Tori Amos
Birthday:
22 August 1963, Newton, North Carolina, USA
Birth Name:
Myra Ellen Amos
Height:
157 cm
At age one, Tori and her family moved to Baltimore, where she spent much of her childhood. She started playing piano at a very early age (2 1/2). At the age of five, she was accepted to the Peabody Conservatory of Music (Arts school); she was the youngest person to be accepted to the school. However, she soon discovered that there were conflicts be...
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At age one, Tori and her family moved to Baltimore, where she spent much of her childhood. She started playing piano at a very early age (2 1/2). At the age of five, she was accepted to the Peabody Conservatory of Music (Arts school); she was the youngest person to be accepted to the school. However, she soon discovered that there were conflicts between her wants and those of the school. At age 11, she was kicked out thereby making her the youngest person to be expelled from the school. She eventually ended up in a rock band called Y Kan't Tori Read, who released an album in 1988. The album was a severe flop, and the band broke up shortly thereafter. Tori has been doing her solo gig ever since, known for her strong voice, eccentric lyrics, and (of course) her exceptional skill on the piano. Show less «
I know I'm an acquired taste: I'm anchovies. And not everyone wants those hairy little things. If I was potato chips, I could go more places...Show more »
I know I'm an acquired taste: I'm anchovies. And not everyone wants those hairy little things. If I was potato chips, I could go more places. Show less «
Stuff is the issue...
Stuff is the issue...
I'm too wacky for most weirdos, who am I to judge ?
I'm too wacky for most weirdos, who am I to judge ?
The music is the magic carpet that other things take naps on
The music is the magic carpet that other things take naps on
If you call me an airy-faerie, new age, hippy waif, I will cut off your penis.
If you call me an airy-faerie, new age, hippy waif, I will cut off your penis.
I just try to strip myself, peel myself like an onion. At different layers I discover stuff. I do it publicly, and if it helps to inspire so...Show more »
I just try to strip myself, peel myself like an onion. At different layers I discover stuff. I do it publicly, and if it helps to inspire somebody else, which inspires somebody else, we're talking about a really exciting world here. Show less «
[after breast-feeding her daughter for the first time] An ounce of breast milk is even more potent then the finest tequila.
[after breast-feeding her daughter for the first time] An ounce of breast milk is even more potent then the finest tequila.
[about the 9/11/01 terrorist attacks on New York] Don't you think it's really important now that there's a forum, that we're talking about a...Show more »
[about the 9/11/01 terrorist attacks on New York] Don't you think it's really important now that there's a forum, that we're talking about all sides of what happened September 11 and what led up to it? We need to do some research; we need to think about, Why is the world where it is? It's so deep-rooted, if we really start looking, and we might not like what we find. But I think we have to, we have to ask the questions. Show less «
In our minds, love and lust are really separated. It's hard to find someone that can be kind and you can trust enough to leave your kids wit...Show more »
In our minds, love and lust are really separated. It's hard to find someone that can be kind and you can trust enough to leave your kids with, and isn't afraid to throw her man up against the wall and lick him from head to toe. Show less «
I'm beyond the fury of youth. I love young women who are angry. They're wild mustangs. But if you don't transcend that, you become a very di...Show more »
I'm beyond the fury of youth. I love young women who are angry. They're wild mustangs. But if you don't transcend that, you become a very disturbed 40-year-old. Show less «
Great composers are collectors of ideas first.
Great composers are collectors of ideas first.
[on the piano] It plays me, really. I don't play it. There is a surrender to what the instrument is capable of it and I try to listen to it.
[on the piano] It plays me, really. I don't play it. There is a surrender to what the instrument is capable of it and I try to listen to it.
[on her daughter] I didn't want her looking and hearing me and thinking, "Oh my God, that's a scary lady!"
[on her daughter] I didn't want her looking and hearing me and thinking, "Oh my God, that's a scary lady!"
I see the dream and I see the nightmare, and I believe you can't have the dream without the nightmare.
I see the dream and I see the nightmare, and I believe you can't have the dream without the nightmare.
