2008 Tori Amos

Myra Ellen Amos (her fans call her Tori) is one of the premiere 1990s female singer-songwriters who, along with Sarah McLachlan and a few others, broke the field open for women who wanted to do what Bob Dylan had done for men in the 1960s. Her piano-based autobiographical songs earned her respect and, eventually, artistic success, with the result being that she has sold a huge number of tickets to her jam-packed shows.

A North Carolina native, Tori Amos grew up in Maryland, where her father, a minister, had her playing piano and singing for the choir of the Methodist church he led. That was when she was four years old, and she then began to write songs. A prestigious music scholarship to the Peabody Conservatory led to exposure to the music of Led Zeppelin (of course) and got Tori into the Baltimore bar scene as a piano player. The next step was a move to Los Angeles before she turned 20.

After she kicked around for a couple of years, Atlantic Records signed her to do an album ('Y Kant Tori Read') that was a disaster in many senses. It sold about 7,000 copies and seems to have tried to turn Tori into Pat Benatar. If you own a copy now, don't sell it, because it's not likely that Tori will let it be released again without a fight.

But Atlantic had faith in her, and it paid off. A subsequent EP release, 'Me and a Gun,' which chronicled her experience with rape, drew rave reviews and set her up for success with her next project, 1991's 'Little Earthquakes.' Then came the 'Crucify' EP (1992) and 'Under the Pink' (1994), a full-length album that established her fan base forever. With her spectacular work since then, you need to keep those fans in mind when you go looking for Tori tickets'”get yours now, or forget it!