name	BT Group plc
logo
type	Public limited company
traded as
predecessor	Electric Telegraph Company Post Office Telecommunications
foundation	City of London, United Kingdom ()
founder	William CookeJohn Ricardo
location	BT CentreLondon, United Kingdom
area served	Worldwide
key people	Sir Michael RakeIan Livingston
industry	Telecommunications
products	Telecommunications Broadband internet access Internet Protocol television
revenue	£20,911 million (2010)
operating income	£2,600 million (2010)
net income	£1,029 million (2010)
num employees	101,700 (average 2010)
homepage	btplc.com
intl	yes }}

BT Group plc (, ) is a global telecommunications services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is one of the largest telecommunications services companies in the world and has operations in more than 170 countries. Through its BT Global Services division it is a major supplier of telecoms services to corporate and government customers worldwide. Its BT Retail division is a leading supplier of telephony, broadband and subscription television services in the UK, with over 18 million customers.

Its primary listing is on the London Stock Exchange and it is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It has a secondary listing on the New York Stock Exchange.

History

BT is the world’s oldest telecommunications company. The company's origins date back to the establishment of the first telecommunications companies in the United Kingdom. Among them was the first commercial telegraph service, the Electric Telegraph Company, established in 1846. As these companies amalgamated and were taken over or collapsed, the remaining companies were transferred to state control under the Post Office. These companies were merged and rebranded as British Telecommunications.

18781969: General Post Office

From 1878, the telephone service in the United Kingdom was provided by private sector companies such as the National Telephone Company, and later by the General Post Office. In 1896, the National Telephone Company was taken over by the General Post Office. In 1912, it became the primary supplier of telecommunications services, after the Post Office took over the private sector telephone service in the UK, except for a few local authority services. Those services all folded within a few years, the sole exception being Kingston upon Hull, where the telephone department became present day KCOM Group. Telegraph and Telephone services became the exclusive responsibility of the Post Office Engineering department.

Converting the Post Office into a nationalised industry, as opposed to a governmental department, was first discussed in 1932 by Lord Wolmer. His ideas were recorded in the book ''Post Office Reform''. In 1932, the Bridgeman Committee was formed, "to enquire and report as to whether any changes to the constitution, status or system of organisation of the Post Office would be in the public interest". The Committee's report was rejected. In 1961, the subject received further attention, the proposals were ignored. The Post Office remained a department of central government, with the Postmaster General sitting in Cabinet as a Secretary of State.

In March 1965, Tony Benn, the acting Postmaster General, wrote to the Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, proposing that studies be undertaken aimed at converting the Post Office into a nationalised industry. A party was established to look into the advantages and disadvantages of the proposal, and its findings were found to be favourable enough for the Government to re-establish a Steering Group on the Organisation of the Post Office. After some initial deliberations that the business should be divided into five divisions; Post, Telecommunications, Savings, Giro and National Data Processing Services, it was decided that there should be two: ''Post'' and ''Telecommunications''. These events finally resulted in the introduction of the Post Office Act, 1969.

On 1 October 1969, under the Post Office Act, 1969, the Post Office ceased to be a government department and it became established as a public corporation. The Act gave the Post Office the exclusive privilege of operating telecommunications systems with listed powers to authorise others to run such systems. Effectively, the General Post Office retained its telecommunications monopoly.

19771982: British Telecom

In 1977, the Carter Committee Report recommended a further division of the two main services and for their relocation under two individual corporations. The findings contained in the report led to the renaming of Post Office Telecommunications as British Telecom in 1980, although it remained part of the Post Office.

The British Telecommunications Act, 1981 transferred the responsibility for telecommunications services from the Post Office, creating two separate corporations, Post Office. At this time the first steps were taken to introduce competition into the UK telecommunications industry. In particular, the Act empowered the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, as well as British Telecom, to license other operators to run public telecommunications systems. Additionally, a framework was established which enabled the Secretary of State to set standards with the British Standards Institution (BSI) for apparatus supplied to the public by third parties, and had the effect of requiring British Telecom to connect approved apparatus to its systems.