The whole Bible Belt banned me for "Crucify" because they thought I was being sacrilegious. They felt that it was detrimental material for t...Show more »
The whole Bible Belt banned me for "Crucify" because they thought I was being sacrilegious. They felt that it was detrimental material for their children and that it was blasphemous. Show less «
I mean just 'cause you're a piano player, I think people just have an idea of what that is. They've decided they kinda' have you figured out...Show more »
I mean just 'cause you're a piano player, I think people just have an idea of what that is. They've decided they kinda' have you figured out. Show less «
[on growing up as a minister's daughter] I was taught a belief system where there wasn't really any room to discover my own belief system.
[on growing up as a minister's daughter] I was taught a belief system where there wasn't really any room to discover my own belief system.
God is, "Hey buddy, I think you need a babe. Sit down. And I just happen to be around." The whole concept of God that our institutions have ...Show more »
God is, "Hey buddy, I think you need a babe. Sit down. And I just happen to be around." The whole concept of God that our institutions have taught us, whatever it is, it's not just Christianity but the whole rigmarole, to me isn't what it truly is. Show less «
My nightmares are so bad, that I mostly reject it when my friends want to take me to a cinema to watch a horror movie. Then I say, "No, than...Show more »
My nightmares are so bad, that I mostly reject it when my friends want to take me to a cinema to watch a horror movie. Then I say, "No, thank you. I will dream in a few hours." Show less «
When I sleep I often have nightmares. I can already hear your readers saying, "I knew that. The way your songs sound you must really have ho...Show more »
When I sleep I often have nightmares. I can already hear your readers saying, "I knew that. The way your songs sound you must really have horrible nightmares." Show less «
I don't know of anybody who's gonna be fulfilled if they get hit by a bus. You have to surrender to that eternal need to be fulfilled.
I don't know of anybody who's gonna be fulfilled if they get hit by a bus. You have to surrender to that eternal need to be fulfilled.
There's room for everybody on the planet to be creative and conscious if you are your own person. If you're trying to be like someone else, ...Show more »
There's room for everybody on the planet to be creative and conscious if you are your own person. If you're trying to be like someone else, then there isn't. Show less «
I run into Pentecostals all the time . . . a lot of them are my friends, and they say, "Tori, I hope you find Jesus." I say, "How do you kno...Show more »
I run into Pentecostals all the time . . . a lot of them are my friends, and they say, "Tori, I hope you find Jesus." I say, "How do you know I'm not having a margarita with Jesus tonight at 10 o'clock?" Show less «
Let's be honest, religion has not supported women and men exploring all sorts of their sides, their unconscious. It has not been supportive ...Show more »
Let's be honest, religion has not supported women and men exploring all sorts of their sides, their unconscious. It has not been supportive of, you know, go into the places without shame, without blame, without judgment, and just let yourself really see what's cooking in there. Show less «
I think human beings are so much more capable of what they told us we're capable of.
I think human beings are so much more capable of what they told us we're capable of.
Anyone can attend yoga, kabbalah classes, church, lectures by the 'Dalai Lama', yada, yada, yada - but can you be present for your life, and...Show more »
Anyone can attend yoga, kabbalah classes, church, lectures by the 'Dalai Lama', yada, yada, yada - but can you be present for your life, and live with the way you treat other people? Show less «
If you can hang around till you're 41 and not frighten people when you walk in the room, you're O.K.
If you can hang around till you're 41 and not frighten people when you walk in the room, you're O.K.
Seven years I would turn in tapes to record companies; after seven years of rejection of my own music, I believed them when they said, "This...Show more »
Seven years I would turn in tapes to record companies; after seven years of rejection of my own music, I believed them when they said, "This girl-at-her-piano thing is never gonna happen . . . Get a band, do metal, do dance, do whatever" - and I did them all. I had my limit of how much rejection I could take. I didn't believe in myself enough. Show less «
Some people get baptized with sprinkles, well, I had my head down in the water for 25 years.
Some people get baptized with sprinkles, well, I had my head down in the water for 25 years.
It's all about draining you of your passion. That's what religion is about - cutting off the physical from the spiritual.
