NIKKI SIXX On AMY WINEHOUSE: 'She Was A Very Talented Young Person That Had A Lot To Give'

Abby Krizner, the music director and evening on-air deejay for 105.9 The X (WXDX-FM) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, asked MTLEY CRE bassist Nikki Sixx last night (Sunday, July 24) to comment on the passing of Amy Winehouse from the perspective of someone who has dealt with both fame and addiction. His answer can be seen in the YouTube clip below.

The 27-year-old singer was found dead in her London apartment on Saturday, July 23. There's no word on the exact cause of death, but Winehouse had been struggling with drug addiction for many years.

Said Nikki: "I don't know the inner workings of that immediate family meaning, her managers and record company and her immediate immediate family mother and father, if she had brothers and sisters and I don't know her band. In all the societies that we have, we have enablers, and these enablers will allow someone like myself who was a drug addict to keep using rather than face the possibility of getting fired or pushed to the side. And they just don't want to upset the apple cart, and what happens is people die. In my situation, that's happened to me. I had so many close calls that I look back on it, why did nobody step up and say , 'You know what?! If you keep using drugs, we're not gonna release your records. If you keep using drugs, we're not gonna book your tours.' etc. etc. I don't know in her world, I don't know what her struggles were on that level. I know on an addiction level, heroin, alcohol, coke, pills it's the same. Until you make up your mind that you wanna quit, there's no amount of people around you that are gonna get you to quit. I don't really know the story behind it except that it's sad. She was a very talented young person that had a lot to give. And unfortunately, as cold as this may sound, some have to die so that the rest of us can live."

For more reactions to Winehouse's death from the heavy metal and hard rock community, click here and here.