Amy Winehouse Returns to Rehab

After a semi-long stretch of sobriety, pop-music powerhouse Amy Winehouse, who first came to fame with a catchy riff against rehab, has checked herself in to The Priory Clinic, one of Britain's most prominent treatment centers. The singer, who has a long history of drug and alcohol abuse, reportedly agreed to return to treatment at the urging of her physician and her father. "Her dad sat her down and said, 'I think you're drinking too much again.' So she agreed to... an assessment to stop it becoming a bigger problem," a source close to the star told People Magazine. A representative for the rocker said that Ms. Winehouse “wants to be ready for performances in Europe this summer and decided to seek an assessment.“

But while she voluntarily agreed to enter the famous drug facility, the Ministry of Gossip blog at the Los Angeles Times claims that Winehouse went on one last binge before she arrived. “Before checking in, Winehouse reportedly stopped at a shop to buy a miniature bottle of Smirnoff vodka before downing the alcohol at the counter," one witness told the paper. "She seemed out of it."

"She was stumbling around, slurring her words,"  another observer told U.K. tabloid The Sun.  "I was shocked to see her buy vodka so early in the day, and even more shocked to see her knock it straight back." This is not the first go-round in treatment for the troubled singer. She last entered rehab in January of 2008, and by all indications, is ready for a refresher course. Another source told People: She's determined, and this is all off her own back. It's just a lapse. There are ups and downs on the road to recovery, and there have been mostly ups for Amy recently. But this is a down and she's done the right thing."