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Tori Amos

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Tori Amos



 
 
Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos on August 22, 1963) is a pianist
Pianist

A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an musical ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers....
 and singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter

File:Joan Baez Bob Dylan crop.jpgSinger-songwriter is a term that refers to performers who Lyricist, composer and singing their own Musical piece including lyrics and melody....
 of dual British
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 and American
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 citizenship. She is married to English
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
 sound engineer Mark Hawley, with whom she has one child, Natashya "Tash" Lórien Hawley, born on September 5, 2000.

Amos was at the forefront of a number of female singer-songwriters in the early 1990s and was noteworthy early in her career as one of the few alternative rock
Alternative rock

Alternative rock is a genre of rock music that emerged in the 1980s and became widely popular in the 1990s. Alternative rock consists of various subgenres that have emerged from the independent music scene since the 1980s, such as Grunge music, Britpop, gothic rock, and indie pop....
 performers to use a piano
Piano

The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard instrument. Widely used in Western music for solo performance, ensemble use, chamber music, and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to musical composition and rehearsal....
 as her primary instrument.






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Quotations


An angel's face is tricky to wear constantly.

"Purple People (Christmas in Space)"

And I fear my fear is greater than my faith.

Suede

And my Saab is so great I'm gonna marry it.

Hello Magazine Interview 2005

Driving in my Saab, on my way to Ireland.

Ireland

Give me life, give me pain, give me myself again.

"Little Earthquakes"

God, sometimes you just don't come through.

"God"





Encyclopedia


Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos on August 22, 1963) is a pianist
Pianist

A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an musical ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers....
 and singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter

File:Joan Baez Bob Dylan crop.jpgSinger-songwriter is a term that refers to performers who Lyricist, composer and singing their own Musical piece including lyrics and melody....
 of dual British
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 and American
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 citizenship. She is married to English
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
 sound engineer Mark Hawley, with whom she has one child, Natashya "Tash" Lórien Hawley, born on September 5, 2000.

Amos was at the forefront of a number of female singer-songwriters in the early 1990s and was noteworthy early in her career as one of the few alternative rock
Alternative rock

Alternative rock is a genre of rock music that emerged in the 1980s and became widely popular in the 1990s. Alternative rock consists of various subgenres that have emerged from the independent music scene since the 1980s, such as Grunge music, Britpop, gothic rock, and indie pop....
 performers to use a piano
Piano

The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard instrument. Widely used in Western music for solo performance, ensemble use, chamber music, and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to musical composition and rehearsal....
 as her primary instrument. She is known for her emotionally intense songs that cover a wide range of subjects including sexuality
Human sexuality

Human sexuality is how people experience and express themselves as sexual beings. Human sexuality has many aspects. Biology, sexuality refers to the reproductive mechanism as well as the basic biological drive that exists in all species and can encompass sexual intercourse and sexual contact in all its forms....
, religion
Religion

A religion is an organized approach to human spirituality which usually encompasses a set of myth, symbols, beliefs and practices, often with a supernatural or transcendence quality, that give meaning to the practitioner's experiences of life through reference to a higher power or truth....
 and personal tragedy
Tragedy

Tragedy is a form of The arts based on human suffering that offers its audience pleasure. While most cultures have developed forms that provoke this paradoxical response, tragedy refers to a specific Poetic tradition of drama that has played a unique and important role historically in the self-definition of Western culture....
. Some of her charting singles include "Crucify
Crucify (song)

"Crucify" is a song written and performed by United States Singer-songwriter Tori Amos that appears on her album Little Earthquakes . The song served as the fifth single from the album, which was released as an Extended play in the US and as a single in Europe and Australia....
", "Silent All These Years
Silent All These Years

"Silent All These Years" is a single by singer/songwriter Tori Amos from her first solo album, Little Earthquakes. It was later re-released as a fundraiser for the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network ....
", "Cornflake Girl
Cornflake Girl

"Cornflake Girl" is a song by United States singer-songwriter Tori Amos. It is the eighth track on Amos' 1994 album Under the Pink. The song reached #4 on the UK singles chart, and was Amos' most successful international hit at the time....
", "Caught a Lite Sneeze
Caught a Lite Sneeze

"Caught a Lite Sneeze" is a song by Tori Amos, released as the first single from her 1996 album Boys for Pele. It reached #60 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #20 on the UK Singles Charts, and is one of the most recognized songs by Amos and a fan-favourite....
", "Professional Widow
Professional Widow

"Professional Widow" is a 1996 song written by singer-songwriter Tori Amos. It was originally a harpsichord-driven rock music dirge included on her 1996 album Boys For Pele, but it gained international popularity after being remixed by house music producer Armand van Helden....
", "Spark
Spark (song)

"Spark" is a song by Tori Amos, released as the first single from her 1998 album From the Choirgirl Hotel....
", and "A Sorta Fairytale
A Sorta Fairytale

"A Sorta Fairytale" is a song written by singer-songwriter Tori Amos. It appears on her album Scarlet's Walk, and served as the initial single from the album....
," her most commercially successful single in the U.S. to date.

As of 2005, Amos had sold 12 million records worldwide. Having a history of making eccentric and at times ribald comments during concerts and interviews, she has earned a reputation for being highly idiosyncratic
Idiosyncrasy

Idiosyncrasy, from Greek language ?d??s????as?a, idiosunkrasia, "a peculiar temperament", "habit of body" is defined as an individualizing quality or characteristic of a person or group, and is often used to express Eccentricity or peculiarity....
. As a social commentator and sometimes activist, some of the topics she has been most vocal about include feminism, religion, and sexuality.

Early years (1963–1985)

Toriamos Btm
Amos was the third child of Rev. Dr. Edison and Mary Ellen Amos, born at the Old Catawba Hospital in Newton
Newton, North Carolina

Newton is a city located in Catawba County, North Carolina. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 12,560. It is the county seat of Catawba County, North Carolina....
, North Carolina
North Carolina

North Carolina is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north....
, during a trip from their home in Georgetown, Washington, D.C.
Georgetown, Washington, D.C.

Georgetown is a neighborhood located in the Washington DC Address #Quadrants of Washington, D.C., along the Potomac River waterfront. Founded in 1751, the city of Georgetown substantially predated the establishment of the city of Washington and the District of Columbia....
. Her maternal grandparents were of mixed Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
an and Eastern Cherokee
Cherokee

The Cherokee are a Native Americans in the United States people orginally from the Southeastern United States . They are linguistically connected to speakers of the Iroquoian language....
 ancestry; of particular importance to her as a child was her grandfather, Calvin Clinton Copeland, who was a great source of inspiration and guidance to her as a young child, offering a more pantheistic
Pantheism

Pantheism is the view that everything is part of an all-encompassing Immanence abstract God. In pantheism the Universe, or nature, and God are equivalent....
 spiritual alternative to her father and paternal grandmother's traditional Christianity
Christianity

Christianity is a Monotheistic religion #Christian view religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus as New Testament view on Jesus' life....
. When Amos was 2, her family moved to Baltimore
Baltimore, Maryland

Baltimore is an independent city and the largest city in the U.S. state of Maryland in the United States. Baltimore is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay....
, Maryland
Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic States of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia and the Washington, D.C. to the south and west, Pennsylvania to the north, and Delaware to the east....
, where she began to play the piano. By age five, she had begun composing instrumental pieces on piano and at nine started to add lyrics to her pieces.

In 1968, while living in Rockville, Maryland
Rockville, Maryland

Rockville is the county seat of Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. According to the 2007 census update, the city had a total population of 58,706, making it the third largest city in Maryland....
, she won a full scholarship to the Preparatory Division of the Peabody Conservatory of Music at the age of 5. Her scholarship was discontinued at age 11 and she was asked to leave. Amos has asserted that she lost the scholarship because of her interest in rock
Rock music

Rock music is a loosely defined genre of popular music that entered the mainstream in the mid 1950's. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rhythm and blues, country music and other influences....
 and popular music coupled with her dislike for reading from sheet music. Two years later, she began studying at Montgomery College
Montgomery College

Montgomery College is a public, open access community college located in Montgomery County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C. in the United States....
 and began playing at piano bar
Piano bar

A piano bar consists of a piano or electronic keyboard played by a professional musician, located in a cocktail lounge, bar , hotel lobby or office building lobby....
s, chaperoned by her father, who was sending tapes of songs she had written to record companies
Record label

In the music industry, a record label can be a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of recorded sound and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the Record producer, manufacturing, distribution , marketing and promotion, and enforcement of copyright protec...
.

