Coordinates	49°50′″N21°38′″N
birthname
birth date	June 05, 1971
birth place	Boston, Massachusetts, US
othername	Marky Mark Monk D
occupation	ActorProducerRapper (former)
yearsactive	1989–present
spouse	Rhea Durham (2009–present; 4 children)
url	Official site }}

Mark Robert Michael Wahlberg (born June 5, 1971) is an American actor, film and television producer, and former rapper. He was known as Marky Mark in his earlier years, and became famous for his 1991 debut as a musician with the band Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. He was named No.1 on VH1's 40 Hottest Hotties of the 90's. He is well known for his roles in films such as Boogie Nights (1997), Three Kings (1999), The Perfect Storm (2000), Planet of the Apes (2001), The Italian Job (2003), I Heart Huckabees (2004), Four Brothers (2005), The Departed (2006), Invincible (2006), Shooter (2007), and The Fighter (2010). He has also served as the executive producer of the TV series Entourage and Boardwalk Empire.

Early life

Wahlberg was born in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, the youngest of nine children, with siblings Arthur, Jim, Paul, Robert, Tracey, Michelle, Debbie (died in 2003 at age 44), and Donnie. He is of Irish, English, Swedish, and French Canadian ancestry, and is distantly related to author Nathaniel Hawthorne. His mother, Alma Elaine ( Donnelly), was a bank clerk and nurse's aide, and his father, Donald Edward Wahlberg, was a Teamster who worked as a delivery driver. His parents divorced in 1982. Wahlberg had a Roman Catholic upbringing and attended Copley Square High School (but never graduated) on Newbury Street in Boston.

Assaults and conviction

Wahlberg claims to have been in trouble 20–25 times with the Boston Police Department as a youth. By the age of 13, Wahlberg had developed an addiction to cocaine and other substances. At 15, he harassed a group of black school children on a field trip by throwing rocks and shouting racial epithets.

When he was 16, Wahlberg approached a middle-aged Vietnamese man on the street and, using a large wooden stick, knocked him unconscious (while calling him "Vietnam fucking shit"). He also attacked another Vietnamese man, leaving him permanently blind in one eye, and attacked a security guard (again using racist language).

For these crimes, Wahlberg was charged with attempted murder, pleaded guilty to assault, and was sentenced to two years in jail at Boston's Deer Island House of Correction, of which he served 45 days. In another incident, the 21-year-old Wahlberg fractured the jaw of a neighbor in an unprovoked attack. Commenting in 2006 on his past crimes, Wahlberg has stated: "I did a lot of things that I regretted and I have certainly paid for my mistakes." He said the right thing to do would be to try to find the blinded man and make amends, and admitted he has not done so, but added that he was no longer burdened by guilt: "You have to go and ask for forgiveness and it wasn't until I really started doing good and doing right, by other people as well as myself, that I really started to feel that guilt go away. So I don't have a problem going to sleep at night. I feel good when I wake up in the morning."

After landing in prison following this assault he decided to change his ways. According to Wahlberg, "As soon as I began that life of crime, there was always a voice in my head telling me I was going to end up in jail. Three of my brothers had done time. My sister went to prison so many times I lost count. Finally I was there, locked up with the kind of guys I'd always wanted to be like. Now I'd earned my stripes and I was just like them and I realized it wasn't what I wanted at all. I'd ended up in the worst place I could possibly imagine and I never wanted to go back. First of all I had to learn to stay on the straight and narrow." Wahlberg first relied on the guidance of his parish priest to turn his back on crime. He told his street gang that he was leaving them and had "some serious fights" with them over it. The actor commented in 2009: "I've made a lot of mistakes in my life and I've done bad things. But I never blamed my upbringing for that. I never behaved like a victim so that I would have a convenient reason for victimizing others. Everything I did wrong was my own fault. I was taught the difference between right and wrong at an early age. I take full responsibility."

Career

Music

Name	Mark Wahlberg
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Mark Robert Michael Wahlberg
Alias	Marky MarkMonk D
Born	June 05, 1971
Origin	Boston, Massachusetts, US
Genre	Hip hop
Occupation	Rapper, actor, producer
Years active	1989–present
Associated acts	New Kids on the BlockMarky Mark and the Funky Bunch }}

Wahlberg first came to fame as the younger brother of Donnie Wahlberg of the successful 1980s and 1990s boy band New Kids on the Block. Mark, at age thirteen, had been one of the group's original members, along with Donnie, Danny Wood, Jordan Knight, and Jonathan Knight. However, he soon quit. It was his departure that eventually allowed Joe McIntyre to take his place as the fifth member of the group.

Wahlberg began recording as Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch, earning a hit with "Good Vibrations" from the album Music for the People. The record was produced by brother Donnie and later hit No.1 on The Billboard Hot 100, later becoming certified as a Platinum single. The second single, "Wildside," peaked at No.5 on Billboards Hot Singles Sales chart and at No.10 on The Billboard Hot 100. It was certified as a Gold Single. Marky Mark opened for the New Kids on the Block during their last tour. The second Marky Mark and The Funky Bunch LP, You Gotta Believe, was not as successful as the prior, yielding only a minor hit single in the title track. Wahlberg later collaborated with the late reggae / ragga singer Prince Ital Joe on the album Life in the Streets. The project combined rap and ragga vocals with strong eurodance music (as in the singles Happy People, German No.1 hit United, Life in the Streets, and Babylon) courtesy of Frank Peterson and Alex Christensen as producers.

