Tori Amos, the daughter of a white Methodist pastor and an Amerindian mother, was a prodigious pianist. At the age of three, she played Mozart and aged five, was the youngest student at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, before being expelled from it because of her lack of discipline. She spent her teenage years performing in bars, closely watched by her father. Then, at the age of 21, she left for Los Angeles where producers suggested that she record an album, “Y Kant Tori Read”. The album did not meet the expected success. She played in strip clubs, starred in commercials, as a cereal mascot among others. It took her four years to publish a second opus, “Little Earthquakes”, which was much better received. In this one we discover the song “Me and a Gun”, in which she talks about the sexual assault she suffered several years earlier. Her mystical lyrics appeal to young audiences who appreciate her mix of pop, electronic music and jazz. Each of her albums demonstrate the variety of her palette, like “American Doll Posse” where the singer proves that it is possible to create commercial pop with rich arrangements – strings, ukulele, mandolin, mellotron, electric and acoustic piano. Each one of T. Amos’ concerts strike by their scale and means. She appears as a fascinating Gothic figure, also cultivating rarity. At the same time, she works on awareness-raising activities on sexual violence against women, in particular through the RAINN (Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network) association, which she helped to co-found and for which she organised charity concerts.
