Tori Amos (born
Myra Ellen Amos on August 22, 1963) is a ten-time
Grammy Award-nominated
American pianist and
singer-songwriter of dual
British and
American citizenship. She is married to
English sound engineer Mark Hawley, with whom she has one child, Natashya "Tash" Lórien Hawley, born on September 5, 2000.
Amos was at the forefront of a number of female singer-songwriters in the early 1990s and was noteworthy early in her career as one of the few
alternative rock performers to use a
piano as her primary instrument. She is known for her emotionally intense songs that cover a wide range of subjects including
sexuality,
religion and personal
tragedy. Some of her charting singles include "
Crucify", "
Silent All These Years", "
Cornflake Girl", "
Caught a Lite Sneeze", "
Professional Widow", "Spark", and "
A Sorta Fairytale".
Despite having little success on the charts, Amos is credited (along with
Tracy Chapman) with launching the female singer-songwriter movement of the 1990s, has a large
cult following, and has sold 12 million records worldwide as of 2005
. Having a history of making eccentric and at times ribald comments during concerts and interviews, she has earned a reputation for being highly
idiosyncratic. As a social commentator and sometimes activist, some of the topics she has been most vocal about include feminism, religion, and sexuality.