He was also featured in the Black Label Society music video for "Counterfeit God", as a stand-in for the band's bassist.

Advertising

Wahlberg was known for his impressive physique. He first displayed it in the Good Vibrations music video and most prominently in a series of underwear ads for Calvin Klein shot by Herb Ritts, following it with Calvin Klein television ads. Magazine and television promotions would sometimes feature Mark exclusively or accompanied by model Kate Moss. Annie Leibovitz also shot a famous session of Mark Wahlberg in underwear for Vanity Fair's annual Hall of Fame issue. He also made a workout video titled The Marky Mark Workout: Form... Focus... Fitness (ISBN 1-55510-910-1).

Film

Wahlberg then began an acting career, making his debut in the 1993 TV movie The Substitute. His big screen debut came the next year, with the Danny DeVito feature Renaissance Man. A basketball fanatic, he caught the attention of critics after appearing in The Basketball Diaries in 1995, playing the role of Mickey alongside Leonardo DiCaprio, in a film adaptation of the Jim Carroll book of the same name. He also starred in the 1996 James Foley thriller Fear.

He has earned many positive reviews after successful movies like Boogie Nights as Dirk Diggler, Three Kings, The Perfect Storm, The Italian Job, and Four Brothers. His performance in I ♥ Huckabees was voted best supporting performance of the year in the 2004 Village Voice Critics Poll. Wahlberg was originally cast as Linus Caldwell in Ocean's Eleven; Matt Damon played the role instead. The two later worked together in The Departed. Wahlberg was also considered for a role in the film Brokeback Mountain. It was originally intended to star him and Joaquin Phoenix, but Wahlberg was uncomfortable with the film's sex scenes and his role ultimately went to Jake Gyllenhaal. Wahlberg starred in the American football drama, Invincible, based on the true story of bartender Vince Papale. He is also the executive producer of the HBO series Entourage which is loosely based on his experiences in Hollywood. He also appeared as a foul-mouthed Massachusetts State Police detective in Martin Scorsese's critically acclaimed thriller, The Departed in 2006, which netted him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor, a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture, and an NSFC Best Supporting Actor award. Wahlberg has confirmed that he was approached to star in a sequel to The Departed, but it is still early in development. The sequel would reportedly revolve around the Staff Sergeant played by Wahlberg.

To prepare for his role in Shooter, Wahlberg attended long-range shooting training at Front Sight Firearms Training Institute near Pahrump, Nevada, and was able to hit a target at 2000 yards on his first day, a feat which took his instructor about six months to achieve. He has said in a number of interviews that he will retire at the age of 40 to concentrate on parenthood and professional golf. However, in early 2007 he indicated that the latter was no longer the plan as "his golf game is horrible". He played Jack Salmon, a leading role in Peter Jackson's film of The Lovely Bones. In 2007 he starred opposite Joaquin Phoenix in We Own the Night, a movie about a family of police officers in New York City. The movie also starred Robert Duvall and Eva Mendes.

Wahlberg will play the drug kingpin Jon Roberts in the remake of the 2006 documentary Cocaine Cowboys, which chronicles the story of the largest cocaine trafficker in Miami in the 1970s and 1980s, and he has persuaded Leonardo DiCaprio to play the supporting role.

He starred in M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening as Eliot Moore, which premiered in movie theatres on June 13, 2008. The same year, he played the title role in Max Payne, based on a video game of the same name. While promoting Max Payne, Mark became involved in a feud with Saturday Night Live's Andy Samberg and threatened to "crack that big fucking nose of his." Samberg had done an impression of Wahlberg in a Saturday Night Live skit titled "Mark Wahlberg Talks To Animals." However, Wahlberg later appeared in a follow-up skit parodying both the original skit, Samberg's impression of Wahlberg, and his own threats to Samberg.

Personal life

Family and relationships

In the early 90s Wahlberg dated former child actress Soleil Moon Frye. Wahlberg and model Rhea Durham have been together since 2001 and got married on August 1, 2009 at the Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Beverly Hills. The couple have four children, Ella Rae (born September 2, 2003), Michael Robert (born March 21, 2006), Brendan Joseph (born September 16, 2008) and Grace Margaret (born January 11, 2010).

His father, a US Army veteran of the Korean War, died on Saint Valentine's Day, February 14, 2008.

Religion

Wahlberg is a committed Roman Catholic, who attends daily Mass, credits his faith and a priest from his childhood for helping him turn his life around, and recognizes the seriousness of his faith.

Charity work

Actively involved in charity, Wahlberg established the Mark Wahlberg Youth Foundation in May 2001 for the purpose of raising and distributing funds to youth service and enrichment programs.

Tattoos

Wahlberg has four tattoos done by various artists including Paul Timman. The tattoos include Sylvester the cat with Tweety in his mouth on his ankle, a tattoo of his initials MW with Wahlberg through them on his upper right arm, and a Bob Marley tattoo with "One Love" on his upper left arm. The final tattoo, which Wahlberg holds as his most meaningful, is the rosary tattoed around his neck, with a crucifix and the words "In God I Trust" resting over his heart.