She first came to local notice by winning a county Teen Talent contest in 1977, singing a song called "More Than Just a Friend". As a senior at Richard Montgomery High School
Richard Montgomery High School

Richard Montgomery High School is a secondary public school located in Rockville, Maryland.Richard Montgomery High School is named for Richard Montgomery, an American General who died while attempting to capture the British-held city of Quebec City, Quebec....
, she co-wrote "Baltimore
Baltimore (Tori Amos song)

Baltimore is the name of the very first single released by a pre-fame Tori Amos.16 year old singer/songwriter Tori Amos, then known by her birth name of Myra Ellen Amos, recorded the song in response to a 1979 contest by the city of Baltimore....
" with her brother Mike Amos for a competition involving the Baltimore Orioles
Baltimore Orioles

The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball based in Baltimore. They are a member of the American League East of Major League Baseball's American League....
. The song won the contest and became her first single, released as a 7" single pressed locally for family and friends during 1980 with another Amos-penned composition as a B-side, "Walking With You". Prior to this period she performed under her middle name, Ellen, but permanently adopted Tori after a friend's boyfriend told her it suited her.

Y Kant Tori Read (1985–88)

At age 21, Amos moved to Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles is the largest city in the U.S. state of California and the List of United States cities by population in the United States. Often abbreviated as L.A. and nicknamed The City of Angels, Los Angeles is rated as a beta global city, has an estimated population of 3.8 million and spans over in Southern California....
 to pursue her music career after several years performing on the piano bar circuit of the East Coast
East Coast of the United States

The East Coast of the United States, also known as the "Eastern Seaboard" or "Atlantic Seaboard", refers to the easternmost coastal states in the central and northern United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada....
. While there she managed to get several acting jobs, including a Kellogg
Kellogg Company

Kellogg Company is the world?s leading producer of cereal and a leading producer of convenience foods, including cookies, crackers, toaster pastries, cereal bars, frozen waffles, and meat alternatives....
's Just Right
Just Right

Just Right is the name of a breakfast cereal produced by Kellogg's. It is sold in the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia as of March 2008, but has been discontinued in other markets....
 cereal commercial. In 1985, after playing in a bar one night, she gave a ride home to a regular customer at the establishment who sexually assaulted her, an experience that would later be revisited in her song "Me and a Gun
Me and a Gun

"Me and a Gun" was the first single released from the Tori Amos LP, Little Earthquakes, released on October 21, 1991 in the United Kingdom, as a CD single, 7" and 12"....
".

That same year, Amos formed a music group, Y Kant Tori Read
Y Kant Tori Read

Y Kant Tori Read was a 1980s synthpop band, fronted by then unknown singer-songwriter Tori Amos. The band released one album, also called Y Kant Tori Read, which was largely unsuccessful, perhaps in part because Atlantic Records abandoned promoting the record completely after only two months of release....
, the name of which was a reference to her days at the Peabody conservatory, where she was able to play songs on her piano simply after hearing them once, but was never successful at sight reading
Sight reading

Sight-reading is the reading and performing of a piece of written music, specifically when the performer has not seen it before. Sight-singing is often used to describe a singer who is sight-reading....
. Besides Amos, the group was composed of Steve Caton
Steve Caton

Steve Caton is a professional guitarist/singer, song writer, record producer, and visual artist, whose career has spanned almost three decades....
 (who would later play guitars on all her subsequent albums until 1999), drummer Matt Sorum
Matt Sorum

Matthew William Sorum is an United States hard rock drummer and percussionist. Sorum is most famous for his 7-year stint in Guns N' Roses . Matt currently is playing drums for Supergroup Velvet Revolver , which features former GN'R members Duff McKagan and Slash ....
, bass player Brad Cobb and, for a short time, keyboardist Jim Tauber. A year later, Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records

Atlantic Records is an United States record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm & blues, rock and roll, and jazz. Long one of the most important American independent labels, Atlantic now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of Warner Music Group, which consolidated Atlantic Records and the Elektra Entertainment Group into one...
 gave Amos a six-record contract. In 1987 she appeared in the courtroom soap opera Trial by Jury
Trial by Jury

Trial by Jury is a comic opera in one act, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It was first produced on 25 March 1875, at London's Royalty Theatre, where it initially ran for 131 performances and was considered a hit, receiving critical praise and outrunning its popular companion piece, Jacques Offenbach's...
 as a female defendant. In July 1988, the band's debut album Y Kant Tori Read
Y Kant Tori Read (album)

Y Kant Tori Read is the name of the 1980s synthpop band , formed by then-unknown singer and songwriter Tori Amos. The band consisted of Tori, singer-pianist Kim Bullard, and future Guns N' Roses drummer Matt Sorum, as well as long-time Amos collaborator guitarist Steve Caton and various studio musicians....
 was released and was not received well, leaving Amos dejected and humiliated. After the flop, Amos began working with other artists (including Stan Ridgway
Stan Ridgway

Stan Ridgway , is an American multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter, and was the original lead singer of the band Wall of Voodoo....
, Sandra Bernhard
Sandra Bernhard

Sandra Bernhard is an American comedian, singer, actress and author. She first gained attention in the late 1970s with her stand-up comedy in which she often bitterly critiques celebrity culture and political figures....
, and Al Stewart
Al Stewart

Al Stewart is a United Kingdom singer-songwriter and folk rock musician.He is best known for his 1976 single "Year of the Cat " and its 1978 follow-up "Time Passages " , although albums such as Past, Present and Future [1973] and Modern Times [1975] are seen as more representative of Stewart's talent as a historical wordsmith and Lyrical...
) as a backup vocalist. She also recorded a song called "Distant Storm" for the film China O'Brien
China O'Brien

China O'Brien was a martial arts film starring actress and martial artist Cynthia Rothrock....
; in the credits, the song is attributed to a band called Tess Makes Good. It was the only song recorded by the band, and its only commercial release was in the film.

Although Amos often voices embarrassment concerning Y Kant Tori Read, she has performed various songs from the album live in concert. The album is now out of print, and Amos has expressed no interest in reissuing it.

Solo career


Debut and rising fame (1990–96)

Despite the disappointing reaction to Y Kant Tori Read, Amos still had to comply with her six-record contract with Atlantic Records, who in 1989 wanted a new record by March 1990. When she presented them with her initial recordings, they were rejected on the grounds that such piano-based music would not sell in an early-'90s market of grunge, rock
Rock music

Rock music is a loosely defined genre of popular music that entered the mainstream in the mid 1950's. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rhythm and blues, country music and other influences....
, rap
Hip hop music

Hip hop music is a music genre typically consisting of a rhythmic vocal style called rapping which is accompanied with backing beats. Hip hop music is part of hip hop culture, which began in the Bronx, in New York City in the 1970s, predominantly among African Americans and Latino Americans....
, and dance music
Dance music

Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dance. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement....
. Extensively reworked and expanded with the help of Steve Caton
Steve Caton

Steve Caton is a professional guitarist/singer, song writer, record producer, and visual artist, whose career has spanned almost three decades....
, Eric Rosse
Eric Rosse

Eric Rosse is a record producer who has a penchant for producing work by talented and often unknown female singer-songwriters. He is best known for his involvement with singer Tori Amos, particularly production of her albums Little Earthquakes and Grammy award nominated Under the Pink....
, Will MacGregor, Carlo Nuccio, and Dan Nebenzal, the record ended up full of raw, emotive songs recounting her religious upbringing, sexual awakening, struggle to establish her identity, and her sexual assault. The Atlantic executives changed their minds upon hearing the updated version, with the plan to promote her as an heir to Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell

Joni Mitchell, Order of Canada is a Canada musician, songwriter, and Painting.Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Western Canada and then busking on the streets of Toronto....
 and Laura Nyro
Laura Nyro

Laura Nyro was an United States composer, lyricist, singer and pianist. Her style was a distinctive hybrid of Brill Building-style New York pop, mixed with elements of jazz, gospel music, rhythm and blues, show tunes and rock music....
, or alternatively as a female version of Elton John
Elton John

Sir Elton Hercules John Order of the British Empire is an England singer-songwriter, composer and pianist.In his four-decade career, John has been one of the dominant forces in rock and popular music, especially during the 1970s....
. Expecting the traditionally more open-minded UK market to warm to Amos and to create a "buzz" with which to return to the US, Atlantic relocated Amos to England in early 1991 to play small clubs in preparation for the launch of the new album, which was released under the title Little Earthquakes
Little Earthquakes

Little Earthquakes was the solo debut album of singer Tori Amos, featuring the singles "Winter", "China", "Silent All These Years" and "Crucify "....
.