The Secretary of State made use of these new powers and began the process of opening up to and the apparatus supply market, where a phased programme of liberalisation was started in 1981. In 1982, a licence was granted to Cable & Wireless to run a public telecommunications network through its subsidiary, Mercury Communications.

19821984: Privatisation of British Telecom

On 19 July 1982, the Government formally announced its intention to privatise British Telecom with the sale of up to 51 per cent of the company's shares to private investors. This intention was confirmed by the passing of the Telecommunications Act, 1984, which received Royal Assent on 12 April that year. The transfer to British Telecommunications plc of the business of British Telecom, the statutory corporation, took place on 6 August 1984 and, in November 1984, more than 50 per cent of British Telecom shares were sold to the public.

The new legislation had to enable British Telecom to become more responsive to competition in the UK and to expand its operations globally. Commercial freedom granted to British Telecom allowed it to enter into new joint ventures and, if it so decided, to engage in the manufacture of its own apparatus.

The company's transfer into the private sector continued in December 1991 when the Government sold around half its remaining holding of 47.6 per cent of shares, reducing its stake to 21.8 per cent. Substantially all the government's remaining shares were sold in a third flotation in July 1993, raising £5 billion for the Treasury and introducing 750,000 new shareholders to the company.

The 1984 Act also abolished British Telecom’s exclusive privilege of running telecommunications systems and established a framework to safeguard the workings of competition. This meant that British Telecom finally lost its monopoly in running telecommunications systems, which it had technically retained under the 1981 Act despite the Secretary of State's licensing powers. It now required a licence in the same way as any other telecommunications operator. The principal licence granted to British Telecom laid down strict and extensive conditions affecting the range of its activities, including those of manufacture and supply of apparatus.

19831991: Open telecommunications

The next major development for British Telecom, and a move towards a more open market in telecommunications, occurred in 1991. On 5 March, the Government's White Paper, Competition and Choice: Telecommunications Policy for the 1990s, was issued. In effect, it ended the duopoly which had been shared by British Telecom and Mercury Communications in the UK since November 1983 and the build up to privatisation. The new, more open and fairer policy, enabled customers to acquire telecommunications services from competing providers using a variety of technologies. Independent 'retail' companies were permitted to bulk-buy telecommunications capacity and sell it in packages to business and domestic users. The White Paper was endorsed by British Telecom, the new policy enabling the company to compete freely and more effectively by offering flexible pricing packages to meet the needs of different types of customer.

1991–2001: Rebranding

On 2 April 1991, the company unveiled a new trading name, BT, a new corporate identity and a new organisational structure. This structure focused on specific market sectors, reflecting the needs of different customers – the individual, the small business or the multinational corporation. The reorganisation was named Project Sovereign to reflect the company’s commitment to meetings customers’ needs – ‘the customer is King’. Together with a succession of strategic alliances with telecommunications companies worldwide, these changes gave BT the means to expand into overseas markets.

Ventures

19941997: Concert Communications Services

In June 1994, BT and MCI Communication Corporation, the second largest carrier of long distance telecommunications services in the US, launched Concert Communications Services, a $1 billion joint venture company. This alliance gave BT and MCI a global network for providing end-to-end connectivity for advanced business services. Concert was the first company to provide a single source, broad portfolio of global communications services for multinational customers. On 3 November 1996, BT and MCI announced they had entered into a merger agreement to create a global telecommunications company called Concert plc, to be incorporated in the UK, with headquarters in both London and Washington DC. As part of the alliance BT acquired a 20 per cent holding in MCI. Nevertheless, following US carrier WorldCom's rival bid for MCI on 1 October 1997, BT ultimately decided in November, to sell its stake in MCI to WorldCom for $7 billion. The deal with WorldCom resulted in a profit of more than $2 billion on BT's original investment in MCI, with an additional $465 million severance fee for the breakup of the proposed merger.