Discography

Filmography

+ List of acting performances in film and television
Title	Year	Role	Notes
		Ryan Westerberg	Credited as "Marky Mark"
! scope="row"		Private Tommy Lee Haywood	Minor role
		Mickey
! scope="row"		David McCall	Nominated — MTV Movie Award for Best Villain
! scope="row"		Pat O'Hara
Boogie Nights		Eddie Adams/Dirk Diggler	Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama
		Melvin Smiley
		Detective Danny Wallace
! scope="row"		Troy Barlow
		Leo Handler
		Robert "Bobby" Shatford
! scope="row"		Captain Leo Davidson
! scope="row"		Chris "Izzy" Cole
		Joshua Peters
		Charlie Croker	Main role
I Heart Huckabees		Tommy Corn	Village Voice Film Poll – Best Supporting PerformanceNominated — Chlotrudis Award for Best Supporting ActorNominated — Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
! scope="row"		Robert "Bobby" Mercer	Main role
! scope="row"			Main role
		SSgt. Sean Dignam
! scope="row"		GySgt. Bob Lee Swagger	Main role
We Own the Night		Captain Joseph "Joe" Grusinsky
		Elliot Moore
! scope="row"		Max Payne
		Jack Salmon
Date Night		Holbrooke Grant
		Detective Terry Hoitz	Lead role
		"Irish" Micky Ward
! scope="row"			post-production
! scope="row"		John	filming

+ List of acting performances in film and television
Title	Year	Role	Notes
Juvies		Producer	Documentary
We Own the Night		Producer
! scope="row"		Executive producer	45 episodes
In Treatment		Executive producer	43 episodes
Boardwalk Empire		Executive producer	Ten episodes
How to Make It in America		Executive producer	Eight episodes
		Producer
! scope="row"		Producer	post-production

References

External links

Category:1971 births Category:American film actors Category:American male models Category:American people of Irish descent Category:American rappers Category:American Roman Catholics Category:American television producers Category:BAFTA winners (people) Category:Living people Category:Actors from Massachusetts Category:People from Boston, Massachusetts Category:American people of French-Canadian descent Category:American people of Swedish descent Category:American people convicted of assault

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Coordinates	49°50′″N21°38′″N
name	Kate Beckinsale
birth name	Kathryn Bailey Beckinsale
birth date	July 26, 1973
birth place	Finsbury Park, North London, England, UK
occupation	Actress
partner
years active	1991–present
spouse
parents	Richard BeckinsaleJudy Loe
relatives
website	}}

Kathryn Bailey "Kate" Beckinsale (born 26 July 1973) is an English actress.

She initially came to prominence in the 1990s for her roles in costume dramas such as Cold Comfort Farm, Much Ado About Nothing and Emma. Following a breakout performance in 2001's Pearl Harbor, she has appeared in big-budget Hollywood movies like The Aviator, the Underworld films and Van Helsing as well as smaller independent movies such as Everybody's Fine and Winged Creatures. She earned a Critic's Choice Award nomination for her performance in 2008's Nothing But the Truth.

She has three films set for release in 2012: Underworld 4, Contraband and Total Recall.

Early life

Beckinsale was born in London to actor Richard Beckinsale and actress Judy Loe. Her father unexpectedly died from a heart attack in 1979 (at the age of 31) when she was just five years old. Her mother later married director Roy Battersby, and Beckinsale was raised alongside his four sons and daughter. She also has a paternal half-sister, actress Samantha Beckinsale.

Beckinsale attended Godolphin and Latymer School in West London and was involved with the Orange Tree Youth Theatre. In her teens, she twice won the W. H. Smith Young Writers' competition—once for short stories and once for poetry. She had a nervous breakdown and developed anorexia at the age of fifteen and underwent Freudian psychoanalysis for four years.

She studied French and Russian literature at New College, Oxford University and was involved with the Oxford University Dramatic Society, most notably being directed by fellow student Tom Hooper in a production of A View from the Bridge at the Oxford Playhouse. She spent her third year in Paris as part of Oxford's study-abroad program, after which she decided to leave university to concentrate on her burgeoning acting career.

Career

Beckinsale landed her first major role, in Kenneth Branagh's big-screen Shakespearean adaptation, Much Ado About Nothing, during her first year at Oxford University. She filmed three other movies while at university: Prince of Jutland, Uncovered and French-language Marie-Louise Ou La Permission. Shortly after leaving Oxford, Beckinsale appeared in Cold Comfort Farm, Haunted and the TV adaptation of Jane Austen's Emma. In 1995 and 1996, Beckinsale worked on four plays, most notably The Seagull opposite Michael Sheen. In 1997, she starred in Shooting Fish and as Juliet in a radio production of Romeo and Juliet opposite her then partner, Michael Sheen, who also directed.

Beckinsale then began to seek work in Los Angeles, starring in 1998's The Last Days of Disco with Chloe Sevigny and 1999's Brokedown Palace with Claire Danes. The former earned her a London Critics Circle Film Award. After a break following the birth of her daughter, Beckinsale was cast in 2001's Pearl Harbor opposite Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett, one of the highest-grossing films of its year. She followed this with Serendipity, The Golden Bowl and Laurel Canyon.

She became known as an action star following staring roles in Underworld and Van Helsing. In 2004, she portrayed Ava Gardner in Martin Scorsese's The Aviator, a role for which she gained almost 1½ stones (21 lbs). Other roles included Click with Adam Sandler and Tiptoes with Gary Oldman.

In 2006, Beckinsale reprised her role as a vampire in the successful sequel Underworld: Evolution and, in 2007, she appeared in thriller Vacancy and independent film Snow Angels. In 2008, she appeared in Winged Creatures and Nothing But the Truth, receiving a Critic's Choice Award nomination for her performance in the latter. Despite strong award buzz for both Beckinsale and co-star Vera Farmiga, the film never received a full theatrical release after the distributor filed for bankruptcy. In 2009, she starred in the comic-book adaption Whiteout and Everybody's Fine opposite Robert De Niro.