During this period, Amos befriended author Neil Gaiman
Neil Gaiman

Neil Richard Gaiman is an England author of science fiction and fantasy short stories and novels, graphic novels, comics, and films. His notable works include The Sandman comic series, Stardust , American Gods and Coraline....
, who became a fan after she referenced him in the song "Tear In Your Hand" and also in print interviews. Although created before the two met, the character Delirium
Delirium (DC Comics)

Delirium is one of Endless , fictional characters from Neil Gaiman's comic book series The Sandman ....
 from Gaiman's The Sandman series (or even her sister Death
Death (DC Comics)

Death is a fictional character from the DC Comics comic book series, The Sandman . She was created by Sandman writer Neil Gaiman and given visual life by illustrators Mike Dringenberg and Malcolm Jones III....
) is inspired by Amos; Gaiman has stated that "they steal shamelessly from each other". Gaiman would go on to become a long-time friend and collaborator. His 2006 tribute album from Ferret Records has an Amos lyric for its title (Where's Neil When You Need Him?
Where's Neil When You Need Him?

Where's Neil When You Need Him? is a tribute CD to writer Neil Gaiman consisting of seventeen tracks performed by various artists who are fans of Gaiman's work....
) and contains the Amos track "Sister Named Desire". Amos would also write the introduction to the trade paperback collection of Gaiman's Death: The High Cost of Living
Death: The High Cost of Living

Death: The High Cost of Living is an USA comic book miniseries, written by Neil Gaiman with art by Chris Bachalo and Mark Buckingham. It is a spin-off from Gaiman's best-selling Vertigo series The Sandman , featuring the Sandman 's elder sister, Death of Endless in a self-contained story based around the fable that Death takes huma...
.

After touring throughout 1992 in support of Little Earthquakes, Amos traveled to New Mexico
New Mexico

New Mexico is a U. S. State located in the Southwestern United States of the United States. Inhabited by Native Americans in the United States populations for many centuries, it has also has been part of the Spanish Empire viceroyalty of New Spain, part of Mexico, and a U.S....
 with personal and professional partner Eric Rosse
Eric Rosse

Eric Rosse is a record producer who has a penchant for producing work by talented and often unknown female singer-songwriters. He is best known for his involvement with singer Tori Amos, particularly production of her albums Little Earthquakes and Grammy award nominated Under the Pink....
 in 1993 to write and largely record her second solo record, Under the Pink
Under the Pink

Under the Pink is the second solo album by singer-songwriter Tori Amos. Upon its release in January 1994, the album peaked at US # 12 and on the back of the hit single "Cornflake Girl", the album debuted at UK # 1, her highest-charting UK album debut to date....
. Amos continued to write about the events in her own life on her second album, while also drawing inspiration elsewhere from the works of Georgia O'Keeffe
Georgia O'Keeffe

Georgia Totto O'Keeffe was an American artist.Born near Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, Georgia O'Keeffe received widespread recognition for her technical contributions as well as challenging the boundaries of modern American artistic style....
 and Salvador Dalí
Salvador Dalí

Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dal? i Dom?nech, 1st Marquis of P?bol was a Spain Catalonia surrealist painter born in Figueres.Dal? was a skilled Technical drawing, best known for the striking and bizarre images in his surrealism work....
, the literature
Literature

Literature is the art of written works. Literally translated, the word means "acquaintance with letters" . In Western culture the most basic written literary types include fiction and non-fiction....
 of Alice Walker
Alice Walker

Alice Malsenior Walker is an United States author, self-declared feminist and womanist?the latter a term she herself coined to make special distinction for the experiences of women of color....
, and the Russia
Russia

Russia , or the Russian Federation , is a list of countries spanning more than one continent country extending over much of northern Eurasia....
n princess Anastasia Romanov. Musically, Amos drew from the style of classical composers she had studied during her childhood, and put more focus on her solo piano rather than band instrumentation. The musical complexity drawn from her classical background is particularly evident in such tracks as "Icicle" and the sweeping, nine-and-a-half minute, "Yes, Anastasia". Under the Pink features the contribution of vocals on "Past the Mission" by Trent Reznor
Trent Reznor

Trent Reznor is an American musician, singer-songwriter, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist. He operates under the studio name Nine Inch Nails, and was previously associated with the bands Option 30, Exotic Birds, and Tapeworm , among others....
 of Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails

Nine Inch Nails is an American industrial rock music group, founded in 1988 by Trent Reznor in Cleveland, Ohio, Ohio. As its main Producer , singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, Reznor is the only official member of Nine Inch Nails and remains solely responsible for its direction....
.

In June 1994, Amos co-founded RAINN
RAINN

The Rape, Sexual Abuse and Incest National Network , is the largest sexual assault organization in the United States of America. RAINN operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline and carries out programs to prevent sexual assault, help victims, and to ensure that rapists are brought to justice....
, The Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, a toll-free help line in the US connecting callers with their local rape crisis center. Amos, herself a victim of sexual assault, was seen as unlocking the silence of her assault through her music; thus "Unlock the Silence" went on to become a year-long campaign for RAINN when Amos became a national spokesperson for the organization. By the summer of 2006, RAINN had received its one millionth caller and the organization's success has led to it ranking in "America's 100 Best Charities" by Worth, and one of the "Top 10 Best Charities" by Marie Claire
Marie Claire

Marie Claire is a monthly women's magazine conceived in France but also distributed in other countries with editions specific to them and in their languages....
. RAINN has played an active role in urging Congress to fund programs relating to sexual assault, including getting legislation passed for requiring sex offender registries in all states, and most recently to calling on Congress to investigate allegations of misconduct by contractors in Iraq.

While Amos was achieving success in different aspects of her career, her personal and professional relationship with Eric Rosse ended during this time, which served as the stimulus for her third solo album, Boys for Pele
Boys for Pele

Boys for Pele is the third studio album by American singer and song-writer Tori Amos. Preceded by the first single, "Caught a Lite Sneeze", by three weeks, the album was released on 22 January 1996, in the United Kingdom and on 23 January, in the United States....
. The album was recorded in an Irish church, in Delgany
Delgany

Delgany is a small picturesque village in County Wicklow on the R762 between Greystones and the N11 road at the Glen of the Downs. It is about south of Dublin City centre....
, County Wicklow
Wicklow

Wicklow is the county seat of County Wicklow in Republic of Ireland. Located south of the capital Dublin on the east coast of the island, it has a population of 10,070 according to the 2006 census....
, Ireland
Republic of Ireland

Ireland is an Island country in north-western Europe. The modern Sovereignty state occupies about five-sixths of the island of Ireland, which was partitioned by the British on 3 May 1921....
, with Amos taking advantage of the church recording setting to create an album ripe with baroque
Baroque

In the the arts, the Baroque was a Western cultural Epoch , starting roughly at the beginning of the 17th century in Rome, Italy. It was exemplified by drama and grandeur in Baroque sculpture, Baroque painting, literature, Baroque dance, and Baroque music....
 influences, lending it a darker sound and style. She added harpsichord
Harpsichord

A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a musical keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when each Key is pressed....
, harmonium
Harmonium

A harmonium is a free-standing keyboard instrument similar to a reed organ or pipe organ. Sound is produced by air, supplied by foot-operated or hand-operated bellows, being blown through sets of Free reed aerophone, resulting in a sound similar to that of an accordion....
, and clavichord
Clavichord

The clavichord is a European stringed keyboard instrument known from the late Medieval music, through the Renaissance music, Baroque music and Classical music era eras....
 to her keyboard repertoire, and also included such anomalies as a gospel
Gospel music

Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
 choir
Choir

A choir, chorale, or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral Music, in turn, is the music written specifically for a choir to perform....
, bagpipes, church bells, and drum programming.

The album garnered mixed reviews upon its release in January 1996, with some critics praising its intensity and uniqueness while others bemoaned its comparative impenetrability. Despite the album's erratic lyrical content and instrumentation, the latter of which kept it away from mainstream audiences, Boys for Pele is Amos's most successful simultaneous transatlantic release, reaching # 2 on both the Billboard 200 and the UK Top 40 upon its release at the height of her fame.

