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..BIOGRAPHY Tori was born Myra Ellen Amos to Dr. Rev. Edison & Mary Ellen Amos on August 22, 1963 during a trip from their home in Georgetown to North Carolina, at the Old Catawba Hospital in Newton, N.C. When Tori was 2 and a half, her family moved to Baltimore, Maryland where she began to play the piano and attend her father's church every week. By age 5, she had written her first song. During these years, she spent formative time with her maternal grandfather, who was part Eastern Cherokee (an Eastern Cherokee with some European ancestry). In 1968, she won a full scholarship to the Peabody Conservatory of Music; she was the youngest person ever to attend the school. At age 11, she got kicked out...; Tori's interest in playing contemporary rock and popular music, along with her dislike for playing from sheet music was the cause for this. Two years later, she began studying at Montgomery College and began playing at piano bars (many of them gay), chaperoned by her father. Reverend Amos began sending tapes of the songs she'd written to record companies at this time. She first came to local notice by winning a county Teen Talent contest, and her picture was published in a local paper. The song she sang was called More Than Just a Friend. By the time she reached high school, she was well known in the Washington, D.C. area. During her years at Richard Montgomery High School, she was elected Homecoming Queen, Most Likely to Succeed (female), Most Talented (female), and Best All-Around (female) and became involved with the drama group. As a high school senior, Amos co-wrote Baltimore with her brother Mike (Michael) for a competition involving the Baltimore Orioles. This song won the contest and became her first single, released as a 7" single pressed for family and friends. At around this time she adopted the name "Tori", after a friend of a friend told her that she looked more like a Tori than a Myra Ellen. Otherwise, she would've called herself Sammy Jay. At age 21, Tori moved to Los Angeles to pursue her music career. While there she managed to get several acting jobs, including a Kellogg's Just Right cereal commercial (for which role she beat out a then-unknown Sarah Jessica Parker). (Tori says that she got the job because she could actually play the piano, whereas Sarah could not.) After playing a bar one night, she gave a ride home to a fan, who sexually assaulted her—an experience that would feed into her emotionally-charged song Me and a Gun. She also met Steve Caton, who played guitars on her albums through To Venus and Back. In 1985, Tori formed a music group, Y Kant Tori Read. The band's name is a reference to Tori’s facility with playing by ear at Peabody and her difficulty with playing from sheet music. Besides Tori herself, the group was comprised of Caton, Matt Sorum (later of The Cult and Guns N' Roses), and Brad Cobb. A year later, Atlantic Records gave Amos a 6 record contract. In 1988, her debut album Y Kant Tori Read was released and was panned by critics. Amos was devastated, and started working with other artists. Atlantic Records told Tori that she had to produce another record by March 1990. When she presented them with her initial recordings, they were rejected on the grounds that the "girl and a piano thing" wasn't going to sell. Extensively re-worked and expanded with the help of Steve Caton, Eric Rosse (Tori's boyfriend at the time), 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 rape. The Atlantic executives changed their minds upon hearing the edited version, and relocated Tori to England to launch the "new" album, which was released under the title Little Earthquakes. During these early tours Amos befriended author Neil Gaiman who became a fan. It is often said that the character Delirium from Gaiman's The Sandman series is based on her; Gaiman has stated that "they steal shamelessly from each other" (the character was actually created before the two met). Little Earthquakes was Tori's absolute breakthrough. Since then she's released 8 more albums, a live DVD, a live video and videos which contain interview clips and videoclips, six official bootlegs from her Original Sinsuality Tour (2004/2005) and she's written a book, Piece by Piece, together with writer Ann Powers. She made her first character appearance in the 2003 film Mona Lisa Smile as a big-band singer. For all books, albums, singles etc., see the Collections section. Tori tours with her drummer Matt Chamberlain ("this creature who hits things") and bass player Jon Evans, they also play on her albums. She's got one of the most loyal fanbases there are, there's a high level of respect between the fans (or, as Tori likes to call them, Ears With Feet) and herself. Also due to the Meet and Greets that she does before or after her shows. She takes a lot of time to interact and communicate with her fans, and she gives them so much, that they continue giving her much back in return. source: wikipedia |