Radiohead, Mika, Take That and Phil Collins were among the other stars honoured at the Ivor Novello Awards in London.
Winehouse`s father Mitch, a London taxi driver, picked up her award for the self-penned song Love Is A Losing Game and told the audience that she was "getting better".
"I don`t know what I`m doing up here," he said.
"Amy unfortunately couldn`t make it but she`s getting better and she sends you all her love," he said, in an apparent reference to her public battle with alcohol, drugs and self-harm.
He also thanked his daughter`s manager, who he said should be awarded the "equivalent of the Victoria Cross", Britain`s top military honour for courage on the battlefield.
Winehouse, 24, later turned up halfway through the ceremony and draped her arms around his father, saying: "I`m fine, really well."
Last week, she was told by police she would face no further action after being filmed apparently inhaling crack cocaine from a pipe. And in April, she was cautioned by police after slapping a man during a night out in London.
Her husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, 25, is currently in prison awaiting trial on charges of assault and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.
Radiohead won best album for In Rainbows, which they sold online and invited fans to pay how much they liked for it.
Mika was named songwriter of the year, Take That won most performed song for Shine, and Collins won the international achievement award.
