Singer Amy Winehouse leads a remarkably open life for someone so famous. Most celebrities keep a passel of security guards and assistants around them at all times. They buy fancy homes in gated communities. They only sign autographs at premieres. Amy is pretty much the opposite of all those things. You rarely see her with any security other than a friend or her dad. From the description in Rolling Stone, she lives in anything but a fancy, gated home. Winehouse’s fans are often photographed going right up to her door, which she answers herself. She’ll chat and sign autographs. I can’t think of any other celebrity that encourages that kind of access.

In a way it’s really cool – and if she had her act more together in terms of her personal affairs, it’d be easy to say Amy was really down to earth and awesome. Unfortunately all of her openness – or maybe it’s just a refusal to hide – has made Winehouse’s every move pretty easy to document. That’s why it came as a surprise to many that she’s been at a hospital clinic for the last ten days, since her release from another hospital after being diagnosed with emphysema-like symptoms.

Though her rep wasn’t clear, it appears Winehouse is being treated for her lung condition and not specifically for her addictions. She was allowed to leave the clinic twice for concert performances this past weekend – and was also photographed buying cigarettes and booze. After ten days she’s being released.

Amy Winehouse has left the hospital, it was confirmed Tuesday. The performer, who had a busy weekend of concerts, was discharged from the clinic where she has been staying for more than 10 days on Monday.

Her representative, Chris Goodman, said, “She has left [the] hospital. She is continuing as an outpatient.” The singer, 24, returned to the facility during rehearsals and between her performances for Nelson Mandela and at the Glastonbury Festival. But she left for good on Monday.

“She will return for regular appointments for check[-up]s,” said Goodman. He adds, “There comes a time when you are ready to leave the hospital, and so she left. No one was trying to keep her there. It was completely up to her – everyone knew she would not stay there forever”… Goodman says Winehouse is “looking great and feeling great.”

[From People]

I really don’t understand how Amy Winehouse is constantly able to convince doctors that she’s fine. She’s always leaving hospitals and rehabs after what seems like relatively short stays – especially considering her myriad of conditions and the ferocity with which her addictions always seem to return. I realize they can’t lock her down… but it’d sure be great if they could.

Amy wasn’t in the hospital secretly, and a few media outlets mentioned it. Maybe it just didn’t get as much press because it doesn’t exactly raise eyebrows anymore.

Despite the “everything is great!” line her PR guy gave, the Daily Mail reported that Amy immediately went out partying.

The troubled star marked her release from hospital by partying until 4.30am amid fears she’ll resume her bad habits. The Rehab singer visited live music venue The Monarch and stopped in at a kebab shop before returning home to carrying on the party with friends.

A source is quoted in The Sun as saying: ‘We feared a taste of the outside would remind her what she’s missing and it would be hard to get her back into life at the clinic. That’s exactly what’s happened. Sunday was like she was on a terrible comedown from the whole thing. She kicked off and threw all her toys out the pram.

‘She told Mitch [her father]: “I’m climbing the walls in here. I need to get out”. She said if he didn’t help her get out, she’d walk out. ‘He realised he had to let her leave, otherwise he’d have no control over where she goes and what she gets up to.’

[From the Daily Mail]

What’ll it take to get her to straighten out? What hasn’t gone wrong for Amy Winehouse? If she hasn’t hit rock bottom yet, I’m truly afraid to see what her version of the bottom looks like.

Here’s Amy Winehouse leaving her Camden home to go for a walk with an inhaler in her hand after she was released from the hospital last night. She produces an ace of hearts playing card which she asks the photographers to get published for her incarcerated husband. Totally normal. Images thanks to WENN.