MUMBAI: Singer Tony Bennett regrets not talking to late singer Amy Winehouse about addiction before her death.

The ‘Back to Black’ hitmaker passed away in July 2011 from accidental alcohol poisoning and the 90-year-old singer wishes he could have told her that she was his "idol and a once-in-a-lifetime talent" before she passed away , reports femalefirst.co.uk.

"Should I have told her that I'd contended a little bit with drugs and alcohol myself and knew how you can fall into a bad cycle, but I also knew that you could bring yourself back?," Benett wrote in his book.

"Would it have made a difference if someone she considered an idol had said to her something like, 'You're my idol. You are a once-in-a-lifetime talent. Please don't take that from the world'," Bennett added.

And the ‘Lady Is A Tramp’ singer praised Winehouse for her "engaging, funny and charming" nature.

"Amy was engaging, funny, charming, and utterly professional but a little bit shy. She said she was nervous because she had never recorded a song with someone she considered to be one of her idols," the singer penned in his book.

(Source: IANS)