Beckinsale has three films set for release in 2012: Underworld 4, Contraband and Total Recall.

Personal life

Beckinsale married American director Len Wiseman on 9 May 2004 in Bel-Air, California. They live in Los Angeles with Beckinsale's daughter, Lily Mo Sheen.

Beckinsale previously had a eight-year relationship with Welsh actor Michael Sheen from 1995 to 2003, after meeting when cast in a touring production of The Seagull. Their daughter, Lily Mo Sheen, was born 31 January 1999. The relationship ended after the filming of Underworld (in which they both starred) because Beckinsale realised she had fallen for the film's married director, Len Wiseman. The former couple have remained close friends. Beckinsale has said, "I love him dearly – I would miss him dreadfully if he wasn't in my life." "He is one of the most thoughtful, principled people and Lily is so lucky to have him as a dad."

Filmography

! Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
1991	Devices and Desires	Young Alice Mair	Television - ITV (one episode)
1991	One Against the Wind	Barbe Lindell	Television film - Hallmark Hall of Fame/CBS
1992	Rachel's Dream	Rachel	Television - Channel 4
1993	Anna Lee: Headcase	Thea Hahn	Television - ITV
1993		Hero
1994		Julia
1994		Ethel
1995	Marie-Louise Ou La Permission	Marie-Louise
1995		Flora Poste
1995		Christina Mariell
1996		Emma Woodhouse	Television film - ITV
1997	Shooting Fish	Georgie
1998	The Last Days of Disco	Charlotte Pingress
1998	Alice Through the Looking Glass	Alice	Television film - Channel 4
1999	Brokedown Palace	Darlene Davis
2001		Nurse Lt. Evelyn Johnson
2001		Sara Thomas
2001		Maggie Verver
2002		Alex Elliot
2003
2003	Tiptoes	Carol
2004		Ava Gardner
2004		Anna Valerious
2006	Underworld: Evolution	Selene
2006		Donna Newman
2007		Amy Fox
2007		Annie Marchand
2008		Rachel Armstrong
2008		Carla Davenport
2009	Underworld: Rise of the Lycans		voice only
2009		Carrie Stetko
2009		Amy
2012	Underworld: Awakening		Post-production
2012		Kate Farraday	Post-production
2012		Lori	Filming

Stage

The Seagull (as Nina), Theatre Royal, Bath and Tour, 1995

Sweetheart (as Toni), Royal Court Theatre, 1996

Clocks and Whistles (as Anne), The Bush, 1996

Faithless, unknown London theatre, 1996

Radio

Narrated Emma (1996) for Hodder & Stoughton AudioBooks and Diana Hendry's The Proposal (1997) for BBC Radio 4. Appeared as Juliet in the Naxos AudioBooks's production of Romeo and Juliet (1997).

Awards and nominations

Year	! Award	! Award ceremony	! Film	! Result
1997	Best Actress	Sitges - Catalonian International Film Festival	Shooting Fish	Won
1999	British Supporting Actress of the Year (tied with Minnie Driver for Good Will Hunting)	London Critics Circle Film Awards	The Last Days of Disco	Won
2002	Best Actress	Saturn Award		Nominated
2004	Best Actress	Saturn Award		Nominated
2004	Best Trans-Atlantic Breakthrough Performer	MTV Movie Awards		Nominated
2005	Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture (shared with the cast)	Screen Actors Guild Awards		Nominated
2005	Favorite Female Action Movie Star	People's Choice Awards		Nominated
2006	Best Hero	MTV Movie Awards	Underworld: Evolution	Nominated
2006	Favorite Female Action Star	People's Choice Awards		Nominated
2008	Best Actress	Broadcast Film Critics Association Award		Nominated

References

External links

Category:1973 births Category:Alumni of New College, Oxford Category:British people of Burmese descent Category:English expatriates in the United States Category:English film actors Category:English television actors Category:Actors from London Category:Old Dolphins Category:Living people Category:People from Finsbury Park

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Coordinates	49°50′″N21°38′″N
Name	Tori Amos
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Myra Ellen Amos
Born	August 22, 1963, Newton, North Carolina, United States
Instrument	Piano, harpsichord, clavichord, Hammond organ, harmonium, Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzer, Kurzweil, clavinet, vocals
Genre	Piano rock, art pop, alternative rock, electronica
Occupation	Musician, vocalist, songwriter, record producer
Years active	1986–present
Label	Atlantic (1986–2001) Epic (2002–2007)Universal Republic (2008–2011) Deutsche Grammophon (2011–present)
Website	toriamos.com everythingtori.com
Notable instruments	Bösendorfer piano }}

Tori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos; August 22, 1963) is an American pianist, singer-songwriter and composer. She was at the forefront of a number of female singer-songwriters in the early 1990s and was noteworthy early in her career as one of the few alternative rock performers to use a piano as her primary instrument. Some of her charting singles include "Crucify", "Silent All These Years", "God", "Cornflake Girl", "Caught a Lite Sneeze", "Professional Widow", "Spark", "1000 Oceans", and "A Sorta Fairytale", her most commercially successful single in the U.S. to date.

