Dynamic singer-songwriter-pianist noted for her cultlike following, mostly uninterpretable lyics, controversial subject matter, and flaming red hair. Born
Myra Ellen Amos to Edison and Mary Amos of Maryland in 1963 (with dark brown hair; she dyes it), she began playing piano at age 2, began classical training at Peabody conservatory at age 5, began playing in piano bars at age 13, and moved to LA at 21. While there she survived a ual assault which inspired her to co-form the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (
RAINN) and write the haunting, a capella Me and a Gun. She is now married to her sound engineer, Mark Hawley, and they live in Cornwall with daughter
Natashya. Her albums to date (and first singles in parentheses) are
1988's Y Kant Tori Read (featuring Cool On Your Island),
1992's Little Earthquakes (featuring Silent All These Years),
1994's Under the Pink (God), 1996's Boys for Pele (Caught a Lite Sneeze),
1998's From the Choirgirl Hotel (Spark), 1999's To Venus and Back (Bliss),
2001's Strange Little Girls (an album of covers, featuring the title track), 2003's Scarlet's Walk (featuring A Sorta Fairytale), and 2005's The Beekeeper (Sleeps with Butterflies). She is often compared to singer-songwriter Kate Bush, more for lack of similarity to anyone else than any actual similarity to each other. Interestingly and slightly ironically, her best-selling album, Boys for Pele, was preceeded by a power struggle between herself and her record label, in which they threatened to and followed through with promoting her as little as legally possible.
Tori amos is god. Let's rent a
minivan and follow her around the country
on tour.
