Gallant And Dua Lipa’s Soulful Amy Winehouse Cover Is A Fitting Tribute On Her 34th Birthday

On this day 34 years ago, Amy Winehouse was born. On what would have been her birthday, tributes are popping up on honor of the deceased singer, and one of the best so far is a cover of Winehouse’s “Tears Dry On Their Own” performed by Gallant and Dua Lipa.

Gallant invited Dua Lipa to NRG Recording Studios in Los Angeles, where the turned the song into a duet and recorded their rendition in one take for his In The Room series. The feel is pretty in sync with that of the original, meaning they don’t stray too far from Winehouse’s brand of soulful R&B.

Winehouse’s vocals are a tough standard against which to measure yourself, but Gallant and Lipa, trading lines back and forth, deliver a performance here that they ought to be proud of. The arrangement here isn’t too different from the original, although the guitar solo in the middle of the song is an effective touch.

Winehouse also got some love today from former collaborator Tony Bennett, who tweeted a photo of the two, from the session where they recorded “Body And Soul” for Bennett’s 2011 album Duets II, and wrote, “Thinking of Amy today on her birthday – she was an absolute genius and ultimate jazz singer.”

Around this time last year, Adele also honored Winehouse and said, “I feel like I owe 90 percent of my career to [Winehouse]. Because of her, I picked up a guitar and because of her, I wrote my own songs. […] I’m obviously completely happy with all the music that she left behind because it’s all genius. But every day I wish I could hear a new song from her.”

Revisit our retrospective on Winehouse’s seminal and final album Back To Black here, and listen to Winehouse’s original “Tears Dry On Their Own” above.