Image Credit: Mischa Richter

According to police officials in London, the autopsy performed on late singer Amy Winehouse (who passed away Saturday at the age of 27) returned inconclusive results, and no cause of death has yet been established.

They are now awaiting the results of toxicology tests, the results of which should be back in two to four weeks. Since police have determined there was no foul play involved in Winehouse’s death, her body was released to her family shortly after the conclusion of the autopsy. Her parents are reportedly planning on a private family memorial for her as soon as possible, perhaps as early as tomorrow.

Fans continue to gather at the makeshift memorial set up for Winehouse across the street from the home where the Grammy-winning singer lived. Her father, Mitch Winehouse, addressed the crowd and thanked them for their outpouring of support. “Amy was about one thing and that was love,” he told the group. “Her whole life was devoted to her family and her friends and to you guys as well. I can’t tell you what this means to us. It really is making this a lot easier for us.”

Read more on EW.com:
Amy Winehouse, gifted, Grammy-winning vocalist, frequent tabloid subject, passes away
Russell Brand on friend Amy Winehouse: ‘She was a f—ing genius’
Amy Winehouse on video: Five classic moments from her career
Amy Winehouse’s 10 best singles
Photo Gallery: Amy Winehouse’s tumultuous life
Amy Winehouse’s last stage appearance: Watch

Image Credit: Jon Furniss/WireImage.com

Amy Winehouse’s passing has inspired a number of famous friends and admirers to voice their sadness over her untimely death over the weekend. Among those (including some from collaborators Mark Ronson, Tony Bennett and the Dap Kings), the most indelible tribute has come from an unlikely but fitting source: Actor and comedian Russell Brand.

In a long blog post titled “For Amy” that appeared on the Get Him to the Greek star’s official site, Brand (who has famously grappled with substance abuse himself over the course of his life) wrote of how universal the arc of addiction is: “When you love someone who suffers from the disease of addiction you await the phone call. There will be a phone call. The sincere hope is that the call will be from the addict themselves, telling you they’ve had enough, that they’re ready to stop, ready to try something new. Of course though, you fear the other call, the sad nocturnal chime from a friend or relative telling you it’s too late, she’s gone.”

Of his friend Winehouse, he worte: “She wasn’t just some hapless wannabe, yet another pissed up nit who was never gonna make it, nor was she even a ten-a-penny-chanteuse enjoying her fifteen minutes,” he wrote. “She was a f—ing genius.”

Brand first saw the young Winehouse perform at a Paul Weller concert, an experience he recalled vividly.”From her oddly dainty presence that voice, a voice that seemed not to come from her but from somewhere beyond even Billie and Ella, from the font of all greatness,” he recalled. “A voice that was filled with such power and pain that it was at once entirely human yet laced with the divine. My ears, my mouth, my heart and mind all instantly opened. Winehouse. Winehouse? Winehouse!”

According to Brand, who has been sober for eight years and who still attends AA meetings, Winehouse’s death should serve as a wake-up call to how people treat addicts. “Whether this tragedy was preventable or not is now irrelevant. It is not preventable today,” he wrote. “We have lost a beautiful and talented woman to this disease. … We need to review the way society treats addicts, not as criminals but as sick people in need of care.”

Read more on EW.com:
Amy Winehouse, gifted, Grammy-winning vocalist, frequent tabloid subject, passes away
Amy Winehouse mourned on Twitter
Amy Winehouse on video: Five classic moments from her career
Amy Winehouse’s 10 best singles
Photo Gallery: Amy Winehouse’s tumultuous life

Image Credit: Jan Persson/Redferns

It’s almost enough to make you believe in numerology. Amy Winehouse’s death today — at 27 — makes her the sixth rock star to die at exactly that tragically young age.

The founding member of the “Forever 27 Club,” as it has come to be known, was ex-Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones, who was discovered dead at the bottom of his swimming pool in East Sussex, England, on July 3, 1969. The Coroner’s report ruled it “death by misadventure.” Jimi Hendrix died about a year later — at 27, too — in a London hotel room on the morning of September 18, 1970, after combining too many sleeping pills with too much red wine. Janis Joplin, 27, was found just two weeks later dead inside her psychedelically painted Porsche in the parking lot of the Landmark Motor Hotel in Los Angeles. The cause of her death was ruled a probable overdose of heroin.  READ FULL STORY »