19982005: Concert

In July 1998, BT announced another global venture with the formation of a 50:50 business with AT&T.; The new company, Concert, was launched in November 1999 to serve the needs of multinational companies and the international calling needs of individuals and businesses. In October 2001, following a downturn in the global telecommunications market, it was announced that BT and AT&T; were to unwind Concert, returning its businesses, customer accounts and networks to the two parent companies (this was completed in April 2002).

In December 2000, following modifications to BT’s licence in April 2000, BT offered local loop unbundling (LLU) to other telecommunications operators, enabling them to use BT’s copper local loops (the connection between the customer’s premises and the exchange) to connect directly with their customers. By the end of August 2005, 105,055 lines had been unbundled.

19852005: O2

In 1985, Cellnet was launched as a subsidiary of Telecom Securicor Cellular Radio Limited, a 60:40 venture between British Telecommunications and Securicor respectively.

In 1999, BT purchased Securicor's shares in Cellnet for £3.15 billion, Securicor originally invested £4 million in Cellnet in 1983, the company was later rebranded as BT Cellnet, and it became a part of BT Wireless, a group of subsidiary companies owned by BT.

In October 2001, at a general meeting held in Birmingham, 4.297 billion British Telecommunications shares voted in favour of the demerger, and 0.67 million voted against. In , BT Cellnet demerged from BT and was relaunched on as O2.

In February 2004, the company was subject to rumours of take-over bids from KPN, the Dutch telecommunications group though these never came to fruition. In 2005 rumours of KPN (and several other international network operators) bidding for the various branches of O2 persisted, though following the company's posting of better than expected results so soon after demerging some speculation shifted to O2 itself making bids for other businesses.

In March 2005, the company underwent a corporate reorganization, that saw mmO2 plc being de-listed from the London Stock Exchange and acquired (via a share swap) by a new company, O2 plc, which was listed on the London Stock Exchange in its place. The summer of 2005 saw the company under threat of crippling strike action by Communication Workers Union members following disputes over pay and remuneration, though unrelated to earlier job losses as part of the reorganization. This was resolved without strikes taking place after several months of negotiations between the company and the trade union.

20012003: dot.com crash and reorganisation

Following the global stock market based dot com crash, the group undertook a major board restructuring and asset sale to address its debt pile. In May 2001, BT announced a three for ten rights issue to raise £5.9 billion – still the UK's largest ever rights issue – and the sale of Yell Group, the international directories and associated e-commerce business for £2.14 billion. Both activities were completed in June 2001. The group also sold its property portfolio to JV property company Telereal.

20032004: Brand refresh

In April 2003, BT unveiled its current corporate identity and brand values. Reflecting the aspirations of a technologically innovative future, the connected world is designed to embody BT’s five corporate values: trustworthy, helpful, inspiring, straightforward, heart.

The Communications Act, 2003 which came into force on 25 July 2003 introduced a new industry regulator, the Office of Communications (Ofcom), to replace the Office of Telecommunications (Oftel). It also introduced a new regulatory framework. The licensing regime was replaced by a general authorisation for companies to provide telecommunications services subject to general conditions of entitlement and, in some instances, specific conditions. Under a specific condition BT retained its universal service obligation (USO) for the UK, excluding the Hull area. The USO included connecting consumers to the fixed telephone network, schemes for consumers with special social needs, and the provision of call box services.

In the summer of 2004, BT launched Consult 21, an industry consultation for BT’s 21st century network (21CN) programme. 21CN is a next generation network transformation, due for completion by end 2010. Using internet protocol technology, 21CN will replace the existing networks and communications from any device such as mobile phone, PC, PDA or home phone, to any other device.

2005: Openreach

Following the Telecommunications Strategic Review (TSR), in September 2005 BT signed legally binding Undertakings with Ofcom to help create a new regulatory framework for BT and the UK telecoms industry generally.

Openreach provides provision and repair in the "last mile" of copper wire. Formed from 25,000 engineers previously employed by BT's Retail and Wholesale divisions. It is designed to ensure that other communications providers (CPs) have exactly the same operational conditions as parts of the BT group. Opened for business on 11 January 2006, it reports directly into the BT chief executive.

