Posted by Celebrity Biographies on 22nd May 2006
Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos on August 22, 1963) is an American singer, pianist and songwriter. Tackling a wide range of subjects, including sexuality, religion, patriarchy and personal tragedy, she has built a devoted following. She is probably best known to the wider public for a dance remix of “Professional Widow”, her sole single to reach #1 on the European Billboard charts. Classically trained, Amos’ voice and mostly piano-based music has frequently been compared to that of Kate Bush.
She was born Myra Ellen Amos (called Ellen) to Dr. 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 Amos was 2½, 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 was given a full scholarship to the Peabody Conservatory of Music, which she was the youngest person ever to attend. At age 11, her scholarship was discontinued due to the growing influence on her of popular music. 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 DC area. During her years at Richard Montgomery High School, she was elected Homecoming Queen and became involved with the drama group. As a high school senior, Ellen Amos co-wrote Baltimore with her brother Mike for a competition involving the Baltimore Orioles. This song became her first single, and was released as a 7″ pressed for family and friends. At around this time she adopted the name “Tori.”
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