Dave M. Benett/Getty ImagesIt's quite fitting that Amy Winehouse's unknowingly final video ended up as it did: no gimmicks, no special effects, just Amy in her element in a recording studio, laughing, smiling, and, of course, singing alongside one of her oft-cited musical legends, Tony Bennett.
The stripped-down music video for their duet, "Body and Soul," was released this morning, even more fittingly, on what would have been the Grammy winner's 28th birthday.
Though the lyrics, in retrospect, may seem particularly haunting given the circumstances, the song was recorded in London's Abbey Road Studios this March, several months before Amy's death. The recording is being released to benefit the Amy Winehouse Foundation.
In an interview with Amy conducted the day of the studio session and posted on the foundation's website, Winehouse excitedly discusses what a thrill the song was for her to record.
"The first time I met Tone—can I call him Tone?—thanks," she deadpanned. "Should you ask him first, really, before you start…"
After the question of nicknames was out of the way, she moved on to the song, and shared how happy her father was once he learned not only who she would be crooning with, but what tune, exactly, they would be belting out.
"My dad personally himself, he was like, 'Oh, it's only my favorite song in the world you're going to sing. Oh my God. Do you even know it?' I'm like, of course I know it, Mitchell, I'm your daughter. Of course I know it."
And as for a sense of closure on her stunning music career, she seems to have gotten it.
"The ending just worked out, like, perfect…it couldn't have been better."