2005: Global expansion

In 2005, BT made a number of important acquisitions.

In February 2005, BT acquired El Segundo, California-based telecoms giant Infonet (now re-branded BT Infonet), giving BT access to new geographies.

It also acquired the second largest telecoms operator in the Italian business market, Albacom.

In April 2005, it bought Radianz from Reuters (now rebranded as BT Radianz), which expanded BT's coverage, provided BT with more buying power in certain countries.

2006present: Recent developments

In August 2006 BT acquired online electrical retailer Dabs.com for £30.6 million. The BT Home Hub manufactured by Inventel was also launched in June 2006.

In October 2006 BT confirmed that it would be investing 75% of its total capital spending, put at £10 billion over five years, in its new Internet Protocol (IP) based 21st century network (21CN). Annual savings of £1 billion per annum are expected when the transition to the new network is complete in 2010, with over 50% of its customers transferred by 2008. That month the first customers on to 21CN was successfully tested at Adastral Park in Suffolk.

In January 2007, BT acquired Sheffield based ISP, PlusNet plc, adding an additional 200,000 customers. BT stated that PlusNet will continue to operate separately out of its Sheffield head-office.

On 1 February 2007 BT announced agreed terms to acquire International Network Services Inc. (“INS”), an international provider of IT consultancy and software. This increases BT presence in North America enhancing BT's consulting capabilities.

On 20 February 2007 Sir Michael Rake, then chairman of accountancy firm KPMG International, would succeed Sir Christopher Bland, who stepped down in September of that year.

On 20 April 2007 BT acquired Comsat International which provides network services to the South American corporate market.

On 1 October 2007 BT purchased Chesterfield based Lynx Technology which has been around since 1973.

BT acquired Wire One Communications in June 2008 and folded the company into BT Conferencing, its existing conferencing unit, as a new video business unit

On 28 July 2008, BT acquired Ribbit, of Mountain View, California, "Silicon Valley's First Phone Company." Ribbit provides Adobe Flash/Flex APIs, allowing web developers to incorporate telephony features into their Software as a Service (SaaS) applications.

On 1 April 2009 BT Engage IT is created from the unclean merger of two previous BT acquisitions Lynx Technology and Basilica. Apart from the name change not much else changes in operations for another 12 months.

On 14 May 2009 BT said it was cutting up to 15,000 jobs in the coming year after it announced its results for the year to 31 March 2009. In July 2009 BT offered workers a long holiday for an up front sum of 25% of their annual wage or a one-off payment of £1000 if they agree to go part time.

On 5 October 2009 Martin Balaam replaces Nick Gorringe as managing director of struggling division BT Engage IT.

Operations

British Telecommunications plc (BT) is a wholly owned subsidiary of BT Group plc and encompasses virtually all businesses and assets of the BT Group. BT Group plc is listed on stock exchanges in London and New York.

BT runs the telephone exchanges, trunk network and local loop connections for the vast majority of British fixed-line telephones. Currently BT is responsible for approximately 28 million telephone lines in the UK. Apart from Kingston Communications, which serves Kingston upon Hull, BT is the only UK telecoms operator to have a ''Universal Service Obligation'' (USO) which means it must provide a fixed telephone line to any address in the UK. It is also obliged to provide public call boxes.

BT's businesses are operated under special government regulation by the British telecoms regulator Ofcom (formerly Oftel). BT has been found to have Significant Market Power in some markets following Market Reviews by Ofcom. In these markets, BT is required to comply with additional obligations such as meeting reasonable requests to supply services and not to discriminate.

As well as continuing to provide service in those traditional areas in which BT has an obligation to provide services or is closely regulated, BT has expanded into more profitable products and services where there is less regulation. These are principally, broadband internet service and bespoke solutions in telecommunications and information technology.

BT Group is organised into the following business divisions:

BT Retail: Retail telecoms services to consumers

BT Wholesale: Wholesale telecoms core trunk network

Openreach: fenced-off wholesale division, tasked with ensuring that all rival operators have equality of access to BT's own local network

BT Global Services: Business services and solutions (formerly BT Ignite and BT Syntegra)

BT Exact / One IT: used to handle consultancy and internal IT. Now been replaced by BT Innovate and Design.

