Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black officially turns 20 on Oct. 27, and the milestone comes with a serious gift for fans. A three-disc reissue arrives Oct. 23 via Island, packed with B-sides, demos and live takes recorded in Amsterdam in 2007. The original album peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, won five Grammys, and ranks No. 11 among the biggest albums in British chart history with over 4.6 million chart units. In 2024, Apple Music placed it at No. 8 on its best albums of all time list.

 

To mark the anniversary, Billboard published an oral history with the people who built the record. Mark Ronson and Salaam Remi produced, Brooklyn’s The Dap-Kings supplied the analog soul backbone, and Paul O’Duffy co-wrote “Wake Up Alone.” He recalled Amy singing the song from beginning to end in a single take, calling it pure magic. Neal Sugarman, saxophonist for The Dap-Kings, said she could truly tell a story instead of trying to outsing other artists. The piece also addresses how hard relentless touring was on her before her death in 2011 at age 27.

Two decades later, the influence is everywhere in British pop, from Adele to RAYE. The reissue and the oral history both offer a fresh way into a record that still sounds timeless. So pop it on this week and hear the first-take magic for yourself.

Which Back to Black track is your all-time favorite? Tell us in the comments.