Winehouse predominantly based the album on her tumultuous relationship with then-ex-boyfriend and future husband Blake Fielder-Civil, who temporarily left her to pursue his previous ex-girlfriend.

Back to Black received widespread acclaim from music critics, who praised Winehouse's songwriting and emotive singing style as well as Remi and Ronson's production.

It has also been cited as being a key influence to the widespread popularity of British soul throughout the late 2000s, paving the musical landscape for artists such as Adele, Duffy, and Estelle.

The album received positive reviews,[5][6] with compliments over the "cool, critical gaze" in its lyrics,[7] while her vocals drew comparisons to Sarah Vaughan,[8] Macy Gray and others.

Most of the songs on Back to Black were solely written by Winehouse,[20] as her primary focus of the album's sound shifted more towards the style of the girl groups from the 1950s and 1960s.

[22] In 2005, Winehouse returned to Miami (as she went there previously to produce her debut album) to record five songs at Salaam Remi's Instrumental Zoo Studios: "Tears Dry on Their Own", "Some Unholy War", "Me & Mr Jones", "Just Friends", and "Addicted".

Ronson wrote "Back to Black" the night after he met Winehouse, explaining in a 2010 Mojo interview: I just thought, 'Let's talk about music, see what she likes.'

[42] David Mead of Paste also viewed it as a departure from Frank and said that it sets her singing to Salaam Remi and Mark Ronson's "synthetic Motown-style backdrop".

"[39] Music journalist Chuck Eddy credits Ronson and Remi's production for resembling Phil Spector's Wall of Sound technique and surrounding Winehouse with brass and string sections, harp, and the Wurlitzer.

[36] PopMatters writer Christian John Wikane said that its "sensibilities of 1960s pop and soul" are contradicted by Winehouse's "blunt" lyrics and felt that "this particular marriage of words and music mirrors the bittersweet dichotomy that sometimes frames real relationships".

The song also contains "spring reverbs" on the lead vocals and drums to obtain a "retro feel", live "handclaps", timpanis, bells, and "slight vintage effects" on the piano and bass.

In a Genius commentary, Island Records president Darcus Beese added that the original track was titled "Fuckery" from both Remi and Winehouse.

[38] Jon Pareles of The New York Times elaborates that Winehouse makes songs such as "Just Friends" into "games of tone and phrasing [...] withholding a line and then breezing through it, stretching out a note over [her backing band]'s steady beat".

Alexis Petridis of The Guardian further explains, "Over a solitary electric guitar and subtle drums, [Winehouse's] voice takes centre stage to [set] out her resigned viewpoint that, as with gambling, you can only love for so long before ending up the loser".

[59] Laura Barton of The Guardian explicated the track as Winehouse giving herself a stern "talking-to" with lyrics such as, "I cannot play myself again, I should be my own best friend" and "Not fuck myself in the head with stupid men".

[60] The HelloBeautiful staff views "Wake Up Alone", written by Winehouse and Paul O'Duffy, as another sentimental ballad that "chronicles [the] time right after a breakup [and] when you're trying not to think of the person by keeping busy."

[66] John Harrison, the original demo producer of "He Can Only Hold Her", explained at a BIMM London masterclass that he was "introduced to '(My Girl) She's a Fox' by his sister".

[76] Back to Black was released in the United States in March 2007, with a remix of "You Know I'm No Good" featuring rap vocals by Ghostface Killah as its lead single.

[76] Winehouse promoted the release of Back to Black with headline performances in late 2006, including a Little Noise Sessions charity concert at the Union Chapel in Islington, London.

[79][80] At his request, actor Bruce Willis introduced Winehouse before her performance of "Rehab" at the 2007 MTV Movie Awards in Universal City, California, on 3 June 2007.

A critic for the Birmingham Mail said it was "one of the saddest nights of my life [...] I saw a supremely talented artist reduced to tears, stumbling around the stage and, unforgivably, swearing at the audience.

A statement issued by concert promoter Live Nation blamed "the rigours involved in touring and the intense emotional strain that Amy has been under in recent weeks" for the decision.

"[96] Robert Christgau gave it an "honorable mention" in his consumer guide for MSN Music, citing "You Know I'm No Good" and "Rehab" as highlights and writing, "Pray her marriage lasts—she's observant, and it would broaden her perspective".

He adds, "In the end, the singer's real-life heartache over her incarcerated spouse proves what's obvious from the grooves: When this lady sings about love, she means every word.

[128][129][130][131][132] The album was certified eight-times Platinum by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) in late 2011, denoting sales of eight million copies across Europe.

[145] In continental Europe, Back to Black returned to the number-one spot in Austria,[146] Croatia,[147] Germany,[148] the Netherlands,[149] Poland[150] and Switzerland,[151] while reaching number one for the first time in Italy.

In the years after Back to Black was released, Dan Cairns of The Sunday Times noted that there was a "notion [by A&R executives, radio playlisters and the public] that women are the driving commercial force in pop".

[156] In March 2011, the New York Daily News ran an article attributing the continuing wave of British female artists that have been successful in the United States to Winehouse and her absence.

"[155] Linda Barnard of The Toronto Star finds Winehouse to be among "the British women who claimed chart-topping ownership [...] with powerful voices" and that her "impressive" five Grammy wins for Back to Black put her at the "pinnacle of pop music".

[159] In a retrospective review by the same publication in 2010, Douglas Wolk gave the album four-and-a-half out of five stars and referred to it as "an unlikely marvel, a desperately sad and stirring record whose hooks and production (by Remi and Mark Ronson) are worthy of the soul hall-of-famers she namedrops—'Tears Dry on Their Own' is basically 'Ain't No Mountain High Enough' recast as self-recrimination".