Group operations: handles security, research and development, and other functions for BT Group Plc such as legal services

From 1 July 2007 two additional divisions were put in place:-

BT Operate took responsibility from BT Wholesale for the roll-out and maintenance of the group's new IP based fixed-line network, known as 21st Century Network (21C).

BT Innovate and Design pulled together IT designers from BT Retail, BT Wholesale, BT Global Services and OneIT to design services on the 21C network.

Corporate affairs

Headquarters

Financial performance

! Year ended	! Turnover (£m)	! Profit/(loss) before tax (£m)	! Net profit/(loss) (£m)	earnings per share>eps (p)
31 March 2010	20,911	1,007	1,029	13.3
31 March 2009	21,390	(134)	(81)	3.2
31 March 2008	20,704	1,976	1,738	21.5
31 March 2007	20,223	2,484	2,852	34.4
31 March 2006	19,514	2,633	1,644	19.5
31 March 2005	18,429	2,693	1,539	18.1
31 March 2004	18,519	1,945	1,414	16.4
31 March 2003	18,727	3,157	2,702	31.4
31 March 2002	18,447	1,461	1,008	12.1
31 March 2001	17,141	(1,031)	(1,875)	(25.8)
31 March 2000	18,715	2,942	2,055	31.7
31 March 1999	16,953	4,295	2,983	46.3
31 March 1998	15,640	3,214	1,702	26.6
31 March 1997	14,935	3,203	2,077	32.8
31 March 1996	14,446	3,019	1,986	31.6
31 March 1995	13,893	2,662	1,731	27.8
31 March 1994	13,675	2,756	1,767	28.5
31 March 1993	13,242	1,972	1,220	19.8
31 March 1992	13,337	3,073	2,044	33.2

After a pay rise of over 40%, BT's chief financial officer, Hanif Lalani, became one of the very few UK financial directors whose annual remuneration exceeds £1 million. He became CEO of BT Global Services in October 2008 and was replaced as BT Group CFO by Tony Chanmugam on 1 December 2008.

In recent years, the strategy of BT plc has been to reduce its dependence on traditional voice revenues and instead obtain an increasing portion of its turnover from so-called ''New Wave'' revenues. At the heart of this strategy is BT Global Services, which has won many significant contracts in the commercial and public sectors, in part through its portrayal as a "momentum story".

Logo

Marketing

The Telecommunications Act 1984 set the framework for a competitive market for telecoms services by abolishing BT's exclusive right to provide services. In the early 1990s the market was opened up and a number of new national Public Telecommunications Operators (PTOs) were given licences. This ended the duopoly that had existed in the 1980s when only BT and Mercury were licensed to provide fixed line telecom networks in the UK.

Pension fund

BT has the largest defined benefit pension plan of any UK public company. The trustees valued the scheme at £36.7 billion at the end of 2010 ; An actuarial valuation valued the deficit of the scheme at £9.043 billion as of 31 December 2008. However following a change in the regulations governing inflation index linking, the deficit was estimated at £5.2 billion in November 2010. BT and the Trustee have agreed a 17 year recovery plan with the first three years’ payments amounting to £525mm. As of 2013 average annual payments have been estimated at £533MM. The next triennial valuation is scheduled for December 2011.

BT’s pension obligation is derived from two pension plans: BTPS, the company’s defined-benefit pension scheme which was closed in 2001, and the BT Retirement Saving Scheme (BTRSS), which was set up to replace the BTPS and is a defined-contribution retirement plan.

Environment

In 2004, the BT Group signed the world's largest renewable energy deal with npower and British Gas, and now all of their exchanges, satellite networks and offices are powered by renewable energy. BT is a member of the Corporate Leaders Group on Climate Change. They signed a letter urging the government to do more to tackle this problem. Janet Blake, head of global corporate social responsibility (CSR) at BT, says that she would like to see incentives that find ways of rewarding those companies that focus on climate change by making investments in green business models.

