Report: Amy Winehouse quit drinking cold turkey

LONDON, July 28 (UPI) -- Amy Winehouse had quit drinking and was suffering from alcohol withdrawal when she died, sources close to the singer's family told England's The Sun newspaper.

Winehouse, who long battled addictions to drugs and alcohol, died last weekend in her London home at the age of 27. The cause of her death has not yet been determined.

A family source told The Sun the Grammy Award winner died after she ignored her doctor's advice to stop drinking alcohol gradually.

"Abstinence gave her body such a fright they thought it was eventually the cause of her death," one insider told the newspaper.

At her funeral Tuesday, Winehouse's father, Mitch, denied media reports claiming she had started drinking heavily again in the days before she died.

"He wanted everyone to know that he, her boyfriend and her manager believed it was actually the complete opposite," the source told The Sun. "He said doctors had told Amy to gradually reduce her intake of alcohol and to avoid binging at all costs. Amy told him she couldn't do that. It was all or nothing and she gave up completely. Mitch Winehouse said the shock of giving up, after everything she had been through over a bad few years, was just too much for her to take."

Later in the week, Winehouse handed out flowers his daughter frequently wore in her hair, as well as some of her clothes to fans who gathered outside Amy's home, the report said.