Later in 1996, Amos began her own vanity label
Vanity label

A vanity label is a record label founded as a wholly or partially owned subsidiary of another, larger and better established record label, where the subsidiary label is controlled by a successful recording artist, designed to allow this artist to release music by other artists he or she admires....
 called Igloo, internal to Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records

Atlantic Records is an United States record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm & blues, rock and roll, and jazz. Long one of the most important American independent labels, Atlantic now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of Warner Music Group, which consolidated Atlantic Records and the Elektra Entertainment Group into one...
. Her first signing was the band Pet, headed by lead singer Lisa Papineau
Lisa Papineau

Lisa Papineau is a vocalist from Vermont who now resides in Paris, France. She is the vocalist for Los Angeles trip hop band, Big Sir , who have released three albums....
. Their self-titled debut album, for which Amos served as executive producer, included the song "Lil' Boots," which was also featured on the soundtrack for The Crow: City of Angels
The Crow: City of Angels

The Crow: City of Angels is a 1996 in film action film and a sequel to the cult film The Crow . The film was directed by Tim Pope....
. Record sales were meager and the subsidiary label was quickly dissolved.

Miscarriages and marriage (1996–99)


While on tour to promote Boys for Pele, Amos and her sound engineer Mark Hawley began a romantic relationship. As the year-long tour drew to a close, Amos discovered she was pregnant. She initially planned to take the next year away from the limelight and the recording studio in order to focus on her pregnancy and motherhood, however, Amos miscarried
Miscarriage

Miscarriage or spontaneous abortion is the spontaneous end of a pregnancy at a stage where the embryo or fetus is incapable of surviving, generally defined in humans at prior to 20 weeks of gestation....
 two days before Christmas
Christmas

Christmas , also referred to as Christmas Day, is an annual holiday celebrated on December 25 that commemorates the birth of Jesus. The day marks the beginning of the larger season of Christmastide, which lasts Twelve Days of Christmas....
 1996 at three months, plunging her into new emotional depths. In early 1997, shortly after the miscarriage, Amos performed a televised concert called "The Concert for RAINN
Tori Amos: Live from New York

Tori Amos: Live from New York is a benefit concert performed by United States singer and song-writer Tori Amos on January 23, 1997. The concert was performed at the Madison Square Garden Theater in New York to launch "Unlock the Silence", a year-long promotional and fund-raising campaign sponsored by cK Calvin Klein to raise awareness of...
", which coincided with "National RAINN Day" as well as introduced a year-long campaign in collaboration with Calvin Klein
Calvin Klein

Calvin Richard Klein is an United States fashion designer. In 1968, he launched the company that would later become Calvin Klein Inc.In addition to clothing, Calvin Klein also gave his name to a range of perfumes, including CK One and CK Be , now owned by Coty Inc....
 eye wear, the proceeds of which were collected for RAINN. During the concert many cable
Cable television

Cable television is a system of providing television to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through fixed optical fibers or coaxial cables as opposed to the over-the-air method used in traditional television broadcasting in which a television antenna is required....
 and network television stations aired Amos's public service announcement
Public service announcement

A public service announcement or community service announcement is a non-commercial advertising broadcast on radio or television, ostensibly for the public interest....
 about the organization. Another noteworthy aspect of this concert is that it includes a duet with Amos's friend Maynard James Keenan of the band Tool
Tool (band)

Tool is an American Grammy Award-winning Rock music band that was formed in 1990 in Los Angeles, California. Since its inception, the band's line-up has included drummer Danny Carey, guitarist Adam Jones , and vocalist Maynard James Keenan....
.

Although Amos had planned to take time off from writing and recording in preparation for her pregnancy, she unexpectedly began writing new material while recovering from her miscarriage at her second home in Florida
Florida

Florida is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the northeast....
. She suffered a second miscarriage in May 1997, this time earlier in the pregnancy, before returning to Cornwall
Cornwall

Cornwall , constitutional Duchy and palatine, is a metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties of England of England, United Kingdom, located at the tip of the south-western peninsula of Great Britain....
, England, where she settled with Hawley. Fueled by Amos's desire to have her own recording studio, they converted the barn of their new home into a state-of-the-art recording studio, Martian Engineering Studios. With a roster of new songs written and a studio at her immediate disposal, Amos spent the latter part of the year recording new songs that would become her fourth solo album, From the Choirgirl Hotel
From the Choirgirl Hotel

From the Choirgirl Hotel is the fourth studio album by United States singer and songwriter Tori Amos. A departure from her previous albums, it was much more lavishly produced and a very radio-friendly project featuring a full Rock and roll band sound ....
, the studio's inaugural recording.

Following Amos and Hawley's marriage on February 22, 1998, Atlantic released From the Choirgirl Hotel, in May 1998. The underlying theme of the album deals with her miscarriages, interspersed with elements of her marriage and other personal events. The lyrics "She's convinced she could hold back a glacier, but she couldn't keep baby alive/doubting if there's a woman in there somewhere" from the album's lead single, "Spark", and "Then the baby came before I found/the magic how to keep her happy" from the song "Playboy Mommy" showcase the impact that miscarrying had on Amos. Inspired by the freedom of having her own recording studio, the album varies greatly from previous albums, with the acoustic piano-based sound found on Little Earthquakes (1992), Under the Pink (1994) and Boys for Pele (1996) being largely replaced with arrangements that include elements of electronica
Electronica

Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing....
, jazz
Jazz

Jazz is a primarily American musical art form which originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions....
, and some styles of dance music. Album reviews were mostly favorable and praised Amos's continued artistic originality. While not her highest chart debut, debut sales for From the Choirgirl Hotel are Amos's best to date, selling 153,000 copies in its first week.

Amos's first tour with a full band proved successful and precipitated the decision to make her next project a double album. It would comprise live material recorded on tour as well as b-sides, and be bolstered by two to three new unreleased compositions. Amos was surprised to find herself instead creating entirely new songs. As a result, the project mutated into a set of new songs instead the planned collection of b-sides. This mixed compilation of live and new studio material was released in a two-disc format in September 1999 under the title To Venus and Back
To Venus and Back

To Venus and Back, the fifth album released by singer and songwriter Tori Amos, is a double album including a studio album and a live album....
.

The album was supported by a short tour, "The Five and a Half Weeks Tour", which Amos co-headlined with Alanis Morissette
Alanis Morissette

Alanis Nadine Morissette is a Canada singer-songwriter, record producer and occasional actress. She has won eleven Juno Awards and seven Grammy Awards, and has sold over 60 million albums worldwide....
. It commenced a month prior to the release of To Venus and Back. Amos and the band continued on with the To Dallas and Back tour, which was followed by a short solo tour, but promotional plans were cut when Amos suffered her third miscarriage, again at three months, on November 11, 1999. Amos would later reveal that Atlantic allowed her only two days to recuperate before pushing her back into a promotional schedule, one reason that caused her eventual split from the record label in 2002.

Personal and professional transitions (2000–05)

After releasing two albums and embarking on two tours in rapid succession, Amos took a break from both touring and recording in 2000 to devote to another pregnancy. Amos became a mother, giving birth to her daughter, Natashya, in September 2000. Inspired by the songs she heard on the radio while looking after her daughter at her second home in Florida
Florida

Florida is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the northeast....
, Amos hatched the idea to produce a covers album, recording songs written by men about women and turning them around to suit the female perspective. That idea grew into the covers album Strange Little Girls
Strange Little Girls

Strange Little Girls is a concept album released by singer-songwriter Tori Amos in 2001. The album's twelve tracks are covers of songs written and originally performed by men , reinterpreted by Amos from a female's point of view....
, which was released in September 2001. The unique album garnered substantial press attention, as did the artwork featuring Amos photographed in character of the women portrayed in each song. Amos would later reveal in Piece by Piece that a stimulus for the album was to end her contract with Atlantic Records without giving them new original songs; Amos felt that since 1998, the label had not been properly promoting her and had trapped her in a contract by refusing to sell her to another label.