As of 2005, Amos had sold 12 million albums worldwide. She has been nominated for 8 Grammy Awards. Amos was also named one of People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People in 1996.

Early life

Amos was born in Newton, North Carolina. When she was two, her family moved to Baltimore, Maryland, where she began to play the piano. By age five, she had begun composing instrumental pieces on piano and, while living in Rockville, Maryland, she won a full scholarship to the Preparatory Division of the Peabody Conservatory of Music. Her scholarship was discontinued at age 11 and she was asked to leave. Amos has asserted that she lost the scholarship because of her interest in rock and popular music, coupled with her dislike for reading from sheet music. At age 21, Amos moved to Los Angeles to pursue her music career after several years performing on the piano bar circuit of the D.C. area.

Atlantic years (1986–2001)

Y Kant Tori Read

In 1986, Amos formed a music group, Y Kant Tori Read, the name of which was a reference to her days at the Peabody Conservatory, where she was able to play songs on her piano by ear, but was never successful at sight reading. In addition to Amos, the group was composed of Steve Caton (who would later play guitars on all her subsequent albums until 1999), drummer Matt Sorum, bass player Brad Cobb and, for a short time, keyboardist Jim Tauber. Following several phases of writing and recording, during which Amos has since asserted that the band lost their musical edge and direction due to interference from record executives, in July 1988, the Y Kant Tori Read's self-titled debut album was released. Although its producer, Joe Chiccarelli, has stated that Amos was very happy with the album at the time, it is now out of print and Amos has expressed no interest in reissuing it. Following the album's commercial failure and the group's subsequent disbanding, Amos began working with other artists (including Stan Ridgway, Sandra Bernhard, and Al Stewart) as a backup vocalist. She also recorded a song called "Distant Storm" for the film China O'Brien; in the credits, the song is attributed to a band called Tess Makes Good. It was the only song recorded by the band, and its only commercial release was in the film.

Solo career

Despite the disappointing reaction to Y Kant Tori Read, Amos still had to comply with her six-record contract with Atlantic Records, who in 1989 wanted a new record by March 1990. The initial recordings were declined by the label, which Amos felt was because the album had not been properly presented. The album was reworked and expanded under the guidance of Doug Morris and the musical talents of Steve Caton, Eric Rosse, Will MacGregor, Carlo Nuccio, and Dan Nebenzal, resulting in Little Earthquakes, an album recounting her religious upbringing, sexual awakening, struggle to establish her identity, and sexual assault. This album became her commercial and artistic breakthrough.

Amos traveled to New Mexico with personal and professional partner Eric Rosse in 1993 to write and largely record her second solo record, Under the Pink. The album was received with mostly favorable reviews and sold enough copies to chart at #12 on the Billboard 200, a significantly higher position than the preceding album's position at #54 on the same chart.

Her third solo album, Boys for Pele, was released in January 1996. The album was recorded in an Irish church, in Delgany, County Wicklow, with Amos taking advantage of the church recording setting to create an album ripe with baroque influences, lending it a darker sound and style. She added harpsichord, harmonium, and clavichord to her keyboard repertoire, and also included such anomalies as a gospel choir, bagpipes, church bells, and drum programming. The album garnered mixed reviews upon its release, with some critics praising its intensity and uniqueness while others bemoaned its comparative impenetrability. Despite the album's erratic lyrical content and instrumentation, the latter of which kept it away from mainstream audiences, Boys for Pele is Amos's most successful simultaneous transatlantic release, reaching #2 on both the Billboard 200 and the UK Top 40 upon its release at the height of her fame.

Fueled by the desire to have her own recording studio to distance herself from record company executives, Amos had the barn of her home in Cornwall converted into a state-of-the-art recording studio, Martian Engineering Studios.

From the Choirgirl Hotel and To Venus and Back, released in May 1998 and September 1999, respectively, differ greatly from previous albums as Amos's trademark acoustic piano-based sound is largely replaced with arrangements that include elements of electronica, dance music, vocal washes and sonic landscapes. The underlying themes of both albums deal with womanhood, and Amos's own miscarriages and marriage. Reviews for From the Choirgirl Hotel were mostly favorable and praised Amos's continued artistic originality. While not her highest chart debut, debut sales for From the Choirgirl Hotel are Amos's best to date, selling 153,000 copies in its first week. To Venus and Back, a two-disc release of original studio material and live material recorded from the previous world tour, received mostly positive reviews and included the first major-label single available for sale as a digital download.

Motherhood inspired Amos to produce a cover album, recording songs written by men about women and reversing the gender roles to show a woman's perspective. That idea grew into Strange Little Girls, released in September 2001, one year after giving birth to her daughter. The album is Amos's first concept album, with artwork featuring Amos photographed in character of the women portrayed in each song. Amos would later reveal that a stimulus for the album was to end her contract with Atlantic without giving them new original songs; Amos felt that since 1998, the label had not been properly promoting her and had trapped her in a contract by refusing to sell her to another label.

Epic Records years (2002–07)

With her Atlantic contract fulfilled after a 15-year stint, Amos signed to Epic in late 2001. In October 2002, Amos released Scarlet's Walk, another concept album. Described as a "sonic novel", the album explores Amos's alter ego, Scarlet, intertwined with her cross-country concert tour following 9/11. Through the songs, Amos explores such topics as the history of America, American people, Native American history, pornography, masochism, homophobia and misogyny. The album had a strong debut, demonstrating that Amos' fan base remained intact through the label change. However, Scarlet's Walk is Amos' last album to date to reach certified gold status.

