Winehouse misses US gig after assault case

Singer Amy Winehouse will not get a work visa to travel to the United States in time to perform at a leading music festival because she was charged with assault last week, her spokesman said today.

Winehouse, 25, had been expected to perform at the annual Coachella festival in California, where she was to join acts including Paul McCartney and The Killers. According to the festival website, she was due to sing on 18 April.

The bee-hived soul singer, who won five Grammy awards in 2008 and whose second album "Back to Black" has won widespread critical acclaim, was charged with common assault following an incident at a ball in London's Berkeley Square last year.

Her private life, including a battle against drug addiction, has increasingly overshadowed her recording success over the last two years.

Winehouse had to perform live from Britain via satellite at the 2008 Grammy awards ceremony in Los Angeles because she was attending a drug rehabilitation facility at the time and also had problems in getting a US work visa.

A hearing in the assault case is due to take place at Westminster Magistrates' Court on 17 March.