With her Atlantic contract fulfilled after a 15-year stint, Amos signed to another major label, Epic
Epic Records

Epic Records is an United States record label. It is owned and operated by Sony Music Entertainment. The label was founded in 1953 as a jazz label, and was eventually expanded to several genres of music....
 in early 2002. In October, Amos released Scarlet's Walk
Scarlet's Walk

Scarlet's Walk is the seventh album released in singer-songwriter Tori Amos' solo career. The 18-track concept album details the cross-country travels of Scarlet, a character loosely based on Amos, as well as the concept of America post-September 11, 2001 attacks....
, her first album under the new label. Described as a "sonic novel
Novel

File:2009 stapelweise Neuerscheinungen im Buchladen.JPGA novel is today a long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern Romance and in the tradition of the novella....
", the 18-track album proved to be a landmark for a variety of reasons. Stylistically, Amos put drums and bass guitar at the forefront, using her piano playing as an accent rather than a highlight. Thematically, the album explores Amos's alter ego
Alter ego

An alter ego is a 2 Self , a second Personality psychology or persona within a person. It was coined in the early nineteenth century when schizophrenia was first described by early psychologists....
, Scarlet, and her cross-country trip in 2001 following 9/11. Through the songs, Amos explores the history of America, American people, Native American
Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the Indigenous peoples of the Americas from the regions of North America now encompassed by the continental United States United States, including parts of Alaska and the island state of Hawaii....
 history, pornography
Pornography

Pornography or porn is the explicit depiction of sexual subject matter with the sole intention of sexually exciting the viewer. It is to a certain extent similar to erotica, which is the use of sexually arousing imagery....
, masochism, homophobia
Homophobia

Homophobia is an irrational fear of, aversion to, or discrimination against homosexuality or homosexuals. Some definitions lack the "irrational" component....
 and misogyny
Misogyny

Misogyny is hatred of women or girls. It is parallel to misandry?the hatred of men. Misogyny is also comparable with misanthropy which is the hatred of humanity generally....
, but the political nature of the album is often tempered by the classic production and songwriting style, recalling the likes of Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac

Fleetwood Mac are a United Kingdom/United States rock music band formed in 1967 which have experienced a high turnover of personnel and varied levels of success....
.

Following her debut with Epic, Amos still owed Atlantic a retrospective hits package. Given the option to be involved in the project, Amos elected to take a central role in the production of the collection. In November 2003 Tales of a Librarian
Tales of a Librarian

Tales of a Librarian is the first greatest hits compilation album by singer/songwriter Tori Amos. Released in 2003 on her former label Atlantic Records, Amos recorded it under the premise that a librarian is a "chronicler", piecing together the album and adding two new songs and two re-recorded b-sides: "Angels", "Snow Cherries from Fran...
 was released, which Amos described as a "sonic autobiography
Autobiography

An autobiography is a biography written by its subject . The term was first used by the poet Robert Southey in 1809 in the English language Periodical publication Quarterly Review, but the form goes back to antiquity....
", a title derived from her dislike of the term "greatest hits". Amos revisited the mixing of many of her own favorite songs from her career, focusing on those she thought were not fully realized in their original recordings and those that she felt explained her life story. Recording under the premise that a librarian is a "chronicler", Amos pieced together the compilation album, adding two new songs and two re-recorded B-sides. The songs are arranged in accordance with the Dewey Decimal System, extending the librarian theme of the album. Shortly after the release of Tales of a Librarian, Amos made her first film appearance in Mona Lisa Smile
Mona Lisa Smile

Mona Lisa Smile is a 2003 in film United States film that was produced by Revolution Studios and Columbia Pictures, directed by Mike Newell , written by Lawrence Konner and Mark Rosenthal , and starring Julia Roberts, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Kirsten Dunst, and Julia Stiles....
 as a big-band singer and contributed two songs to the film's soundtrack.

Not long after Amos was ensconced with her new label, she received unsettling news when Polly Anthony resigned as president of Epic Records in 2003. Anthony had been one of the primary reasons Amos signed with the label and as a result of her resignation, Amos formed the Bridge Entertainment Group, a company devoted to helping musicians in various ways during a time when the music industry is changing. Further trouble for Amos occurred the following year when her label, Epic/Sony Music Entertainment, merged with BMG Entertainment as a result of the industry's decline. Amos would later hint in interviews that during the creation of her next album, those in charge at the label following the aforementioned merger were interested "only in making money", the effects of which on the album have not been disclosed.

Amos's next album, The Beekeeper
The Beekeeper

The Beekeeper is the eighth studio album by singer-songwriter Tori Amos. It incorporates Celtic choirs and African drums, and gnostic themes from the Apocryphon of John....
, was conceptually influenced by the ancient art of beekeeping
Beekeeping

Beekeeping is the maintenance of honey bee colonies, commonly in beehives, by humans. A beekeeper keeps bees in order to collect honey and beeswax, for the purpose of pollination agriculture, or to produce bees for sale to other beekeepers....
, which she considered a source of female inspiration and empowerment. Through extensive study, Amos also wove in the stories of the Gnostic gospels and the removal of women from a position of power within the Christian church
Christian Church

Christian Church and the word church are used to denote both a Christian Groups of people and a Church . The word church is usually, but not exclusively, associated with Christianity....
 to create an album based largely on religion
Religion

A religion is an organized approach to human spirituality which usually encompasses a set of myth, symbols, beliefs and practices, often with a supernatural or transcendence quality, that give meaning to the practitioner's experiences of life through reference to a higher power or truth....
 and politics
Politics

Politics is the process by which groups of people make decisions. The term is generally applied to behaviour within civil governments, but politics has been observed in all human group interactions, including corporation, academia, and religion institutions....
. Many fans and critics, however, have argued that the concept is unclear and confusing. The album's debut at # 5 on the Billboard 200 in February 2005 is a milestone for Amos, placing her in an elite group of women to have secured five or more US Top 10 album debuts. In conjunction with the album, Amos released an autobiography co-authored by rock music journalist Ann Powers
Ann Powers

Ann Powers has been writing about popular music and society since the early 1980s. She is the author of Weird Like Us: My Bohemian America and coeditor of Rock She Wrote: Women Write About Rock, Pop, and Rap....
 entitled Piece by Piece
Piece by Piece (book)

Piece by Piece is an autobiographical book by singer/songwriter Tori Amos and co-authored by rock music journalist Ann Powers. The book is told in a conversational style with questions posed by Ann and responded to by Tori....
, which delves deeply into Amos's interest in mythology and religion and explores her songwriting process as well as telling the story of her progression into fame. Later that year Amos released a series of live "official bootlegs" recorded during her promotional tours in support of The Beekeeper in response to fans paying for low-quality bootlegs. A website was established at where hard copies of the releases were made exclusively available. In December, all six two-disc sets were issued as a 12-disc box set entitled The Original Bootlegs
The Original Bootlegs

The Original Bootlegs is a series of six Tori Amos live albums, recorded during the Original Sinsuality and Summer of Sin tours, both of which were in support of her 2005 album, The Beekeeper....
.

Summations and "jumping ship" (2005–08)


During 2005, Amos negotiated a contract with the Warner Bros. reissue imprint Rhino to release reissues and compilations. The first release of the deal was the two-disc DVD set Fade To Red: The Video Collection
Fade to Red

Tori Amos - The Video Collection: Fade To Red is a 2-DVD set featuring music videos released from artist Tori Amos. The DVD set features such hits as "Silent All These Years," "Crucify ," "Cornflake Girl," and "A Sorta Fairytale" which co-stars Oscar winner Adrien Brody....
 in February 2006, which contained most of Amos's solo music videos as well as behind-the-scenes footage and commentary. The contract continued in September 2006 with the release of the five-disc box set A Piano: The Collection
A Piano: The Collection

A Piano: The Collection is a five-disc box set spanning the first 15 years of the solo career of United States singer and song-writer Tori Amos....
, celebrating Amos's 15-year solo career. The box set includes various album tracks, singles, remixes, alternate mixes, demos and a string of unreleased songs from album recording sessions. The collection is packaged to resemble a piano keyboard with extensive liner notes (including Amos's commentary) and a hardcover book. While the contents of the box set are extensive, many B-sides and rarities do not appear in this collection.

In several interviews while promoting A Piano, Amos revealed details about her ninth studio album. The thematic nature of and the concepts behind the next album were revealed in an interview early in 2007, with Amos stating she was "jumping ship" from her previous work and that A Piano was the summation of her previous work and the end of an era. The album, recorded with new microphones, pianos, and a Yamaha CS80 synth keyboard, was released under the title American Doll Posse
American Doll Posse

American Doll Posse is the ninth studio album by singer-songwriter Tori Amos. The album, like her previous three, is a concept album, with the 23-track American Doll Posse entailing five female personae Amos developed based on Greek mythology....
 on May 1, 2007, in the US. The "Posse", a group of girls who are used as a theme of alter-egos in the album, consists of Amos in five guises. In conjunction with the tour, Amos released the Legs & Boots
Legs and Boots

Legs and Boots is a series of Tori Amos live albums recorded during the North American leg of the American Doll Posse Tour. Amos announced the launch of the series on October 16, 2007, stating that each show in the series would be available via digital download in MP3 format within a few hours after each show, and in CD-quality FLAC...
 series, complete shows from the North American leg of her American Doll Posse tour available for download. A total of 27 shows were recorded as part of the Legs & Boots series.

