Los Angeles, April 17 (IANS): Musician Mark Ronson was "surprised" when he learnt about singer Amy Winehouse's death back in 2011, but he is grateful to have learnt a lot from her.

Having worked very closely with her when he made her album "Back to Black", the 39-year-old music producer was stunned when told the singer had passed away in 2011, aged just 27. But he feels grateful to have gotten to know her, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

"I was surprised when I got the call telling me Amy had died because she'd been getting better; for the past year she hadn't done drugs," he told Vanity Fair magazine.

Talking about the album that they worked on together -- an album which made Winehouse the first British female solo artist to win five Grammys -- the "Uptown funk" hitmaker admits she was the driving force behind the incredible songs and he only guided her in the right musical direction.

"She was a real student of jazz. I learned so much about chords from her, and except for (the song) 'Back to black', which we wrote together, she had all the songs. We went for a walk, she told me the rehab story, and I said, 'You should write a song about that'."

"What we did together didn't sound like anything whatsoever that was popular or on the radio. I thought it was a little too eccentric to be so successful, especially for America," he said.