Not long after Amos was ensconced with her new label, she received unsettling news when Polly Anthony resigned as president of Epic Records in 2003. Anthony had been one of the primary reasons Amos signed with the label and as a result of her resignation, Amos formed the Bridge Entertainment Group. Further trouble for Amos occurred the following year when her label, Epic/Sony Music Entertainment, merged with BMG Entertainment as a result of the industry's decline. Amos would later hint in interviews that during the creation of her next album, those in charge at the label following the aforementioned merger were interested "only in making money", the effects of which on the album have not been disclosed.

Amos released two more albums with the label, The Beekeeper (2005) and American Doll Posse (2007). Both albums received mixed reviews, some of which stated that the albums suffered from being too long. The Beekeeper was conceptually influenced by the ancient art of beekeeping, which she considered a source of female inspiration and empowerment. Through extensive study, Amos also wove in the stories of the Gnostic gospels and the removal of women from a position of power within the Christian church to create an album based largely on religion and politics. The album debuted at #5 on the Billboard 200, placing her in an elite group of women who have secured five or more US Top 10 album debuts. American Doll Posse, another concept album, was fashioned around a group of girls (the "posse") who are used as a theme of alter-egos of Amos's. Musically and stylistically, the album saw Amos return to a more confrontational nature. Like its predecessor, American Doll Posse debuted at #5 on the Billboard 200.

During her tenure with Epic Records, Amos also released a retrospective collection titled Tales of a Librarian (2003) through her former label, Atlantic Records; a two-disc DVD set Fade to Red (2006) containing most of Amos's solo music videos, released through the Warner Bros. reissue imprint Rhino; a five disc box set titled A Piano: The Collection (2006), celebrating Amos's 15 year solo career through remastered album tracks, remixes, alternate mixes, demos, and a string of unreleased songs from album recording sessions, also released through Rhino; and numerous official bootlegs from two world tours, The Original Bootlegs (2005) and Legs & Boots (2007) through Epic Records.

Universal Music years (2008–present)

Universal Republic (2008–2011)

In May 2008, Amos announced that, due to creative and financial disagreements with Epic Records, she had negotiated an end to her contract with the record label, and would be operating independently of major record labels on future work. In September of the same year, Amos released a live album and DVD, Live at Montreux 1991/1992, through Eagle Rock Entertainment, of two performances she gave at the Montreux Jazz Festival very early on in her career while promoting her debut solo-album, Little Earthquakes. By December, after a chance encounter with chairman and CEO of Universal Music Group, Doug Morris, Amos signed a "joint venture" deal Universal Republic Records.

Abnormally Attracted to Sin, Amos's tenth solo studio-album and her first album released through Universal Republic, was released in May 2009 to mostly positive reviews. The album debuted in the top 10 of the Billboard 200, making it the Amos' seventh album to do so. Abnormally Attracted to Sin, admitted Amos, was a "personal album", not a conceptual one. Continuing her distribution deal with Universal Republic, Amos released Midwinter Graces, her first seasonal album, in November of the same year. The album features reworked versions of traditional carols, as well as original songs written by Amos.

During her contract with the label, Amos recorded vocals for two songs for David Byrne's collaboration album with Fatboy Slim, entitled Here Lies Love, which was released in April 2010. In July of the same year, the DVD Tori Amos- Live from the Artists Den was released exclusively through Barnes & Noble.

After a brief tour from June to September 2010, Amos released the highly exclusive live album From Russia With Love in December the same year, recorded live in Moscow on 3 September 2010. The limited edition set included a signature edition Lomography Diana F+ camera, along with 2 lenses, a roll of film and 1 of 5 photographs taken of Tori during her time in Moscow. The set was released exclusively through toriamos.com and only 2000 were produced. It is currently unknown as to whether the album will receive a mass release.

Deutsche Grammophon (2011–Present)

In September 2011, Amos released her first classical music album, Night of Hunters, featuring variations on a theme to pay tribute to such renowned composers as Bach, Chopin, Debussy, Granados, Satie and Schubert, through the Deutsche Grammophon label, a division of Universal Music Group. She is currently writing the music for Samuel Adamson's musical adaptation of the George MacDonald story The Light Princess for the Royal National Theatre, which was originally expected to debut in spring 2012 but has now been deferred. Amos has, however, confirmed the release of an album in 2012 marking the 20th anniversary of her debut album Little Earthquakes. The album will consist of songs from her back catalogue rearranged and performed by the Metropole Orchestra.

In print

Released in conjunction with The Beekeeper, Amos co-authored an autobiography with rock music journalist Ann Powers entitled Piece by Piece (2005). The book's subject is Amos's interest in mythology and religion, exploring her songwriting process, rise to fame, and her relationship with Atlantic Records.

Image Comics released Comic Book Tattoo (2008), a collection of comic stories, each based on or inspired by songs recorded by Amos. Editor Rantz Hoseley worked with Amos to gather 80 different artists for the book, including Pia Guerra, David Mack, and Leah Moore.

Additionally, Amos and her music have been the subject of numerous official and unofficial books, as well as academic critique, including Tori Amos: Lyrics (2001) and an earlier biography, Tori Amos: All These Years (1996).

In 2011 Adrienne Trier-Bieniek, a sociology graduate student at Western Michigan University, received her PhD for a dissertation entitled “All I Am: Defining Music as an Emotional Catalyst through a Sociological Study of Emotions, Gender and Culture". Trier-Bieniek focused on Amos' female fans and the emotional support they receive from listening to Amos' music. Now a professor at Valencia College, Trier-Bieniek continues to publish academic work born from this study.

