Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos; 22 August 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist, recognised for her classically trained mezzo-soprano voice. A child prodigy, she entered the preparatory division of the Peabody Institute at age five but left at eleven, later developing her skills performing in bars in Washington, D.C. Amos was the lead singer of the 1980s pop-rock group Y Kant Tori Read before achieving a solo breakthrough in the early 1990s. Her music often explores themes including sexuality, feminism, politics, and religion.
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Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos; 22 August 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist, recognised for her classically trained mezzo-soprano voice. A child prodigy, she entered the preparatory division of the Peabody Institute at age five but left at eleven, later developing her skills performing in bars in Washington, D.C. Amos was the lead singer of the 1980s pop-rock group Y Kant Tori Read before achieving a solo breakthrough in the early 1990s. Her music often explores themes including sexuality, feminism, politics, and religion.
Amos’s early singles include "Crucify", "Silent All These Years", "God", "Cornflake Girl", "Caught a Lite Sneeze", "Professional Widow", "Spark", "1000 Oceans", "Flavor" and "A Sorta Fairytale". She has received multiple nominations, including five MTV Video Music Awards and nine Grammy Awards, and won an Echo Klassik award for her classical crossover album "Night of Hunters". She was listed at number 71 on VH1’s 1999 "100 Greatest Women of Rock and Roll".
Amos was born in Newton, North Carolina, and grew up primarily in Baltimore, Maryland. She began playing piano and composing music at an early age, displaying an ability to reproduce music by ear and a form of synesthesia, seeing sounds as visual patterns of light. At thirteen, she began performing in piano bars and gay bars. Her first single, "Baltimore", was released locally in 1980. She adopted the stage name Tori after a friend compared her to a Torrey pine.
Amos’s career began with the band Y Kant Tori Read, whose self-titled 1988 album was commercially unsuccessful. She then pursued a solo career, releasing "Little Earthquakes" (1992), her breakthrough album, followed by "Under the Pink" (1994). Her subsequent albums, "Boys for Pele" (1996), "From the Choirgirl Hotel" (1998), and "To Venus and Back" (1999), expanded her use of instruments and incorporated electronic elements.
In 2001, she released the concept album "Strange Little Girls", followed by "Scarlet’s Walk" (2002), exploring American history and contemporary social issues. She later released "The Beekeeper" (2005) and "American Doll Posse" (2007), both concept albums incorporating themes of religion, politics, and alter egos. Retrospective collections include "Tales of a Librarian" (2003), "Fade to Red" (2006), and "A Piano: The Collection" (2006).
Amos’s later works include "Abnormally Attracted to Sin" (2009) and the seasonal album "Midwinter Graces" (2009). She recorded with David Byrne and Fatboy Slim on "Here Lies Love" (2010) and released live albums such as "From Russia With Love" (2010). Her first classical-inspired album, "Night of Hunters" (2011), was followed by orchestral reinterpretations in "Gold Dust" (2012). She founded the label Transmission Galactic in 2012 and participated in theatrical projects, including "The Light Princess" (2013–2014). Her fourteenth studio album, "Unrepentant Geraldines" (2014), marked a return to her contemporary songwriting style.
Amos continued releasing music with "Native Invader" (2017), exploring political and environmental themes, followed by the holiday EP "Christmastide" (2020) and "Ocean to Ocean" (2021), written during the COVID-19 pandemic. She toured Europe, the United States, and Australia in support of these releases and collaborated with musicians including Jon Evans and Matt Chamberlain.
In 2023, Amos released a cover of Kendrick Lamar's "Swimming Pools (Drank)" and a dance remix single "Tequila". She announced the live album "Diving Deep Live" for release in December 2024, featuring recordings from her 2022–2023 tour. In 2025, she released the album "The Music of Tori and the Muses" as a companion to her illustrated children’s book "Tori and the Muses". She announced her eighteenth studio album, "In Times of Dragons", scheduled for 1 May 2026, described as a metaphorical exploration of the fight for democracy.
Studio albums
Little Earthquakes (1992)
Under the Pink (1994)
Boys for Pele (1996)
From the Choirgirl Hotel (1998)
To Venus and Back (1999)
Strange Little Girls (2001)
Scarlet's Walk (2002)
The Beekeeper (2005)
American Doll Posse (2007)
Abnormally Attracted to Sin (2009)
Midwinter Graces (2009)
Night of Hunters (2011)
Gold Dust (2012)
Unrepentant Geraldines (2014)
Native Invader (2017)
Ocean to Ocean (2021)
The Music of Tori and the Muses (2025)
In Times of Dragons (2026)
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…shrink me down again