Artistic independence (2008–)


In May 2008, Amos announced that she had negotiated an end to her contract with Epic Records and that she would be operating independently of major record labels on future work. In December of the same year, Amos signed a distribution deal with Universal Republic Records, based on a business model allowing Amos artistic independence over her work. By early 2009, plans for her tenth studio album were announced, with the release debuting in spring 2009 under the title Abnormally Attracted to Sin.

Also in 2008, Amos was one of the contributors to Carrie Borzillo-Vrenna
Carrie Borzillo-Vrenna

Carrie Borzillo-Vrenna Teen People, Spin, Billboard and others. She is author of the book Eyewitness Nirvana : The Day-by-Day Chronicle and ?CHERRY BOMB: The Ultimate Guide to Becoming a Better Flirt, a Tougher Chick, a Hotter Girlfriend and Living Life Like a Rock Star.?...
's book Cherry Bomb, and released a live album and DVD, Live at Montreux 1991/1992, through Eagle Rock Entertainment
Eagle Rock Entertainment

Eagle Rock Entertainment Limited was founded in April 1997 by three former colleagues at Castle Communications and is based in Aldershot in Hampshire with offices in Hamburg, Paris, and New York....
. Other concurrent projects, Amos writing the music for Samuel Adamson's musical adaptation of the George MacDonald
George MacDonald

George MacDonald was a Scotland author, poet, and Christian minister.Though no longer well known, his works have inspired admiration in such notables as W....
 story The Light Princess
The Light Princess

The Light Princess is a fairy tale by George MacDonald. It was published in 1864....
 for the Royal National Theatre
Royal National Theatre

The Royal National Theatre, London, England, is generally known as the National Theatre and commonly as The National. It is located on the The South Bank in the London Borough of Lambeth, England, immediately east of the southern end of Waterloo Bridge....
 and recording a duet with David Byrne
David Byrne (musician)

David Byrne is a Scotland-United States musician and artist perhaps best known as a founding member and principal songwriter of the New Wave band Talking Heads, which was active between 1974 and 1991....
, former lead singer of Talking Heads
Talking Heads

Talking Heads was an American rock music rock band formed in 1974 in New York City and active until 1991. The band comprised David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth and Jerry Harrison....
, for his album Here Lies Love, are expected to debut sometime in 2009.

Academic criticism

S. Alexander Reed has written about the intertextual
Intertextuality

Intertextuality is the shaping of texts' meanings by other texts. It can refer to an author?s borrowing and transformation of a prior text or to a reader?s referencing of one text in reading another....
 relationships between Neil Gaiman
Neil Gaiman

Neil Richard Gaiman is an England author of science fiction and fantasy short stories and novels, graphic novels, comics, and films. His notable works include The Sandman comic series, Stardust , American Gods and Coraline....
's and Amos's work. Reed analyzes several of Amos's allusions to Gaiman, noting that they occur at points in the songs where the musical motifs expand from and disrupt the established forms. He reads this disruption in terms of psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan
Jacques Lacan

Jacques-Marie-?mile Lacan was a France psychoanalyst and psychiatrist who made prominent contributions to psychoanalysis, philosophy, and literary theory....
's idea of the mirror stage
Mirror stage

The mirror stage was the subject of Jacques Lacan's first official contribution to psychoanalytic theory . He described it in "The Mirror Stage as formative of the function of the I as revealed in psychoanalytic experience", the first of his ?crits....
, arguing that the mutual referentiality creates an "ideal reader" with whom the actual readers identify, drawing them into the role of the devoted (and paying) fan.

Lori Burns and Alyssa Woods study Amos's cover versions of songs, specifically Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday

Billie Holiday was an American jazz singer and songwriter.Nicknamed Lady Day by her loyal friend and musical partner Lester Young, Holiday was a seminal influence on jazz and pop singing....
's "Strange Fruit
Strange Fruit

"Strange Fruit" is a song performed most famously by Billie Holiday. It condemned American racism, particularly the lynching of African Americans that had occurred chiefly in the Southern United States but also in all regions of the United States....
" and Eminem
Eminem

Marshall Bruce Mathers III , known by his primary stage name Eminem, or by his alter-ego Slim Shady, is an American rapper, record producer and actor....
's "'97 Bonnie & Clyde," as a process of "signifyin(g)" the songs by "making a personal claim" on the existing song. In the case of "Strange Fruit," Burns argues that where Holiday's version bears witness to a traumatic event (the lynching of a black man), Amos, by prolonging the emotional climax of the song to "linger in her outcry," recasts the event as an act of remembering and retelling, freed from the emotional constraints of the act of witnessing. Her version of "97 Bonnie and Clyde," on the other hand, seeks a personal intimacy with the listener, as Amos takes on the perspective of the murdered woman in the song, rather than that of the murderer who narrates Eminem's original. Burns and Woods claim that this process of emotional reappropriation authenticates Amos's artistic presence even in songs that fall outside the standard confessional structure of pop music.

Discography

To date, Amos has released nine studio albums throughout her solo career, seven of which were self-produced. Additionally, Amos has released over 30 singles, over 60 B-sides, and has contributed to nine film soundtracks, including Higher Learning
Higher Learning

Higher Learning is a 1995 drama film, starring an ensemble cast. It also featured Tyra Banks' first performance in a theatrical film.Laurence Fishburne won an NAACP Image Award for "Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture" for his performance; Ice Cube was also nominated for the award....
 (1995), Great Expectations
Great Expectations (1998 film)

Great Expectations is a 1998 in film contemporary film adaptation of the Charles Dickens Great Expectations, directed by Alfonso Cuar?n and starring Ethan Hawke, Gwyneth Paltrow, Robert De Niro, Anne Bancroft and Chris Cooper ....
 (1998) and Mission: Impossible II
Mission: Impossible II

Mission: Impossible II is a 2000 in film film directed by John Woo and starring Tom Cruise, who also served as the film's Film producer.It is a sequel to Brian De Palma's 1996 in film Mission: Impossible with Cruise reprising his role as agent Ethan Hunt of the Impossible Missions Force, an unofficial branch of the CIA likely modell...
 (2000) among others.

Tours

Amos, who has been performing in bars and clubs from as early as 1976, and under her professional name as early as 1991, remains one of the most active touring artists in the world, having performed more than 1,000 shows since her first world tour in 1992. In 2003, Amos was voted fifth best touring act by the readers of Rolling Stone magazine. Her concerts are notable for their changing set lists from night to night.

Little Earthquakes Tour : Amos's first world tour began on January 29, 1992 in London
London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
 and ended on November 30, 1992 in Auckland
Auckland

The Auckland metropolitan area or Greater Auckland, in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban areas of New Zealand with over 1.3 million residents, percent of the country's population....
. She performed solo with a Yamaha CP-80 unless the venue was able to provide a piano. The tour included 142 concerts around the globe. Under the Pink Tour : Amos's second world tour began on February 24, 1994 in Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne

Newcastle upon Tyne is a City status in the United Kingdom and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Situated on the north bank of the River Tyne, the city developed from a Roman Empire settlement called Pons Aelius, though it owes its name to the Newcastle Castle built in 1080, by Robert Curthose, the eldest son of...
, England
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
 and ended on December 13, 1994 in Perth, Western Australia
Perth, Western Australia

Perth is the List of Australian capital cities and largest city of the Australian States and territories of Australia of Western Australia. With a population of 1,554,769 , Perth ranks fourth amongst the nation's cities, with a growth rate consistently above the national average....
. Amos performed solo each night on her iconic Bösendorfer
Bösendorfer

B?sendorfer is an Austrian piano manufacturer, now a wholly owned subsidiary of Yamaha. B?sendorfer pianos are noted for their dark, full-bodied sound compared with other top models....
 piano, and on a pianino during "Bells for Her". The tour included 181 concerts. Dew Drop Inn Tour : The third world tour began on February 23, 1996 in Ipswich
Ipswich

Ipswich is a non-metropolitan district and the county town of Suffolk, England on the estuary of the River Orwell. Nearby towns are Felixstowe in Suffolk, Harwich in Essex and Colchester also in Essex....
, England
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
, and ended on November 11, 1996 in Boulder, Colorado
Boulder, Colorado

Boulder is a Colorado municipalities#Home_Rule_Municipality that is the county seat and most populous city of Boulder County, Colorado, Colorado, in the United States....
. Amos performed each night on piano
Piano

The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard instrument. Widely used in Western music for solo performance, ensemble use, chamber music, and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to musical composition and rehearsal....
, harpsichord
Harpsichord

