Artist Profile – Tori Amos

By Catherine Elms

A highly prolific and successful artist, singer/

songwriter Tori Amos’s 15-year solo career has produced

some influential and powerful music. Tori was at the

forefront of an influx of powerful female singer-

songwriters in the early 90s, and was noticed as one of

the few rock performers to use a piano as her primary

instrument. To date, she has sold over 12 million albums

worldwide.

Born in 1963 into a religious family in Maryland, Tori

began playing the piano at age two. Aged six, she won a

scholarship to the Preparatory Division of the Peabody

Conservatory of Music, but her scholarship was discon-

tinued at age eleven. She briefly fronted an 80s

synthpop band Y Kant Tori Read, the name of which was a reference to her days at the

Peabody Conservatory, where she was able to play songs by ear, but couldn’t sight read.

However, the group disbanded soon after. Still signed to Atlantic Records, Tori began

work on her first solo album. In 1992, Little Earthquakes was released, an album that

dealt with themes such as her religious upbringing, struggle to establish her identi-

ty, and sexual assault.

From there Tori released a further eleven full-length studio albums. From the baroque

-influenced Boys For Pele, to electronica soundscape To Venus and Back, her musical

style has varied widely throughout her career. She is also unafraid to shy away from

difficult and unusual topics in her songs - the concept album Strange Little Girls

features songs written by men about women in which the gender roles have been re-

versed to show a woman's perspective, while The Beekeeper is influenced by the ancient

art of beekeeping and stories of the Gnostic gospels. She’s also released 30 singles

and contributed to nine soundtracks, including Mission: Impossible II! Tori’s music has

influenced a number of modern female musicians, with Bjork, Bat for Lashes, Kate Nash,

and Polly Scattergood citing Tori as an influence.

Tori’s influence is not simply confined to music. In 2008, Image Comics released Comic

Book Tattoo, a collection of comics based on or inspired by songs written by Tori. She

worked with Rantz Hoseley to gather 80 different artists for the book, including such

up-and-coming female artists as Pia Guerra and Leah Moore.

In 1994, Amos co-founded RAINN, The Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network. RAINN oper-

ates the National Sexual Assault Hotline and carries out programs to prevent sexual

assault, help victims, and to ensure that rapists are brought to justice. It is now the

largest anti-assault organization in the US. Tori, herself a survivor of sexual as-

sault, became the national spokesperson for the organization.

Tori married sound engineer Mark Hawley in 1998. They have a ten-year old girl togeth-

er, and have homes in both Cornwall and Florida.

www.toriamos.com

www.rainn.org