Tori Amos
Birthday: 22 August 1963, Newton, North Carolina, USA
Birth Name: Myra Ellen Amos
Height: 157 cm
At age one, Tori and her family moved to Baltimore, where she spent much of her childhood. She started playing piano at a very early age (2 1/2). At the age of five, she was accepted to the Peabody Co ...Show More
I think human beings are so much more capable of what they told us we're capable of.
I think human beings are so much more capable of what they told us we're capable of.
You have to read visionaries to have visions.
You have to read visionaries to have visions.
[on her daughter] I didn't want her looking and hearing me and thinking, "Oh my God, that's a scary Show more
[on her daughter] I didn't want her looking and hearing me and thinking, "Oh my God, that's a scary lady!" Hide
[after breast-feeding her daughter for the first time] An ounce of breast milk is even more potent t Show more
[after breast-feeding her daughter for the first time] An ounce of breast milk is even more potent then the finest tequila. Hide
They squash the baby bird because their bird got squashed.
They squash the baby bird because their bird got squashed.
It's a very humbling experience. I can't possess a song. The songs are like live entities for me. I Show more
It's a very humbling experience. I can't possess a song. The songs are like live entities for me. I have to put them out in the world, and it's none of my business what relationships the songs form. As an artist, I have to make peace with that. Hide
I'm too wacky for most weirdos, who am I to judge ?
I'm too wacky for most weirdos, who am I to judge ?
[on the aftermath of the 9/11 attack] I feel like our leaders have hijacked America's personality, a Show more
[on the aftermath of the 9/11 attack] I feel like our leaders have hijacked America's personality, and taken her to personality plastic surgery school. And they decided this is who she is. Hide
The music is the magic carpet that other things take naps on
The music is the magic carpet that other things take naps on
I mean just 'cause you're a piano player, I think people just have an idea of what that is. They've Show more
I mean just 'cause you're a piano player, I think people just have an idea of what that is. They've decided they kinda' have you figured out. Hide
Seven years I would turn in tapes to record companies; after seven years of rejection of my own musi Show more
Seven years I would turn in tapes to record companies; after seven years of rejection of my own music, I believed them when they said, "This girl-at-her-piano thing is never gonna happen . . . Get a band, do metal, do dance, do whatever" - and I did them all. I had my limit of how much rejection I could take. I didn't believe in myself enough. Hide
I don't know of anybody who's gonna be fulfilled if they get hit by a bus. You have to surrender to Show more
I don't know of anybody who's gonna be fulfilled if they get hit by a bus. You have to surrender to that eternal need to be fulfilled. Hide
When someone asks me if I've found Jesus, I say, "Yeah, I saw him at a Nirvana concert a couple of y Show more
When someone asks me if I've found Jesus, I say, "Yeah, I saw him at a Nirvana concert a couple of years ago." It's like, Jesus has got things to do, he's got a ten o'clock. He's not going to fix things for me, I have to fix things for myself, so I try and have a sense of humor about it and nobody finds my humor very amusing. We've just got to lighten up on the savior bit, folks. You know, get off the cross, we need the wood. Hide
Let's be honest, religion has not supported women and men exploring all sorts of their sides, their Show more
Let's be honest, religion has not supported women and men exploring all sorts of their sides, their unconscious. It has not been supportive of, you know, go into the places without shame, without blame, without judgment, and just let yourself really see what's cooking in there. Hide
I love reading. I'll read the first sentence and if it makes sense to me I pick it up. I really like Show more
I love reading. I'll read the first sentence and if it makes sense to me I pick it up. I really like Joseph Campbell. Hide
Anyone can attend yoga, kabbalah classes, church, lectures by the 'Dalai Lama', yada, yada, yada - b Show more
Anyone can attend yoga, kabbalah classes, church, lectures by the 'Dalai Lama', yada, yada, yada - but can you be present for your life, and live with the way you treat other people? Hide
The Universities are amazing: every ear is whispered in, it's almost like a womb.
The Universities are amazing: every ear is whispered in, it's almost like a womb.
Do you know how hard it is for Artists to travel?
Do you know how hard it is for Artists to travel?
God is, "Hey buddy, I think you need a babe. Sit down. And I just happen to be around." The whole co Show more
God is, "Hey buddy, I think you need a babe. Sit down. And I just happen to be around." The whole concept of God that our institutions have taught us, whatever it is, it's not just Christianity but the whole rigmarole, to me isn't what it truly is. Hide
I know I'm an acquired taste: I'm anchovies. And not everyone wants those hairy little things. If I Show more
I know I'm an acquired taste: I'm anchovies. And not everyone wants those hairy little things. If I was potato chips, I could go more places. Hide
If you can hang around till you're 41 and not frighten people when you walk in the room, you're O.K.
If you can hang around till you're 41 and not frighten people when you walk in the room, you're O.K.
