  Tori Amos was born Myra Ellen
Amos on August 23, 1963 in North Carolina,
and raised in Maryland (with the nickname
'Ellen The Watermelon'). Tori's dad was a
Methodist preacher and her heritage includes
Cherokee Indian and Scottish. Her interest
and skills at piano began at the age of 2 and
eventually led her to the Peabody Institute
where she won a scholarship at the age of 5.
She stayed at the Peabody Institute studying
classical piano until the age of 13 when it
was no longer a fun experience and she was
expelled. Her next musical experience came
playing nightclubs in Washington, DC while
still a teen - all under the guidance of her
father: "I was in, you know, disco gear,
polyester pants, and a polyester top, and
some platforms, and (my father) would knock
on these doors and he would say, 'Hi, I'm
Reverend Amos and this is my daughter, and
she's really talented, and will you give her
a chance?'" At the age of 16, Tori
recorded "Baltimore" a song she
wrote with her brother for the Baltimore
Orioles. By the age of 17, Tori was writing
songs and performing jazz tunes in
Washington, D.C. and playing Gershwin
standards at local gay bars. During her
senior year of high school, Tori was voted
Homecoming Queen, Most Likely To Succeed,
Most Talented, and Best All-Around Female.
Tori sent Narada Michael Walden
a note expressing interest in him listening
to her music. A persistence paid off with
Walden flying her out to San Francisco and
recording a demo. The experience made Tori
move to Los Angeles to focus on her career.
After a few years of finding her audience,
Tori began to claim success in the music
industry with her confessional lyrics and
sultry singing style.
Tori was signed to Atlantic
Records when she released Y Kant Tori
Read with a band that can be considered
more hard-rock than alternative. The LP was
not successful and is not considered a great
Tori Amos collection. The experience of
failure led Tori to London where she focused
on a solo career consisting of her
songwriting and piano-playing abilities.
 Tori released the EP Me And
A Gun in the UK. The EP included the UK
singles "Me And A Gun" and
"Silent All These Years," and the
tracks "Upside Down" and
"Thoughts."
Tori hit the UK charts with
"Crucify."
 Tori's first major solo LP, Little
Earthquakes, was released . The LP became a
critical success and found an ever-growing
audience with alternative markets. The LP
went on to sell over 2 million copies and was
ranked as one of the best LPs of the year in Q
magazine and the Village Voice.
The first single "Silent All These Years" became a popular
music video and hit the Billboard Modern Rock
Tracks chart, and exposed Tori's personality
to the viewers and listeners. Additional
tracks such as "Winter" and
"Crucify" also became instant
classics for Tori. The song "Me And A
Gun" portrayed an issue personally close
to Tori - the act of violence against women.
 Tori topped the UK LP chart with
Little
Earthquakes.
Tori hit the UK charts with
"Winter."
 Tori released an EP, Crucify, which included some
piano-based cover tunes - most notably, Nirvana's "Smells Like
Teen Spirit" and the Rolling
Stones's "Angie."
Tori hit the Billboard Modern
Rock Tracks chart with "Crucify."
Tori hit the UK charts with
"China" and could be heard on
alternative radio with "Precious
Things."
 Tori's video "Silent All
These Years" was nominated for 4 MTV Video Music
Awards including Best New Artist, Best Female Video, Breakthrough Video, and Best Cinematography.
Tori released the "Winter" single EP that
included additional tracks "The
Pool," "Take To The Sky,"
"Sweet Dreams," and "Upside
Down."
 Little
Earthquakes was certified gold.
Rolling
Stone: "The 100 Top Music Videos" included "Silent All These Years" at # 98.
 # 194
Singles Artist of the Year
 Under
The Pink, was released with the first
single "God" instantly appearing on
alternative and college radio. Additional
hits included "Cornflake Girl." Musician
said of the LP: "...focused, the
lyrics quirky and personable, the melodies
eccentric enough to entice and simple enough
to be catchy. These qualities - and her
emotional fearlessness - make Tori Amos a
musical find to treasure."
Tori topped the UK LP chart with
Under
The Pink.
Tori toured with the LP and
continued her success in the U.S. and around
the world.
Tori hit the UK charts with
"Cornflake Girl."
 Under
The Pink was certified gold.
Tori topped the
Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart for 2
weeks with "God."
Tori hit the UK charts with
"Pretty Good Year."
 Tori hit the alternative charts
with "Cornflake Girl."
Tori hit the UK charts with
"Past The Mission."
Little
Earthquakes was certified platinum.
 Tori hit the alternative charts
with "Past The Mission."
Under
The Pink was certified platinum.
 Tori could be heard on the
soundtrack for Higher
Learning with "Butterfly" and
her cover of "Losing My Religion."
Tori was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music
Performance (Under
The Pink).
Tori could be heard on the Encomium:
A Tribute to Led Zeppelin compilation
with Robert Plant with
"Down By The Seaside."
Tori could be found on Tower
Of Song: The Songs Of Leonard Cohen with the track,
"Famous Blue Raincoat."
 Tori could be
heard on Tom Jones' LP The
Lead And How To Swing It on the track "I
Wanna Get Back With You."