Personal life

Family

Amos is the third child of Rev. Dr. Edison and Mary Ellen Amos. She was born at the Old Catawba Hospital in Newton, North Carolina, during a trip from their Georgetown home in Washington, D.C. Her maternal grandparents were of mixed European and Eastern Cherokee ancestry; of particular importance to her as a child was her grandfather, Calvin Clinton Copeland, who was a great source of inspiration and guidance to her as a young child, offering a more pantheistic spiritual alternative to her father and paternal grandmother's traditional Christianity.

Early in her professional career, Amos befriended author Neil Gaiman, who became a fan after she referenced him in the song "Tear in Your Hand" and also in print interviews. Although created before the two met, the character Delirium from Gaiman's The Sandman series (or even her sister Death) is inspired by Amos; Gaiman has stated that "they steal shamelessly from each other". She wrote the foreword to his collection Death: The High Cost of Living; he in turn wrote the introduction to Comic Book Tattoo. Gaiman is godfather to her daughter and a poem written for her birth, Blueberry Girl, was published as a children's book of the same name in 2009.

Amos married English sound engineer Mark Hawley on February 22, 1998. Their only child, a daughter named Natashya "Tash" Lórien Hawley, was born in 2000. They divide their time between Sewall's Point in Florida, Kinsale (County Cork) in Ireland, and Cornwall in England.

Activism

In June 1994, Amos co-founded RAINN, The Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, a toll-free help line in the US connecting callers with their local rape crisis center. Amos, herself a survivor of sexual assault, was seen as unlocking the silence of her assault through her music; thus "Unlock the Silence" went on to become a year-long campaign for RAINN when Amos became a national spokesperson for the organization. By the summer of 2006, RAINN had received its one millionth caller and the organization's success has led to it ranking in "America's 100 Best Charities" by Worth, and one of the "Top 10 Best Charities" by Marie Claire.

Discography

Up to 2011, Amos has released 12 studio albums during her solo career. Apart from the first two albums, the other 10 are self-produced.

Little Earthquakes (1992)

Under the Pink (1994)

Boys for Pele (1996)

From the Choirgirl Hotel (1998)

To Venus and Back (1999)

Strange Little Girls (2001)

Scarlet's Walk (2002)

The Beekeeper (2005)

American Doll Posse (2007)

Abnormally Attracted to Sin (2009)

Midwinter Graces (2009)

Night of Hunters (2011)

Additionally, Amos has released over 30 singles, over 60 B-sides, and has contributed original material to nine film soundtracks, including Higher Learning (1995), Great Expectations (1998) and Mission: Impossible II (2000) among others.

Tours

Amos, who has been performing in bars and clubs from as early as 1976 and under her professional name as early as 1991 has performed more than 1,000 shows since her first world tour in 1992. In 2003, Amos was voted fifth best touring act by the readers of Rolling Stone magazine. Her concerts are notable for their changing set lists from night to night.

