13 Sep 2011

Amy Winehouse probably died of seizure - father

11:38 am on 13 September 2011

The father of singer Amy Winehouse said he believed his daughter died of a seizure brought on by ending years of binge drinking.

The British singer was found dead in her bed at her north London home in July, at age 27.

In his first major television interview since the death of Winehouse, Mitch Winehouse told US journalist Anderson Cooper that said illicit drugs had nothing to do with her sudden passing.

He said the only drug in her system was the prescription medication Librium, which is used to help people with the symptoms of alcohol detoxification.

Mr Winehouse said she had been clean of drugs for about three years. Her problem in the last few years of her life was alcohol and she was taking Librium every day, which he said decreases the chances of having seizures.

Winehouse's addiction to drugs and drink was well chronicled in the media and in her own hit songs like Rehab.

Her final recording, a duet called Body and Soul with crooner Tony Bennett, will be released on Wednesday this week on what would have been her 28th birthday.