It was 2007 and JAY-Z had just watched Amy Winehouse perform in New York City. After the show, he approached her, and immediately alarm bells started sounding.
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In a chat on TIDAL's Rap Radar podcast, JAY-Z remembered meeting Amy for the first time that day and pleading with her to get her life in order.
"I was like, 'You don't even stutter. Why are you doing that?'" he recalled. "I looked at her, and I was like, 'Stay with us.' The first time we hung out, I told her, 'Stay with us.'"
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During their meeting, the late singer told Beyonce's husband that her songs were autobiographical, telling him that her record company was desperately urging her to go rehab.
"She was telling us, she was writing the songs to our face, 'They're trying to make me go to rehab, I'm not going,' like, what?" he said, adding that he told her, "You have to go!"
JAY-Z would soon get in touch with Amy again. In 2008, he approached her about using her sing "Rehab" in a remix.
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Around the same time, JAY-Z again spoke of his admiration for Amy, telling Time Out London, "When I listen to Amy Winehouse, I believe that her heart and soul is in the music."
Amy was found dead at her apartment in London on July 23, 2011.
Following her death, JAY-Z said, "Rest in Peace AMY. Tears Dry On Their Own. My favorite song by this amazing talent."