; Little Earthquakes Tour : Amos's first world tour began on January 29, 1992 in London and ended on November 30, 1992 in Auckland. She performed solo with a Yamaha CP-70 unless the venue was able to provide a piano. The tour included 142 concerts around the globe. ; Under the Pink Tour : Amos's second world tour began on February 24, 1994 in Newcastle upon Tyne and ended on December 13, 1994 in Perth, Western Australia. Amos performed solo each night on her iconic Bösendorfer piano, and on a prepared piano during "Bells for Her". The tour included 181 concerts. ; Dew Drop Inn Tour : The third world tour began on February 23, 1996 in Ipswich, England, and ended on November 11, 1996 in Boulder. Amos performed each night on piano, harpsichord, and harmonium, with Steve Caton on guitar on some songs. The tour included 187 concerts. ; Plugged '98 Tour : Amos's first band tour. Amos, on piano and Kurzweil keyboard, was joined by Steve Caton on guitar, Matt Chamberlain on drums, and Jon Evans on bass. The tour began on April 18, 1998 in Fort Lauderdale and ended on December 3, 1998 in East Lansing, Michigan, including 137 concerts. ; Five and a Half Weeks Tour / To Dallas and Back : Amos's fifth tour was North America–only. The first part of the tour was co-headlining with Alanis Morissette and featured the same band and equipment line-up as in 1998. Amos and the band continued for eight shows before Amos embarked on a series of solo shows. The tour began on August 18, 1999 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and ended on December 9, 1999 in Denver, including 46 concerts. ; Strange Little Tour : This tour was Amos's first since becoming a mother in 2000 and her first tour fully solo since 1994 (Steve Caton was present on some songs in 1996). It saw Amos perform on piano, Rhodes piano, and Wurlitzer electric piano, and though the tour was in support of her covers album, the set lists were not strictly covers-oriented. Having brought her one-year-old daughter on the road with her, this tour was also one of Amos's shortest ventures, lasting just three months. It began on August 30, 2001 in London and ended on December 17, 2001 in Milan, including 55 concerts. ; On Scarlet's Walk / Lottapianos Tour : Amos's seventh tour saw her reunited with Matt Chamberlain and Jon Evans, but not Steve Caton. The first part of the tour, which featured Amos on piano, Rhodes, and Wurlitzer, was six months long and Amos went out again in the summer of 2003 for a tour with Ben Folds opening. The tour began on November 7, 2002 in Tampa and ended on September 4, 2003 in West Palm Beach, featuring 124 concerts. The final show of the tour was filmed and released as part of a DVD/CD set titled Welcome to Sunny Florida (the set also included a studio EP titled Scarlet's Hidden Treasures, an extension of the Scarlet's Walk album). ; Original Sinsuality Tour / Summer of Sin : This tour began on April 1, 2005 in Clearwater, Florida, with Amos on piano, two Hammond B-3 organs, and Rhodes. The tour also encompassed Australia for the first time since 1994. Amos announced at a concert on this tour that she would never stop touring but would scale down the tours. Amos returned to the road in August and September for the Summer of Sin North America leg, ending on September 17, 2005 in Los Angeles. The tour featured "Tori's Piano Bar", where fans could nominate cover songs on Amos's website which she would then choose from to play in a special section of each show. One of the songs chosen was the Kylie Minogue hit "Can't Get You Out of My Head", which Amos dedicated to her the day after Minogue's breast cancer was announced to the public. Other songs performed by Amos include The Doors' "People are Strange", Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus", Joni Mitchell's "The Circle Game", Madonna's "Live to Tell" and "Like a Prayer", Björk's "Hyperballad", Led Zeppelin's "When the Levee Breaks" (which she debuted in Austin, Texas, just after the events of Hurricane Katrina), Kate Bush's "And Dream of Sheep" and Crowded House's "Don't Dream It's Over", dedicating it to drummer Paul Hester who had died a week before. The entire concert tour featured 82 concerts, and six full-length concerts were released as The Original Bootlegs. ; American Doll Posse World Tour : This was Amos's first tour with a full band since her 1999 Five and a Half Weeks Tour, accompanied by long-time band mates Jon Evans and Matt Chamberlain, with guitarist Dan Phelps rounding out Amos's new band. Amos's equipment included her piano, a Hammond B-3 organ, and two Yamaha S90 ES keyboards. The tour kicked off with its European leg in Rome, Italy on May 28, 2007, which lasted through July, concluding in Israel; the Australian leg took place during September; the North American leg lasted from October to December 16, 2007, when the tour concluded in Los Angeles. Amos opened each show dressed as one of the four non-Tori personae from the album, then Amos would emerge as herself to perform for the remaining two-thirds of the show. The entire concert tour featured 93 concerts, and 27 full-length concerts of the North American tour were released as official bootlegs in the Legs and Boots series. ; Sinful Attraction Tour : For her tenth tour, Amos returned to the trio format of her 2002 and 2003 tours with bassist Jon Evans and drummer Matt Chamberlain while expanding her lineup of keyboards by adding three M-Audio MIDI controllers to her ensemble of her piano, a Hammond B-3 organ, and a Yamaha S90 ES keyboard. The North American and European band tour began on 10 July 2009 in Seattle, Washington and ended in Warsaw on 10 October 2009. A solo leg through Australia began in Melbourne on 12 November 2009 and ended in Brisbane on 24 November 2009. The entire tour featured 63 concerts. ; Night of Hunters tour : Amos' eleventh tour is her first with a string quartet, Apollon Musagète, (Amos' equipment includes her piano and a Yamaha S90 ES keyboard) and her first time touring in South Africa. It kicked off on 28 September 2011 in Finland, Helsinki Ice Hall and will continue until 22 December 2011 in Dallas, Texas.

Award nominations

! Group !! Year !! Award !! Work !! Result
rowspan="4"		Best Female Video
Best Cinematography in a Video
Best New Artist In a Video
Breakthrough Video
	1995	Best Alternative Music Album	Under The Pink
1997	Best Alternative Music Album	Boys for Pele
	Best Alternative Music Album	From the Choirgirl Hotel
Female Rock Vocal Performance	"Raspberry Swirl"
	Best Alternative Music Album	To Venus and Back
Female Rock Vocal Performance
	Best Alternative Music Album	Strange Little Girls
Female Rock Vocal Performance	"Strange Little Girl"
	Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Packaging	Scarlet's Walk (deluxe edition)
Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical	"Timo on Tori (Don't Make Me Come to Vegas)"

Note: The 2003 nomination for "Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Packaging" goes to the art directors Dave Bett and Sherri Lee and not to Tori Amos and the 2003 nomination for "Best Remixed Recording, Non Classical" goes to the remixers Mark Buttrich and Timo Maas and not to Tori Amos.

Notes and references

External links

Official website

Synthesis.net April 2007 podcast interview

Tori Amos on Synthesis.net

Tori Amos on Virb.com

Tori Amos on Advocate.com

Tori Amos on Allmusic.com

Y Kant Tori Read on Allmusic.com

Category:1963 births Category:Living people Category:American alternative rock musicians Category:American female singers Category:American feminists Category:American harpsichordists Category:American expatriates in the United Kingdom Category:American pop pianists Category:American pop singers Category:American rock pianists Category:American rock singers Category:American singer-songwriters Category:American people of Cherokee descent Category:Atlantic Records artists Category:English-language singers Category:Epic Records artists Category:Female rock singers Category:Feminist musicians Category:Musicians from Maryland Category:Musicians from North Carolina Category:People from Baltimore, Maryland Category:People from Catawba County, North Carolina Category:People from Los Angeles, California Category:People from Washington, D.C. Category:Rape victim advocates Category:Island Records artists Category:Women classical composers Category:Women composers

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