. Bigfoot in Dr. Ruehl's News

The Realm Of Bizarre News, Episode XXV

Tabloid Baby pal, contributor, columnist and TV, movie and music video star Dr. Franklin Ruehl takes on Amy Winehouse and Bigfoot in this week's edition of The Realm of Bizarre News.

By popular demand, a nice Jewish girl provides another break from our Israel baseball coverage

(Another tip of the Tabloid Baby hat to the News of The World.)

Tired of the Israel baseball stories? How about this? Never mind the drugs! New photos of sad, sick, talented Amy Winehouse reveal she wears a wig!

(A tip of the Tabloid Baby hat to the News of The World.)

It will be sad when Amy Winehouse dies

Obituary information:

Amy Jade Winehouse (born 14 September 1983) is an English singer-songwriter, known for her eclectic mix of various musical genres including soul, jazz and R&B.

Winehouse's 2003 debut album Frank did well, both commercially and critically, in her native Britain. It was nominated for the Mercury Prize. Her 2006 follow-up album Back to Black led to six Grammy Award nominations and five wins, tying the record for the most wins by a female artist in a single night and becoming the first British singer to win five Grammys,including three of the "Big Four": Best New Artist, Record of the Year and Song of the Year. On February 14, 2007, she won a BRIT Award for Best British Female Artist; she had also been nominated for Best British Album. She has won the Ivor Novello Award twice, among other prestigious distinctions.

Tina Fey's new movie looks funny all of a sudden

Ha! Tabloid Baby pal Kate Coe, the controversial investigative reporter, writer, media critic and until recently, star blogger for the FishBowl LA until she left the MediaBistro sweatshop-- er, family-- over a small issue like pay, is still making waves, and as we await that KateCoe.com site we keep pushing her to unroll, she sends us this, and credits her kid.

Corinne Bailey Rae only seemed least likely to be involved in a scandalous, tragic, drug-related death

  

Looking back, it seems easy enough to figure which of the UK song girls who became big Starbucks stars in the past two years would not wind up with a drug-related death on her biography, let alone in her marriage. From cutting marks to flesh-eating bacteria, scrawny Amy Winehouse has been up front with trouble in the tabloids; chubby party girl Lily Allen has run second with miscarriages and other clubbing-related casualties; while funnyface Corinne Bailey Rae seemed the most settled of the bunch, what with her appearances with John Mayer and on Studio 60 and all. But she's really always been the only one of the group with a true hint of mystery; it’s been said from the start that there was a much darker, deeper triphop core to her sunshiney music; and now she’s the one who winds up with a husband dead from a drug overdose.

It's sort of the like Heath Ledger turning up dead while everyone was watching Lindsay Lohan.

Corinne Bailey, by the way, was the only one of the women who did not record with producer Mark Ronson. Her dead husband, though, did, and he gives some Vanity Fair writer a good hook thirty five years from now when the Brit singers get the same treatment the magazine gave Carly Simon, Joni Mitchell and Carole King this month.

Amy Winehouse can't get a visa to come to LA, but at least she'll have her own E! True Hollywood Story

Amy Winehouse has been a favorite in the Tabloid Baby office long before she began a downward tabloid spiral that just may be evening out now that she’s holed up in Ozzy Osbourne’s guesthouse trying to get clean. So though we're disappointed the poor girl wasn't allowed into the States in time to come to LA so she can score some Brad Renfro heroin on the way to the Grammys on Sunday night, we were cheered to find out she's the subject of an E! True Hollywood Story on Saturday.

We'd hoped the show was produced by Michael Lynn, whom we've hailed as the best in the field of show biz docutragedy, but although another producer helmed the half hour, advance word is that it's action-packed, complete with teenage Amy footage (when she was twice the weight with half the hair height) and interviews with more than observers, including our favorite-named guitarist, Binky Griptite, whose Dap Kings backed Amy on her breakthrough album.

By the way, Wino is up against a new favorite of ours for Best New Artist on Sunday night. Taylor Swift is a teenage cutie who writes grownup kiddie country songs that sound just as good on Radio Disney, where they're sped up a hair and the fiddles and dobros are replaced by drum loops.

We reckon Taylor’s a good five years away from rehab and a True Hollywood story of her own.

Amy Winehouse: The E! True Hollywood Story premieres Saturday, February 9th at 6 pm, Eastern & Pacific Times on the E! Entertainment network. Michael Lynn's got a True Hollywood Story on Renee Zellweger airing on March 1st.