BT has made it clear that it has an ambitious plan to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Its strategy includes steps to reduce the company's carbon footprint as well as those of customers, suppliers and employees. BT has actually pledged to achieve an 80% reduction by the year 2016, which will require further efficiency improvements.

Controversy

World Wide Web hyperlink patent

In 2001 BT discovered it owned a patent () which it believed gave it patent rights on the use of hyperlink technology on the World Wide Web. The corresponding UK patent had already expired, but the US patent was valid until 2006. Opponents of BT's claim held that the patent had never been valid, due to prior art by both Douglas Engelbart and Ted Nelson's Project Xanadu. Nevertheless on 11 February 2002, BT began a court case relating to its claims in a U.S. federal court against the Internet service provider Prodigy Communications Corporation. The U.S. court ruled on 22 August 2002 that the BT patent was not applicable to Web technology, and granted Prodigy's request for summary judgement. The issue of prior art was thus not addressed.

Behavioural targeting

In early 2008 it was announced that BT had entered into a contract (along with Virgin Media and Talk Talk) with the spyware company Phorm (responsible under their 121Media guise for the Apropos rootkit) to intercept and analyse their users' click-stream data and sell the anonymised aggregate information as part of Phorm's OIX advertising service. The practice, known as "behavioural targeting" and condemned by critics as "data pimping", came under intense fire from various internet communities and other interested-parties who believe that the interception of data without the consent of users and web site owners is illegal under UK law (RIPA). At a more fundamental level, many have argued that the ISPs and Phorm have no right to sell a commodity (a user's data, and the copyright content of web sites) to which they have no claim of ownership. In response to questions about Phorm and the interception of data by the Webwise system Sir Tim Berners-Lee, credited as the creator of the World Wide Web, indicated his disapproval of the concept and is quoted as saying that his data and web history:

See also

UK telephone area codes (STD codes)

Other

BBC news story on BT's claimed 'web patent'

Patent case court judgement against BT

References

External links

BT Group

BT.COM

BT Wholesale

Category:Telecommunications companies of the United Kingdom Category:Internet service providers of the United Kingdom Category:Companies established in 1981 Category:Companies listed on the London Stock Exchange Category:British Royal Warrant holders Category:Organisations based in the City of London

br:British Telecom da:BT Group de:British Telecom es:BT Group fr:BT Group it:BT Group nl:BT Group ja:BTグループ no:British Telecom pl:British Telecom pt:BT Group ro:BT Group ru:BT Group simple:BT Group sv:BT Group zh:英國電信

Name	Angela McCluskey
Background	solo_singer
Origin	Glasgow, Scotland
Instrument	Vocals
Genre	Alternative, pop rock, singer-songwriter, scottish
Occupation	Singer-songwriter
Years active	1992–present
Label	Manhattan, Geffen
Associated acts	Wild ColonialsTélépopmusikCurioGlasvegas
Website	Angelamccluskey.com }}

Angela McCluskey is a Scottish singer-songwriter based in California. She performs as a solo artist and as a member of the folk rock group, Wild Colonials. McCluskey has also provided vocals for Curio and recorded the European dance hit and US Mitsubishi commercial hit "Breathe" among other songs with Télépopmusik (on albums ''Genetic World'' and ''Angel Milk''). Angela also sang ‘Beautiful Things’ for American Express and more recently her voice can be heard on the Shick Quatro commercial singing ‘I’m not the girl'. Her Songs have appeared on the soundtracks for the films Rachel Getting Married and Sherrybaby.

Biography

McCluskey was born in Glasgow, Scotland. She went to London, and found work as a publicist, and then in the video department of EMI Records. In 1993, McCluskey relocated to Hollywood, California.

She is married to Paul Cantelon.

In Los Angeles in 1993, McCluskey and her friend Shark formed a band called Wild Colonials. Two albums, ''Fruit of Life'' (1994) and ''This Can't Be Life'' (1996), were followed by performances at 1997's Lilith Fair road show.