I run into Pentecostals all the time . . . a lot of them are my friends, and they say, "Tori, I hope Show more
I run into Pentecostals all the time . . . a lot of them are my friends, and they say, "Tori, I hope you find Jesus." I say, "How do you know I'm not having a margarita with Jesus tonight at 10 o'clock?" Hide
When it comes to music a lot of people only have their radio. They don't even know what's out there Show more
When it comes to music a lot of people only have their radio. They don't even know what's out there it's like cutting your own throat.... All that stuff "baby make it alright", is not my style, I'm more graphic. Hide
It's ridiculous saying there's only one true faith, it's like saying there's only one map to get you Show more
It's ridiculous saying there's only one true faith, it's like saying there's only one map to get you up the mountain. I want to see those other maps, man. Hide
I was supposed to be a concert pianist but I was more interested in what Stevie Wonder was doing.
I was supposed to be a concert pianist but I was more interested in what Stevie Wonder was doing.
The whole Bible Belt banned me for "Crucify" because they thought I was being sacrilegious. They fel Show more
The whole Bible Belt banned me for "Crucify" because they thought I was being sacrilegious. They felt that it was detrimental material for their children and that it was blasphemous. Hide
If you call me an airy-faerie, new age, hippy waif, I will cut off your penis.
If you call me an airy-faerie, new age, hippy waif, I will cut off your penis.
It's all about draining you of your passion. That's what religion is about - cutting off the physica Show more
It's all about draining you of your passion. That's what religion is about - cutting off the physical from the spiritual. Hide
The playground is the biggest war-zone in the world.
The playground is the biggest war-zone in the world.
[on growing up as a minister's daughter] I was taught a belief system where there wasn't really any Show more
[on growing up as a minister's daughter] I was taught a belief system where there wasn't really any room to discover my own belief system. Hide
There are people who will tell you that bad things only happen to bad people. That's a lie.
There are people who will tell you that bad things only happen to bad people. That's a lie.
["Pancake" lyric] Seems in vogue to be a closet misogynist homophobe.
["Pancake" lyric] Seems in vogue to be a closet misogynist homophobe.
There's room for everybody on the planet to be creative and conscious if you are your own person. If Show more
There's room for everybody on the planet to be creative and conscious if you are your own person. If you're trying to be like someone else, then there isn't. Hide
I'm beyond the fury of youth. I love young women who are angry. They're wild mustangs. But if you do Show more
I'm beyond the fury of youth. I love young women who are angry. They're wild mustangs. But if you don't transcend that, you become a very disturbed 40-year-old. Hide
When your heart explodes/ is it deathly cold/ you must let the colors violate the/ blackness/ there Show more
When your heart explodes/ is it deathly cold/ you must let the colors violate the/ blackness/ there is/ a Magic World Parallel/ so leave your/ Daily Hell/ Welcome to England he said/ welcome to my World.... you better bring your own sun/ sweet girl/ you gotta bring your own sun/ don't you forget you gotta bring your own sun/ just enough for everyone. Hide
Only a few people should have a "greatest hits". I'm not one of those people.
Only a few people should have a "greatest hits". I'm not one of those people.
It's uncomfortable when I'm sitting down to a plate of spaghetti, when I'm having dinner and somebod Show more
It's uncomfortable when I'm sitting down to a plate of spaghetti, when I'm having dinner and somebody wants to know all about the rape or all about "Professional Widow" and how I became an emotional vampire. Hide
I see the dream and I see the nightmare, and I believe you can't have the dream without the nightmar Show more
I see the dream and I see the nightmare, and I believe you can't have the dream without the nightmare. Hide
Great composers are collectors of ideas first.
Great composers are collectors of ideas first.
When I sleep I often have nightmares. I can already hear your readers saying, "I knew that. The way Show more
When I sleep I often have nightmares. I can already hear your readers saying, "I knew that. The way your songs sound you must really have horrible nightmares." Hide
In our minds, love and lust are really separated. It's hard to find someone that can be kind and you Show more
In our minds, love and lust are really separated. It's hard to find someone that can be kind and you can trust enough to leave your kids with, and isn't afraid to throw her man up against the wall and lick him from head to toe. Hide
Some people get baptized with sprinkles, well, I had my head down in the water for 25 years.
Some people get baptized with sprinkles, well, I had my head down in the water for 25 years.
[about the 9/11/01 terrorist attacks on New York] Don't you think it's really important now that the Show more
[about the 9/11/01 terrorist attacks on New York] Don't you think it's really important now that there's a forum, that we're talking about all sides of what happened September 11 and what led up to it? We need to do some research; we need to think about, Why is the world where it is? It's so deep-rooted, if we really start looking, and we might not like what we find. But I think we have to, we have to ask the questions. Hide
[on the piano] It plays me, really. I don't play it. There is a surrender to what the instrument is Show more
[on the piano] It plays me, really. I don't play it. There is a surrender to what the instrument is capable of it and I try to listen to it. Hide
Stuff is the issue...
Stuff is the issue...
I just try to strip myself, peel myself like an onion. At different layers I discover stuff. I do it Show more
I just try to strip myself, peel myself like an onion. At different layers I discover stuff. I do it publicly, and if it helps to inspire somebody else, which inspires somebody else, we're talking about a really exciting world here. Hide
[songwriting] I kinda have all the aspects of my personality round one table for spaghetti.
[songwriting] I kinda have all the aspects of my personality round one table for spaghetti.