It's all about draining you of your passion. That's what religion is about - cutting off the physical from the spiritual.
When someone asks me if I've found Jesus, I say, "Yeah, I saw him at a Nirvana concert a couple of years ago." It's like, Jesus has got thin...Show more »
When someone asks me if I've found Jesus, I say, "Yeah, I saw him at a Nirvana concert a couple of years ago." It's like, Jesus has got things to do, he's got a ten o'clock. He's not going to fix things for me, I have to fix things for myself, so I try and have a sense of humor about it and nobody finds my humor very amusing. We've just got to lighten up on the savior bit, folks. You know, get off the cross, we need the wood. Show less «
I was supposed to be a concert pianist but I was more interested in what Stevie Wonder was doing.
I was supposed to be a concert pianist but I was more interested in what Stevie Wonder was doing.
Only a few people should have a "greatest hits". I'm not one of those people.
Only a few people should have a "greatest hits". I'm not one of those people.
[on the aftermath of the 9/11 attack] I feel like our leaders have hijacked America's personality, and taken her to personality plastic surg...Show more »
[on the aftermath of the 9/11 attack] I feel like our leaders have hijacked America's personality, and taken her to personality plastic surgery school. And they decided this is who she is. Show less «
It's uncomfortable when I'm sitting down to a plate of spaghetti, when I'm having dinner and somebody wants to know all about the rape or al...Show more »
It's uncomfortable when I'm sitting down to a plate of spaghetti, when I'm having dinner and somebody wants to know all about the rape or all about "Professional Widow" and how I became an emotional vampire. Show less «
It's a very humbling experience. I can't possess a song. The songs are like live entities for me. I have to put them out in the world, and i...Show more »
It's a very humbling experience. I can't possess a song. The songs are like live entities for me. I have to put them out in the world, and it's none of my business what relationships the songs form. As an artist, I have to make peace with that. Show less «
The playground is the biggest war-zone in the world.
The playground is the biggest war-zone in the world.
Do you know how hard it is for Artists to travel?
Do you know how hard it is for Artists to travel?
You have to read visionaries to have visions.
You have to read visionaries to have visions.
They squash the baby bird because their bird got squashed.
They squash the baby bird because their bird got squashed.
There are people who will tell you that bad things only happen to bad people. That's a lie.
There are people who will tell you that bad things only happen to bad people. That's a lie.
["Pancake" lyric] Seems in vogue to be a closet misogynist homophobe.
["Pancake" lyric] Seems in vogue to be a closet misogynist homophobe.
I love reading. I'll read the first sentence and if it makes sense to me I pick it up. I really like Joseph Campbell.
I love reading. I'll read the first sentence and if it makes sense to me I pick it up. I really like Joseph Campbell.
When it comes to music a lot of people only have their radio. They don't even know what's out there it's like cutting your own throat.... Al...Show more »
When it comes to music a lot of people only have their radio. They don't even know what's out there it's like cutting your own throat.... All that stuff "baby make it alright", is not my style, I'm more graphic. Show less «
It's ridiculous saying there's only one true faith, it's like saying there's only one map to get you up the mountain. I want to see those ot...Show more »
It's ridiculous saying there's only one true faith, it's like saying there's only one map to get you up the mountain. I want to see those other maps, man. Show less «
[songwriting] I kinda have all the aspects of my personality round one table for spaghetti.
[songwriting] I kinda have all the aspects of my personality round one table for spaghetti.
The Universities are amazing: every ear is whispered in, it's almost like a womb.
The Universities are amazing: every ear is whispered in, it's almost like a womb.
When your heart explodes/ is it deathly cold/ you must let the colors violate the/ blackness/ there is/ a Magic World Parallel/ so leave you...Show more »
When your heart explodes/ is it deathly cold/ you must let the colors violate the/ blackness/ there is/ a Magic World Parallel/ so leave your/ Daily Hell/ Welcome to England he said/ welcome to my World.... you better bring your own sun/ sweet girl/ you gotta bring your own sun/ don't you forget you gotta bring your own sun/ just enough for everyone. Show less «
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