During this period, McCluskey worked with Dr. John, Cyndi Lauper, Deep Forest, Joe Henry, The The, Triptych and Télépopmusik.

In 2004, McCluskey released her debut album ''The Things We Do''. The record was written and recorded in Manhattan and Sweden. It was produced by Shudder To Think's Nathan Larson.

The song "It's Been Done" appears on the soundtrack of ''Rachel Getting Married''

Track listing

# It's Been Done # Somebody Got Lucky # Love Is Stronger Than Death # Know It All # A Thousand Drunken Dreams # Sleep On It # Perfect Girl Eleven # Wrong Side # Dirty Pearl # Sucker # This Night # Long Live I # Hidden Song

In 2009 Angela released her second solo album ''You Could Start a Fight in an Empty House''.

In 2011, Angela performed her one woman(and two men) show 'Catch a Falling Star' in New York while also performing at Carnegie Hall. Angela also appears as a featured guest vocalist on Robbie Robertson's album ''How to Become Clairvoyant.'' She also released the dance smash 'In the Air' with BT and Morgan Page.

Discography

''The Things We Do'' (2004)

''Angela McCluskey EP'' (2004)

''You Could Start a Fight in an Empty House'' (2009)

''Handle With Grace EP'' (2010)

with Wild Colonials

''Fruit of Life'' (1994)

''This Can’t Be Life'' (1996)

''Reel Life vol 1'' (2000)

''Life As We Know It EP 1/4'' (2007)

with Telepopmusik

''Genetic World'' (2001)

''Angel Milk'' (2005)

References

http://www.angelamccluskey.com

External links

http://www.angelamccluskey.com

Category:Living people Category:Scottish female singers Category:Scottish pop singers Category:Scottish singer-songwriters Category:Female rock singers Category:People from Glasgow Category:Year of birth missing (living people)

de:Angela McCluskey pl:Angela McCluskey

Name	Kirsty Hawkshaw
Background	solo_singer
Born	October 26, 1969, London
Instrument	Singing, synthesizers
Genre	Electronic music
Occupation	Singer, songwriter, producer
Years active	1991–present
Label	Coalition/EastWest, Mainline/EMI, Nettwerk, Magnatune
Associated acts	Opus III, Pulusha, Warm
Website	Official website }}

Kirsty Hawkshaw (born 26 October 1969, London) is a British dance/electronica/house/trance musician and songwriter. She is known for her participation as lead vocalist for the group Opus III, and her collaborative work with other musicians and producers.

Career

Kirsty Hawkshaw is the daughter of the British production music/film music composer and disco record producer Alan Hawkshaw.

At a rave event in 1991 she was noticed by producers Ian Munro, Kevin Dobbs and Nigel Walton, who at the time were known as A.S.K. It was through this meeting that they would form a dance act called Opus III. Their first single, a cover version of the song "It's a Fine Day" from their debut album ''Mind Fruit'' was an international success and Top 10 hit on UK Singles Chart, and reached #1 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart in 1992. A reversed sample of Hawkshaw's singing from this track was used in the Orbital track "Halcyon," the music video for which featured Hawkshaw. Opus III also had another US #1 hit on the same chart in 1994 with "When You Made The Mountain", from their second and final album, ''Guru Mother''.

After the group broke up in 1994, Hawkshaw pursued a solo career and since then has been in demand by other acts in the dance, house, Eurodance, trance, and electronica community, ranging from Tiësto to Delerium. In addition to dance music, Hawkshaw also recorded an ambient, ethereal album in 1999, 'Enlightenment', which remains unreleased. Her solo effort, "Fine Day", peaked at #62 in the UK Singles Chart in November 2002.

