We tip a fortyyyyyy to ya’ memoryyyyy…

2011 was a year that we experienced some of the most unexpected celebrity deaths in several years. Although some may have been battling an illness, many of these folks seem to die rather suddenly due to drugs, alcohol, a car accident, or a combination of them all.

Flip through the pages and take a look see at all the lives that were lost in 2011, part 2 will be up tomorrow.

Originally recorded in 2008, Nas joins the late Amy Winehouse on the lead single off her upcoming posthumous album “Lioness: Hidden Treasures”, due out on December 6th. The retro-soul track showcases Amy’s soothing and chilling voice, showing the world once again why she was so special.

In addition to “Like Smoke,” the album’s full tracklist has also been made available:

01. Our Day Will Come (Ruby & The Romantics cover) (2002)
02. Between The Cheats (2008)
03. Tears Dry On Their Own (Alternate) (2005)
04. Wake Up Alone (Alternate) (2006)
05. Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow (feat. The Dap Kings) (The Shirelles cover) (2004)
06. Valerie (Alternate) (2006)
07. Like Smoke (feat. Nas) (2008)
08. The Girl From Ipanema (2002)
09. Halftime (2002)
10. Best Friends (2003)
11. Body & Soul (feat. Tony Bennett) (2011)
12. A Song For You (Donny Hathaway cover) (2009)

Click here to listen to “Like Smoke” and let us know what you think.

Looks like we’ll finally get to hear some new Amy Winehouse.

The album, Lioness: Hidden Treasures, drops December 6th and it will have previously unreleased songs and collaborations with the hitmaking producers Salaam Remi and Mark Ronson. It’ll be more of a compilation of her old work mixed in with some of the music she was planning on recording for her next album. She’ll have a demo version of her classic “Wake Up Alone” and “Tears Dry On Their Own”.

The track we’re most excited to hear is her collaboration with Nas called “Like Smoke”. Are you excited for the release and will you be copping on December 6th? And do you think it will be a classic like “Back To Black”?

When a true icon dies, their icon status is usually all it takes for their families to keep eating.

For a few icons their families and attorneys (out of either greed or love or both) have negotiated enough posthumous licensing deals and released enough posthumous work that the great grand children they’ve never met will still be eating in 30 years.

These people make up Forbes’ list of the Top Earning Dead Celebrities, and this year’s top 15 earned a total of $366 million between October 2010 and October 2011. A few of the names on here are the usual suspects you would expect, but more than a couple will likely surprise you.

(Don’t miss the “Honorable Mentions” after #1)

Damn damn damn… Who knew after all them drugs Amy Winehouse did that drank would be her demise??? According to a pathology report released today the singer consumed so much alcohol prior to her death that her blood alcohol level was almost five times the legal driving limit!!!!

According to NY Daily News reports:

Amy Winehouse died from drinking too much alcohol, a pathologist said Wednesday.

The “Rehab” singer consumed a “very large quantity of alcohol” prior to her sudden death, and her blood and urine samples showed she was 4.5 times over the legal drunk-driving limit, according to investigators.

The Grammy Award-winning artist was 27 when she was found dead in her London home on July 23.

She had battled drug and alcohol addiction for years and was released from a rehabilitation program two months before she passed away.

A few weeks before she died, Winehouse was booed off stage by fans in Serbia after appearing incoherent.

An initial autopsy proved inconclusive but ruled no traces of illegal drugs were found in her body.

Winehouse’s doctor, Dr. Christina Romete, told investigators the singer had resumed drinking in the days before her death after a period of abstinence.

Apparently they call this “Death by Misadventure.” Winehouse has numerous songs where she sings about her love of drinking and drugs.

We miss you Amy. R.I.P.

Adele’s performance

Flip the pages for the rest.

Salaam Remi was a very good friend and producer of Amy Winehouse. Salaam sits down with Bossip and gives details on Amy’s music being written about her real life (Try To Make Me Go To Rehab), if Nas was chopping her down, and about last days of her life.

There’s news that Amy Winehouse will have a new album released to cash in on her recent passing. But this clearly isn’t the first time people have cashed in on an artist’s demise.

Here is a list of more posthumous albums, songs and movie roles that were unforgettable.

Well this is pretty despicable.

In order to defend their case against the decriminalization of drugs, a Swiss youth political party developed a poster that showed Amy Winehouse at her worst, with the words “No – to the decriminalization of drugs.”

Here’s the official word from the leader of the group: Winehouse’s death “put a sad reality before our eyes that other parties often forget – the harmful effects of drug consumption…We are displaying a photo that the whole world already knows,” he said. “Winehouse was known not only for her songs, but above all for her drug excesses.”

Geez. Of course, the poster has garnered some serious negative attention for its callousness, but the party is determined to maintain its message.

Do you think this crosses the line?