A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a musical keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when each Key is pressed....
, and harmonium
Harmonium

A harmonium is a free-standing keyboard instrument similar to a reed organ or pipe organ. Sound is produced by air, supplied by foot-operated or hand-operated bellows, being blown through sets of Free reed aerophone, resulting in a sound similar to that of an accordion....
, with Steve Caton
Steve Caton

Steve Caton is a professional guitarist/singer, song writer, record producer, and visual artist, whose career has spanned almost three decades....
 on guitar
Guitar

The guitar is a musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles. It typically has six Strings , but Tenor guitar, Seven-string guitar, Eight-string guitar, Ten-string guitar, Eleven-string guitar, Twelve-string guitar, Thirteen-string guitar and doubleneck guitar string guitars also exist....
 on some songs. The tour included 187 concerts. Plugged '98 Tour : Amos's first band tour. Amos, on piano and Kurzweil
Kurzweil Music Systems

Kurzweil Music Systems is a company that produces electronic musical instruments for professionals and home users. Founded in 1982 by Raymond Kurzweil, a developer of Optical character recognition for the blindness, the company made use of many of the technologies originally designed for reading machines and adapted them to musical purposes....
 keyboard, was joined by Steve Caton
Steve Caton

Steve Caton is a professional guitarist/singer, song writer, record producer, and visual artist, whose career has spanned almost three decades....
 on guitar, Matt Chamberlain
Matt Chamberlain

Matthew Chamberlain is a well-known American session drummer. He has worked with a variety of artists, but is perhaps best known for his work as the tour and session drummer for singer-songwriter Tori Amos....
 on drums, and Jon Evans on bass. The tour began on April 18, 1998 in Fort Lauderdale and ended on December 3, 1998 in East Lansing, Michigan
East Lansing, Michigan

East Lansing is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city is located directly east of Lansing, Michigan, the state's capital. Most of the city is within Ingham County, Michigan, though a small portion lies in Clinton County, Michigan....
, including 137 concerts. Five and a Half Weeks Tour / To Dallas and Back : Amos's fifth tour was North America-only. The first part of the tour was co-headlining with Alanis Morissette
Alanis Morissette

Alanis Nadine Morissette is a Canada singer-songwriter, record producer and occasional actress. She has won eleven Juno Awards and seven Grammy Awards, and has sold over 60 million albums worldwide....
 and featured the same band line-up as in 1998. Amos and the band continued for eight shows before Amos embarked on a series of solo shows. The tour began on August 18, 1999 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Fort Lauderdale, known as the "Venice of America" due to its expansive and intricate canal system, is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States....
 and ended on December 9, 1999 in Denver, Colorado
Denver, Colorado

Denver is the Capital and the Colorado municipalities of the state of Colorado, in the United States. Denver is a consolidated city-county located in the South Platte River on the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains....
, including 46 concerts. Strange Little Tour : This tour was Amos's first since becoming a mother in 2000 and her first tour fully solo since 1994 (Steve Caton
Steve Caton

Steve Caton is a professional guitarist/singer, song writer, record producer, and visual artist, whose career has spanned almost three decades....
 was present on some songs in 1996). It saw Amos perform on piano, Rhodes piano
Rhodes piano

A Rhodes piano is an electromechanical musical instrument, a brand of electric piano. Its distinctive sound has appeared in thousands of songs of all musical styles since it was first introduced in 1965....
, and Wurlitzer electric piano
Wurlitzer electric piano

The Wurlitzer electric piano was one of a series of electric piano manufactured and marketed by the Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, Corinth, Mississippi, Mississippi, United States and North Tonawanda, New York, NY....
, and though the tour was in support of her covers album, the set lists were not strictly covers-oriented. Having brought her one-year-old daughter on the road with her, this tour was also one of Amos's shortest ventures, lasting just three months. It began on August 30, 2001 in London
London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
 and ended on December 17, 2001 in Milan
Milan

Milan is the second largest city of Italy, located in the plains of Lombardy. It is the capital in the Province of Milan, as well as the Regions of Italy capital of Lombardy....
, including 55 concerts. On Scarlet's Walk / Lottapianos Tour : Amos's seventh tour saw her reunited with Matt Chamberlain
Matt Chamberlain

Matthew Chamberlain is a well-known American session drummer. He has worked with a variety of artists, but is perhaps best known for his work as the tour and session drummer for singer-songwriter Tori Amos....
 and Jon Evans, but not Steve Caton
Steve Caton

Steve Caton is a professional guitarist/singer, song writer, record producer, and visual artist, whose career has spanned almost three decades....
. The first part of the tour, which featured Amos on piano, Rhodes, and Wurlitzer, was six months long and Amos went out again in the summer of 2003 for a tour with Ben Folds
Ben Folds

Benjamin Scott "Ben" Folds is an American singer-songwriter and the former frontman of the band Ben Folds Five. He is widely acclaimed for his prowess as a pianist, composer, songwriter, performer, and multi-instrumentalist....
 opening. The tour began on November 7, 2002 in Tampa, Florida
Tampa, Florida

Tampa is a United States city in Hillsborough County, Florida, on the west coast of the state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County....
 and ended on September 4, 2003 in West Palm Beach, Florida
West Palm Beach, Florida

West Palm Beach, also known as West Palm, is the most populous city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The city is also the oldest incorporated municipality in South Florida....
, featuring 124 concerts. The final show of the tour was filmed and released as part of a CD/DVD set titled Welcome to Sunny Florida
Welcome to Sunny Florida

Welcome to Sunny Florida is the name of a DVD and Compact disc set released by singer/songwriter Tori Amos in 2004 in music. The set features a live concert performance by Amos from her 2002 "Scarlet's Walk" tour, in support of her album by the same name....
 (the set also included a studio EP titled Scarlet's Hidden Treasures
Scarlet's Hidden Treasures

Scarlet's Hidden Treasures is an Extended play that accompanied the Welcome to Sunny Florida live DVD set released by singer/songwriter Tori Amos in 2004....
, an extension of the Scarlet's Walk
Scarlet's Walk

Scarlet's Walk is the seventh album released in singer-songwriter Tori Amos' solo career. The 18-track concept album details the cross-country travels of Scarlet, a character loosely based on Amos, as well as the concept of America post-September 11, 2001 attacks....
 album). Original Sinsuality Tour / Summer of Sin : This tour began on April 1, 2005 in Clearwater, Florida
Clearwater, Florida

Clearwater is a city located in Pinellas County, Florida, USA, nearly due west of Tampa, Florida and northwest of St. Petersburg, Florida. As of the 2000 census , the city had a total population of 108,787; however, according to the 2005 U.S....
, with Amos on piano, two Hammond B-3
Hammond

Hammond may refer to:...
 organs, and Rhodes. The tour also encompassed Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
 for the first time since 1994. Amos announced at a concert on this tour that she would never stop touring but would scale down the tours. Amos returned to the road in August and September for the Summer of Sin North America leg, ending on September 17, 2005 in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles is the largest city in the U.S. state of California and the List of United States cities by population in the United States. Often abbreviated as L.A. and nicknamed The City of Angels, Los Angeles is rated as a beta global city, has an estimated population of 3.8 million and spans over in Southern California....
. The tour featured "Tori's Piano Bar", where fans could nominate cover songs on Amos's website which she would then choose from to play in a special section of each show. One of the songs chosen was the Kylie Minogue
Kylie Minogue

Kylie Ann Minogue, Order of the British Empire, , is an Australian pop singer-songwriter and occasional actress. She rose to prominence in the late 1980s through her role in the Australian television soap opera Neighbours, before commencing her career as a recording artist in 1987....
 hit "Can't Get You Out of My Head", which Amos dedicated to her the day after Minogue's breast cancer
Breast cancer

Breast cancer is a cancer that starts in the Cell of the breast in women and men. Worldwide, breast cancer is the second most common type of cancer after lung cancer and the fifth most common cause of cancer death....
 was announced to the public. Other songs performed by Amos include The Doors
The Doors

The Doors were an United States rock music band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California by Singer Jim Morrison, keyboard instrument Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger....
' "People are Strange", Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell

Joni Mitchell, Order of Canada is a Canada musician, songwriter, and Painting.Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Western Canada and then busking on the streets of Toronto....
's "The Circle Game", Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)

Madonna is an American recording artist, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan and raised in Rochester Hills, Michigan, Madonna moved to New York City in 1977, for a career in modern dance....
's "Live to Tell
Live to Tell

"Live to Tell" is the first single by United States singer-songwriter Madonna from her third studio album, True Blue , and it was released on March 26, 1986 by Sire Records....
" and "Like a Prayer
Like a Prayer (song)

