Tori Amos

(US)
pop, rock, singer/songwriter

If Joni Mitchell was for a long time the main role model for young female singer/songwriters, lately that role has fallen increasingly to Tori Amos, and for a reason. Her keyboard-driven songs cover a lot of ground from indie rock to baroque pop and the fringe of electronica, while venting the inner turmoil of a young woman in a gripping way.

Growing up in Baltimore, Maryland, Tori was so musically gifted as a child that she won a scholarship at a conservatory. However, at 11 she was kicked out, because she was more interested in rock and pop than reading notes. Later, after she had worked as a bar pianist, Amos took her revenge by naming her first band Y Kant Tori Read. Success was very modest, so she started singing back-up for people, like Sandra Bernhard, Stan Ridgeway and Al Stewart. Her solo career started in 1992 with the Little Earthquakes album and last year produced two successful albums: the very personal Abnormally Attracted To Sin and Midwinter Graces, which consisted mostly of old Xmas hymns.