Myra Ellen Amos, better known as Tori Amos, is an American alternative/piano rock singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist.

Born on 22^nd August 1963 in Newton, North Carolina and brought up in Baltimore, Maryland, Amos began to learn the piano at the age of three and was composing her own instrumental pieces by the age of five. After studying at the renowned Peabody Conservatory of Music, she soon began performing in local piano bars and, at the age of fourteen, won a county teen talent contest. This led to her releasing her debut single Baltimore with MCA Records in 1980 – along with the B-side Walking With You.

In the late 1980s Amos set up the group Y Kant Tori Read, alongside the guitarist Steve Caton, drummer Matt Sorum, bass player Brad Cobb and keyboardist Jim Tauber. They released one self-titled album along with the single Distant Storm – which was featured on the 1988 film China O’Brien – before splitting up. However, their label Atlantic Records still demanded six albums from the group’s contract, so Amos decided to placate them by releasing a solo album instead.

1992’s Little Earthquakes was a critical hit and also a commercial success, reaching number fourteen in the UK Albums Chart. The singles Winter, Crucify and Silent All These Years all reached the Top 30 in the UK. Her follow up album Under the Pink was even more successful, reached number one in the UK (and number twelve in the US) and producing the UK Top 10 singles Cornflake Girl and Pretty Good Year.

Since then Amos has released a further nine studio albums and scored hits with singles like God, A Sorta Fairytale, Spark, Jackie’s Strength, Professional Widow, Wednesday, Taxi Ride and Welcome To England. She most recently appeared on David Byrne and Fatboy Slim’s 2010 concept album Here Lies Love.