 # 108
Singles Artist of the Year
 Tori released her 3rd LP, Boys
For Pele. By the time "Caught A
Lite Sneeze" had hit the airwaves, Tori
had established herself as one of alternative
radio's biggest stars with her sultry
performances and intense musical creations.
Other notable tracks on the LP include
"Hey Jupiter," "Professional
Widow," and "Talula."
Tori topped the UK LP chart with
Boys
For Pele.
Tori hit the UK charts with
"Caught A Lite Sneeze."
 Boys
For Pele was certified gold.
Tori hit the UK charts with
"Talula."
Tori taped a MTV Unplugged
(which aired in June).
 Tori hit the dance and pop
charts with "Talula."
Tori topped the Billboard Dance
Club Play chart for 2 weeks with
"Professional Widow."
Tori hit the UK charts with
"Hey Jupiter."
 The EP, Hey
Jupiter, was released and included live
versions of "Sugar,"
"Honey," and "Somewhere Over
The Rainbow."
Tori hit the pop and rock charts
with "Hey Jupiter."
Boys
For Pele was certified platinum.
Tori hit the dance charts with
"In The Springtime Of His Voodoo."
 During the year, Tori hit the UK
charts with "Caught A Lite Sneeze,"
"Talula," and "Hey
Jupiter."
 # 156
Singles Artist of the Year
 Tori topped the Billboard Dance
Music Club Play chart for a week helping out BT
with "Blue Skies."
"Professional Widow"
topped the UK Singles chart for a week.
Tori was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music
Performance (Boys
For Pele).
 Tori hit the Top 40 for the 1st
time when "Silent All These Years" began receiving
airplay again.
Tori headlined a benefit concert
in New York City in support of the Rape,
Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN). RAINN was founded by
Amos and her record company. Tori herself was
a victim of rape in 1985.
 # 173
Singles Artist of the Year
 Tori could be heard on the
soundtrack for Great
Expectations with the tracks
"Siren" and "Finn."
Tori told the New York Post:
" I think anybody who meets me doesn't
think I'm la-la. I'm really comfortable
knowing that I'm razor sharp. My life has
changed in a way that I'm becoming more
comfortable with the fact that I'm just not
nice music for the apartment. I am a bit
wicked." Tori also said she got married
to her sound engineer, Mark Hawley, earlier
this year and also suffered a miscarriage
late in 1997.
 Tori hit the pop, alternative,
and adult contemporary charts with
"Spark."
Tori's next LP, From
The Choirgirl Hotel was released (and
certified gold by month's end) and Tori
toured small clubs followed by a larger tour
through the summer.
The CD single for "Jackie's
Strength" included 2 unreleased tracks
and was enhanced for computer use (with
videos).
 Tori hit the pop, alternative,
and adult contemporary charts with
"Jackie's Strength."
Tori told CNN how she has sold
millions of LPs without extensive radio
airplay and without following the trends that
would fit her into a music category:
"The 1 thing I've never done is follow
the trends on the radio... I'm really just
the Pied Piper... that's what I do."
 Amos also talked about her
family and growing up: "Our whole life
revolved around the church, so that the only
time I had a break from all that was when I
would escape into the piano... so I created
this whole other world that they couldn't get
into."
 Tori hit the pop and dance
charts with "Raspberry Swirl."
Tori was nominated for 2 Grammy Awards for Best Alternative Music
Performance (From
The Choirgirl Hotel) and Best Rock Vocal
Performance - Female ("Raspberry Swirl").
Little
Earthquakes was certified 2x platinum.
Tori topped the Billboard Dance
Music Club Play chart for a week with
"Jackie's Strength."
Tori could be heard on the
benefit LP No
Boundaries: A Benefit For The Kosovar
Refugees with
"Merman."
VH1: 100
Greatest Women of Rock & Roll ranked Tori at # 71.
 Tori and Alanis
Morissette teamed up for a 5-1/2 week
tour. Tori later told CNN about the tour:
"I've ever done a tour like this
before... with somebody. It was actually
(Morissette's) idea. She had come to see me
at Jones Beach and we had a cup of tea and a
giggle and got along really well. We share a
lot of the same philosophies of putting on a
show, which is important."
Tori released the single
"Bliss."
 Tori released a double LP, To
Venus And Back, with live and new original
material.
Tori released the single
"1,000 Oceans."
Under
The Pink was certified 2x platinum.
To
Venus And Back topped the Billboard Internet
Album Sales chart for a week.
 The
Advocate named Tori as one of the '25
Coolest Women.'
To
Venus And Back was certified platinum.
Tori had some radio success with
the tracks "Bliss" and "1000
Oceans" during the year.
 Tori was nominated for 2 Grammy Awards for Best Rock Vocal
Performance - Female ("Bliss") and Best Alternative Music
Performance (To
Venus And Back).
Tori released the single
"Concertina."
 Tori could also be heard on the
soundtrack for Mission:
Impossible 2 with "Carnival."
Tori gave birth to her first
child - a baby girl.
From
The Choirgirl Hotel was certified
platinum.
 Tori released Strange
Little Girls - a collection of cover songs
written by men including Neil Young, Joe Jackson, and Eminem. She said of the LP's
reasoning: "I've always found it
fascinating how men say things and women hear
them." The 1st single of the LP is the Stranglers'
"Strange Little Girl." < | 