"Like a Prayer" is the first single by United States singer-songwriter Madonna from her 4th studio album, Like a Prayer. It was released on February 28, 1989 by Sire Records....
", Björk
Björk

Bj?rk Gu?mundsd?ttir is an Icelandic singer-songwriter, composer, actor and record producer, whose work includes seven solo albums and two film soundtracks....
's "Hyperballad", Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin were an English rock music band formed in 1968 by Jimmy Page , Robert Plant , John Paul Jones and John Bonham . With their heavy, guitar-driven sound, Led Zeppelin are regarded as one of the first heavy metal music bands....
's "When the Levee Breaks
When the Levee Breaks

"When the Levee Breaks" is a blues song written and first recorded by husband and wife Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie in 1929. The song is in reaction to the upheaval caused by the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927....
" (which she debuted in Austin, Texas, just after the events of Hurricane Katrina), Kate Bush
Kate Bush

Kate Bush is an England singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Her eclectic musical style and Idiosyncrasy lyrics have made her one of England's most successful solo female performers of the past 30 years having sold over 20,000,000 records worldwide....
's "And Dream of Sheep" and Crowded House
Crowded House

Crowded House is a rock music group formed in Sydney, Australia and led by New Zealand musician and singer-songwriter Neil Finn. Finn is widely recognised as the primary songwriter and creative direction of the band, having led it through several incarnations, drawing members from New Zealand , Australia and the United States ....
's "Don't Dream It's Over", dedicating it to drummer Paul Hester who had died a week before. The entire concert tour featured 82 concerts, and six full-length concerts were released as The Original Bootlegs
The Original Bootlegs

The Original Bootlegs is a series of six Tori Amos live albums, recorded during the Original Sinsuality and Summer of Sin tours, both of which were in support of her 2005 album, The Beekeeper....
. American Doll Posse World Tour : This was Amos's first tour with a full band since her 1999 Five and a Half Weeks Tour, accompanied by long-time band mates Jon Evans and Matt Chamberlain, with guitarist Dan Phelps rounding out Amos's new band. Amos's equipment included her piano, her organ, and a Yamaha S90 ES keyboard. The tour kicked off with its European leg in Rome
Rome

Rome is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city, with 2,724,347 residents in an urban area of some ....
, Italy
Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia....
 on May 28, 2007, which lasted through July, concluding in Israel
Israel

Israel officially the State of Israel , is a country in the Middle East located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area....
; the Australian leg took place during September; the North American leg lasted from October to December 16, 2007, when the tour concluded in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles

Los ?ngeles is the Capital of the Biob?o Province, in the municipality of the same name, in Regions of Chile VIII , in the center-south of Chile....
, CA
California

California is a U.S. state on the West Coast of the United States of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. It is bordered by Oregon to the north, Nevada to the east, Arizona to the southeast, and to the south the Mexico state of Baja California....
. Amos opened each show dressed as one of the four non-Tori personae from the album, then Amos would emerge as herself to perform for the remaining two-thirds of the show. The entire concert tour featured 93 concerts, and 27 full-length concerts of the North American tour were released as official bootlegs in the Legs and Boots
Legs and Boots

Legs and Boots is a series of Tori Amos live albums recorded during the North American leg of the American Doll Posse Tour. Amos announced the launch of the series on October 16, 2007, stating that each show in the series would be available via digital download in MP3 format within a few hours after each show, and in CD-quality FLAC...
 series.

Award nominations

Year Group Award Work Result
1992 MTV VMAs
MTV Video Music Awards

The MTV Video Music Awards were established in the end of the summer of 1984 in television by MTV to celebrate the top music videos of the year....
Best Female Video "Silent All These Years
Silent All These Years

"Silent All These Years" is a single by singer/songwriter Tori Amos from her first solo album, Little Earthquakes. It was later re-released as a fundraiser for the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network ....
"
Nominated
Best Cinematography in a Video Nominated
Best New Artist In a Video Nominated
Breakthrough Video Nominated
1995 Grammy Award
Grammy Award

The Grammy Awards ?or Grammys?are presented annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States for outstanding achievements in the music industry....
s
Best Alternative Music Album Under The Pink
Under the Pink

Under the Pink is the second solo album by singer-songwriter Tori Amos. Upon its release in January 1994, the album peaked at US # 12 and on the back of the hit single "Cornflake Girl", the album debuted at UK # 1, her highest-charting UK album debut to date....
Nominated
1997 Best Alternative Music Album Boys for Pele
Boys for Pele

Boys for Pele is the third studio album by American singer and song-writer Tori Amos. Preceded by the first single, "Caught a Lite Sneeze", by three weeks, the album was released on 22 January 1996, in the United Kingdom and on 23 January, in the United States....
Nominated
1999 Best Alternative Music Album From the Choirgirl Hotel
From the Choirgirl Hotel

From the Choirgirl Hotel is the fourth studio album by United States singer and songwriter Tori Amos. A departure from her previous albums, it was much more lavishly produced and a very radio-friendly project featuring a full Rock and roll band sound ....
Nominated
Female Rock Vocal Performance "Raspberry Swirl" Nominated
2000 Best Alternative Music Album To Venus and Back
To Venus and Back

To Venus and Back, the fifth album released by singer and songwriter Tori Amos, is a double album including a studio album and a live album....
Nominated
Female Rock Vocal Performance "Bliss
Bliss (Tori Amos song)

"Bliss" is a song by United States singer-songwriter Tori Amos. It is the lead track from Amos' fifth studio album, To Venus and Back. "Bliss" went to alternative stations on August 6, 1999 and was released commercially in the U.S....
"
Nominated
2002 Best Alternative Music Album Strange Little Girls
Strange Little Girls

Strange Little Girls is a concept album released by singer-songwriter Tori Amos in 2001. The album's twelve tracks are covers of songs written and originally performed by men , reinterpreted by Amos from a female's point of view....
Nominated
Female Rock Vocal Performance "Strange Little Girl
Strange Little Girl

"Strange Little Girl" by The Stranglers was released in the UK in 1982 as their last single while signed to Liberty Records . By the time of release, the band had already decided to leave the label for Epic Records, and this last single was part of the severance deal, along with the compilation album The Collection 1977-1982....
"
Nominated
2004 Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Packaging Scarlet's Walk
Scarlet's Walk

Scarlet's Walk is the seventh album released in singer-songwriter Tori Amos' solo career. The 18-track concept album details the cross-country travels of Scarlet, a character loosely based on Amos, as well as the concept of America post-September 11, 2001 attacks....
Nominated
Best Dance Remix "Don't Make Me Come to Vegas
Don't Make Me Come to Vegas

"Don't Make Me Come to Vegas" is a song by singer-songwriter Tori Amos that originally appeared on her album Scarlet's Walk . Following the success of previous remix singles "Professional Widow" , "In the Springtime of his Voodoo" and "Jackie's Strength" , the song was remixed in the same vein and served as the third single from the albu...
"
Nominated


Comic Book Tattoo

In July 2008 Image Comics
Image Comics

Image Comics is an United States comic book publisher. It was founded in 1992 by seven high-profile illustrators as a venue where creators could publish their material without giving up the copyrights to the characters they created, as creator ownership properties....
 released Comic Book Tattoo
Comic Book Tattoo

Comic Book Tattoo is an comics anthology comic book made up of fifty-one stories, each based on or inspired by a song by American singer-songwriter Tori Amos, published by in 2008....
, a 480-page book containing 51 comic stories, each based on or inspired by an Amos song. Editor Rantz Hoseley worked with Amos to gather 80 different artists for the book, including Pia Guerra
Pia Guerra

Pia Guerra is an award winning Canadian comic book artist best known for her work as co-creator and lead penciller on the Vertigo title Y: The Last Man....
, David Mack
David Mack

David Mack may refer to:*David W. Mack, American comic book artist and writer*David Alan Mack, American television scriptwriter and novelist*David Mack , one of the central figures in the Los Angeles Police Department Rampart corruption scandal...
, and Leah Moore
Leah Moore

Leah Moore is an England writer. She is the daughter of Alan Moore and wife of John Reppion and she has worked with both on the comic Albion ....
. It includes an introduction by longtime friend Neil Gaiman
Neil Gaiman

Neil Richard Gaiman is an England author of science fiction and fantasy short stories and novels, graphic novels, comics, and films. His notable works include The Sandman comic series, Stardust , American Gods and Coraline....
, creator of The Sandman series.

External links


  • , - official websites
  • *