The VMA's included a special tribute to the late Amy Winehouse tonight, with the singer's friends, Russell Brand, Tony Bennett and Bruno Mars all paying tribute to the talented and troubled star.

Mars was chosen to pay musical homage to Winehouse, and put his own spin on her hit single Valerie, while encouraging the crowd to clap along and join him in showing appreciation for the late singer.

Brand knew Winehouse before she was famous, and recalled the first time he heard her sing, expressing:

    “She was kind of like a daft, dopey person, just kinda wandering around. Kinda crazy. The first time I heard her sing, I didn’t even know it was her."


The Arthur star then introduced Tony Bennett, who unveiled a never-before-seen video from his March 2011 recording session at the Abbey Road Studios in London with the late singer.

Bennett said of the Rehab singer: “I recorded with Amy Winehouse and she was so unbelievable, because of all the artists I met in the last 20 years, she was a true jazz artist”. The pair recorded the single Body and Soul early this year, which ended up being Winehouse’s last studio recording.