2000 "Running Down the Way Up" - ''(with BT & Hybrid)''

2000 "Nature's Kingdom" - ''(with Delerium)''

2000 "Inner Sanctum" - ''(with Delerium)''

2000 "Where the Sidewalk Ends" - ''(with Silent Poets)''

2000 "Visions" - ''(with Ian Pooley)''

2000 "Hidden Agenda" - ''(with Sandor Caron)''

2001 "Stealth" - ''(with Way Out West)'' - UK #67

2001 "Battleship Grey" - ''(with Tiësto)''

2001 "Urban Train" - ''(with Tiësto)'' - UK #22

2002 "Underwater Lady" - ''(with Harmonic 33)''

2003 "Calling You" - ''(with Ikon)''

2003 "Blackout" - ''(with Hybrid)''

2004 "Just Be" - ''(with Tiësto)'' - UK #43

2004 "Walking on Clouds" - ''(with Tiësto)''

2004 "Sincere for You" - ''(with Lange)''

2004 "Don't Sleep Tonight" - ''(with Clashing Egos)''

2004 "Maris Stella" - ''(with Digitonal)''

2005 "Faith in Me" - ''(with Pole Folder)''

2005 "Halcyon and On And On (Live)" - ''(with Orbital)''

2005 "All I Want" - ''(with Hybrid)''

2006 "The Chauffeur" - ''(with Sleepthief)''

2006 "Radio Waves" - ''(with Fragma)''

2006 "Just For Today" - ''(with Hybrid)''

2006 "Fleeting Instant" - ''(with Delerium)''

2006 "Outsiders" - ''(with Tenishia)''

2006 "The Last One and the First" - ''(with Pentatonik)''

2006 "Love is a Rose" - ''(with Pentatonik)''

2006 "Don't Look Behind You" - ''(with Judie Tzuke)''

2006 "Lyteo" - ''(with Mr. Sam)''

2006 "Split" - ''(with Mr. Sam)''

2006 "Insight" - ''(with Mr. Sam)''

2006 "Lodestar" - ''(with Mr. Sam)''

2006 "View to Me" - ''(with Future Funk Squad)''

2007 "Silent Stars" - ''(with Pole Folder)''

2007 "Skimming Stones" - ''(with Sleepthief)''

2007 "Heaven Sent" - ''(with Andrew Bennett)''

2007 "Reasons to Forgive" - ''(with Tenishia)''

2007 "Loverush" - ''(with Loverush UK!)''

2007 "Beatitude" - ''(with Duderstadt)''

2007 "The Phoenix Effect" - ''(with Delta-S)''

2007 "Star·Kindler" - ''(with Delta-S)''

2008 "Juneau / Glaciation" - ''(with Alaska)''

2008 "Love Like Blood / Sunbathing" - ''(with Outrage and Aperture)''

2008 "Love Calls" - ''(with Headstrong)''

2008 "Invisible" - ''(with Tenishia)''

2008 "Love is No Possession" - ''(with JJoy)''

2008 "Fine Day 2008" - ''(Kirsty Hawkshaw vs. Kinky Roland)''

2008 "Good to Be Alive (Healing Angel)" - ''(Kirsty Hawkshaw vs. Arnold T.)''

2008 "Invisible Walls" (collaboration with Nektarios and trance singer Jan Johnston) - ''(Nektarios meets F-used)''

2009 "Face to Face" - ''(Kirsty Hawkshaw Vs Elucidate)''

2010 "A Million Stars" - ''(with BT)''

2010 "Sundog" - ''(with Alaska)''

2010 "One Day" - ''(with Mr. Sam)

2010 "Two Trees" - (with Ulrich Schnauss)

References

External links

Official website

Blowcast - Trance Podcast

Hawkshaw at Magnatune

Hawkshaw on Yahoo!Groups

Interview from 2005 by Progressive Sounds

Hawkshaw discography

Presenter at Cusp Conference 2008

Category:1969 births Category:Living people Category:Musicians from London Category:English singer-songwriters Category:Trance singers Category:English dance musicians Category:English trance musicians Category:British children's musicians

de:Kirsty Hawkshaw nl:Kirsty Hawkshaw ja:カースティ・ホークショウ pl:Kirsty Hawkshaw pt:Kirsty Hawkshaw ru:Хоукшоу, Кирсти fi:Kirsty Hawkshaw sv:Kirsty Hawkshaw

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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