Amy Winehouse cannot obtain entry to the US to play at the major music festival Coachella after she was charged with assault last week.

The Grammy Award-winner has given up hope of being awarded a work visa by the famously stringent American authorities, who look closely at travellers facing criminal charges, in time to make the festival next month.

She was due to perform alongside some of the world’s most feted musicians, including Sir Paul McCartney and The Killers, and in front of the industry’s most influential executives.

Winehouse was questioned and charged with common assault last week over an incident at a charity ball in September. She allegedly attacked a female fan at the End of Summer Ball in London after taking umbrage at being asked to pose for a photograph. She is due to appear in court on March 17.

The singer was banned from entering the US for last year’s Grammy Awards. Immigration authorities eventually reversed their decision but it was too late for Winehouse to make the ceremony and she was left accepting an impressive five gongs via satellite.

A critical and popular sensation following the release of her 2006 album Back to Black, Winehouse has since become more famous for her frequent arrests, rehab stays and hospital admissions.

She has spent the past two months on the Caribbean island of St Lucia in another attempt to wrestle back control of her turbulent life.

Now back in London, the singer is negotiating a divorce with her husband of two years, Blake Fielder-Civil. Recently released from jail, after serving a sentence for assault and perverting the course of justice, Fielder-Civil has said he is seeking to dissolve their turbulent marriage on the grounds of adultery.

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