Amy Winehouse Leaves Coachella Lineup; A Nation Weeps

I respect Amy Winehouse, so I chose a nice picture of her, not one that makes her look like a mess

In news that should come as hardly shocking, Amy Winehouse has officially been dropped from her Saturday slot of this year's Coachella Valley Arts & Music Festival lineup. Of course, the first thing that comes to mind when she ditches out on a concert is "what drug is it this time?" Amazingly enough, it is not drug abuse that is keeping the former Mrs. Fiedler-Civil from performing in April. It's an all together separate, tragic lack of judgment that is now weighing down the singer. Winehouse is forced to cancel her appearance because of an assault charge filed against her by a fan as of last week. It's a shame, too, because I personally think she would have nailed her performance this time around. I was there to witness her last performance at Coachella, in 2007, and she was humble and very appreciative to be onstage at the prestigious festival. I personally thought she would diva it up -- coming out late, performing completely loaded, and being rude to her fans. She completely blew me away, breezing through her impressive list of songs from her mega-popular album Back to Black, even playing her stellar cover of The Zuton's "Valerie" (although she mistakenly accredited the song to The Fratellis).

American work visas are tricky to obtain, and internationally known pop-singers aren't exempt from this rule. Assaulting fans, however, is never a good thing to do. Winehouse hasn't ever been the one pop star that always displayed the best judgment, however. Hopefully the search for Winehouse's replacement at Coachella lands someone comparable to her talent and notoriety.

Read the article from spin.com here.